Skip to main content

Forward-Thinking Utilities Adopt the Internet of Things

Most utility companies have a plan to utilize technologies that are key ingredients of the Internet of Things (IoT). As an example, the Smart Grid Sensor market will expand rapidly in the coming decade, with revenues growing nearly ten-fold, according to the latest worldwide market study by IHS.

IHS forecasts that while the smart grid sensor market only accounted for less than 20 percent of total sensor sales revenues in 2014, they will account for 75 percent of the total sensor market in 2021.

The smart grid sensor market is expected to reach the $100 million mark in 2017. To date, the market for smart grid sensors is centered mainly in North America, where there is a mixture of a few large installations and many smaller pilot projects.

There's a pressing need to monitor the electric grid in real-time, and utilities are expected to gain greater value by installing smart grid sensors, which can potentially improve utility operations and performance.

The United States market is estimated to reach $30 million in 2014 -- however, annual growth from 2015 to 2021 is expected to average 36 percent.


"The United States has been on the forefront of smart grid sensor market development," said Fizza Arshad, analyst at IHS. "Many factors have converged to make this happen, but one of the stronger influences was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009."

The ARRA provided the investment needed to install extensive grid distribution-layer communications networks. Having affordable, ubiquitous communications networks is essential to making the smart grid sensor solution come to fruition.

While the current growth is centered in the United States, Europe and Latin America are also forecast to become high-growth markets. In Latin America, utilities are spending time and resources to install pilot programs to aid fault location and theft prevention.

In Europe there is a particularly strong need for renewable energy management. In fact, the influx of energy from solar and wind is creating a large demand for improved electric grid monitoring.

Greater adoption of smart grid sensors across Europe is therefore anticipated, as utilities will need more granular measurements on the electricity grid, in order to efficiently integrate renewables.

Overall, going from pilot programs to large-scale installations will offer more examples of successful deployments that further reveal the benefits to utilities, and thereby enable smart grid sensor technology to scale.

Popular posts from this blog

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth

Digital Talent Demand Exceeds Supply in Asia-Pac

Even the savviest CEO's desire for a digital transformation advantage has to face the global market reality -- there simply isn't enough skilled and experienced talent available to meet demand. According to the latest market study by IDC, around 60-80 percent of Asia-Pacific (AP) organizations find it "difficult" or "extremely difficult" to fill many IT roles -- including cybersecurity, software development, and data insight professionals. Major consequences of the skills shortage are increased workload on remaining digital business and IT employees, increased security risks, and loss of "hard-to-replace" critical transformation knowledge. Digital Business Talent Market Development Although big tech companies' layoffs are making headlines, they are not representative of the overall global marketplace. Ongoing difficulty to fill key practitioner vacancies is still among the top issues faced by leaders across industries. "Skills are difficul

Mobile Device Market Still Awaiting Recovery

The mobile devices market has experienced three years of unpredictable demand. The global pandemic, geopolitical pressures, supply chain issues, and macroeconomic headwinds have hindered the sector's consistent growth potential. This extremely challenging environment has dramatically affected both demand and supply chains. It has led to subsequent inflationary pressures, leading to a worsening global cost of living crisis suppressing growth and confidence in the sector. In tandem, mobile device industry stakeholders have become more cautious triggering market uncertainties. Mobile Device Market Development Operating under such a backdrop, the development of mobile device ecosystems and vendor landscapes have been impacted severely. Many of these market pressures persisted throughout 2022 and now into 2023, borne chiefly by the smartphone market. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, worldwide smartphone shipments in 2022 declined 9.6 percent Year-over-Year