Smart metering market in Southeast Asia to reach $6.9 billion by 2022

smart-meter

Smart metering market in Southeast Asia to reach $6.9 billion by 2022

Greentech Lead Asia: The smart metering market
in Southeast Asia will reach $6.9 billion by 2022, says
Northeast Group in its “Southeast Asia Smart Grid: Market Forecast
(2012-2022).”

The eight Southeast Asian countries featured in the
report include Singapore; Thailand; Malaysia; Indonesia; Philippines; Vietnam;
Cambodia; and Laos.

“Southeast Asia’s potential for smart grid is
largely driven by high projected GDP growth rates which will boost electricity
demand,” Northeast Group said. “Southeast Asian economies are
forecast to grow at an average of nearly 6 percent per year throughout this
decade despite the slowdown in other regions of the world. Southeast
Asia’s swift growth creates both challenges and opportunities for its electric
infrastructure.”

The majority of Southeast Asia’s smart grid activity will take place in the second half of
the forecast period, after strong GDP growth rates have further increased
electricity consumption. Already, domestic and international smart grid vendors
are positioning themselves in the region to capitalize on the projected growth
in the market, the report said.

Rising electricity demand due to GDP growth presents
unique challenges for Southeast Asia; however, the financial flexibility
that growth provides also creates opportunities. The report thinks Southeast
Asian countries are expected to invest more than $50 billion per year
in overall infrastructure in the next few years, with a significant portion
allocated to the power and utility sector. Smart grid will be a critical component
of this expenditure.

Main challenges associated with smart grid implementation
include unreliable electric infrastructure and rising energy costs, which could
dampen overall economic growth potential. Countries such
as Indonesia and the Philippines are scrambling to add peak
electric generation capacity, while in many countries the existing transmission
and distribution grids are insufficient to meet growing demand.

Smart grid implementation in the region is led by the developed
economy of Singapore, which has plans for a full smart meter deployment.
Pilot projects are also already in development
in Thailand and Malaysia, with additional projects under
discussion in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Low per-capita electricity consumption rates in
many of these countries currently make large-scale deployments cost
prohibitive, but that will quickly change in the coming years, as GDP growth
remains high, Northeast Group said. The rising electricity theft rates also
need to be addressed. Along with improved reliability, these factors show that
the benefit potential of smart grid in Southeast Asia is quickly
increasing.  

Northeast Group forecasts 5 sub-segments of the AMI
market, including meter hardware, communications, IT, professional services,
and installation for eight countries across Southeast Asia.  

Smart grid software and related IT services to grow to over
$8.6 Billion By 2017

Globally North America leads the initial market in many
smart grid IT innovations, but the European and Asia Pacific markets will
become more significant over the next five years, according to a new report
from Pike Research.

[email protected]