Greentech Lead Asia: The global market for substation automation will grow
from $2.7 billion in 2012 to $4.3 billion in 2020. The integration of
substation automation functions into the broader smart grid architecture is
gradually shifting toward newly automated smaller distribution substations, and
into retrofit modernizations of previously automated transmission substations,
and this trend will drive the growth.
“Even as individual equipment costs and
per-substation spending are declining due to technology advances and a shift to
retrofits, we expect that the overall market will continue to grow. The smart
grid trends driving automation deeper into the distribution network, combined
with continued growth in Asia, will sustain steady growth in the overall
substation automation sector,” says chief research director Bob Gohn.
Currently, new transmission substations make up the
largest segment of global substation automation revenue. This segment will peak
in 2013 and 2014 and slowly decline through 2020, yielding an effective
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of zero percent for the period from 2011 to
2020.
According to the new report by Pike Research, retrofits
of existing transmission substations, and automation of distribution
substations will grow at 7.1 percent and 7.0 percent CAGRs respectively over
the same period. The newly automated distribution substations will make up the
largest application segment for substation automation equipment by 2020.