Cumulative global investment in smart grids, including smart meter implementations as well as upgrades to the transmission and distribution infrastructure, will approach $46 billion by 2015, according to the latest forecasts from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com), Oyster Bay, N.Y.
The groundwork for smart grids has been laid in a number of countries over the past several years, but the pace of investment and implementation is increasing. Transmission and Distribution (T&D) investments will account for the lion’s share of smart grid investments through 2015, according to ABI. On a cumulative basis, a total of almost $41 billion will be invested globally in the electrical Transmission and Distribution infrastructure through 2015, compared to $4.8 billion for the purchase and installation of smart meters, the company says. This infrastructure spending will focus on grid automation and control, distribution automation, distributed generation and demand response programs.
