Smart grid renewable energy integration market to hit $13 billion

SUBNET Solutions Inc | Tuesday, October 30, 2012

One of the largest issues utilities must face when introducing new renewable energy sources into the electric grid is the intermittent nature of the generation itself. This has led researchers to develop a range of new technologies - including microgrids, dynamic pricing systems, advanced energy storage and virtual power plants - that aim to improve the process by which utilities bring green energy into the distribution infrastructure.

According to a new report from Pike Research, the market for new smart grid technologies that will help utilities integrate renewable energy sources will soar in the next six years - worth about $13 billion by 2018, growing from just $3.8 billion in 2012.

"For all the talk of the challenges of bringing increasing amounts of distributed, renewable energy sources onto the power grid, in reality there is no consensus on the exact effects of renewables integration on grid operations," said senior research analyst Peter Asmus. "What we do know is that the fundamental architecture of today's electricity grid ...is becoming obsolete, and is unsuited for the increasing diversity and variability of power generation."

SUBNET has an impressive track record of working with some of the largest utilities in North America to help them integrate intermittent power supplies, enabling the company to better manage overall grid electricity flow. 

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