News

3 March 2009

 

Installed base for smart meters to reach 76m in 2009

The number of 'smart' electricity meters installed worldwide was about 49 million in 2007, and will reach about 76 million this year, according to the new report ‘Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMM and AMI)’ from ABI Research.

Smart (or remote) meters measure and automatically communicate detailed electrical (or gas or water) usage information to the utility and, in some cases, enable greater consumer awareness and control over consumption. The devices are being deployed at an increasing pace, especially in North America and Europe, including for ‘home area networking’ (HAN). Specific communications technologies involved include fixed RF, powerline, and cellular.

“Utilities need to move to smart metering as a way to address the growth in peak demand, operate more efficiently, provide customers with better service, and respond to environmental imperatives,” says senior analyst Sam Lucero. “Smart metering can help on all of these fronts,” he adds. “They are encouraged in this by regulatory bodies, which use both the ‘carrot’ and the ‘stick’ to promote advances in energy distribution and conservation.”

The current trends in AMI markets represent a continuation of the growth rates charted by ABI over recent years. “We don’t think that the economic crisis is having a significant effect,” says Lucero. “Utilities' smart metering deployments are typically multi-year plans developed in the context of regulated market environments, and not terribly susceptible to short-term economic fluctuations.”

Indeed, there are elements in the economic stimulus packages being implemented by many countries that will further encourage smart metering. “It’s been reported recently that approximately $4.5bn of the recently approved stimulus package in the US will go towards smart grid initiatives,” Lucero notes.

See related item:

Automatic meter reading and smart energy to lead 802.15.4/ZigBee use

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