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Smart Grid Technology Market Will Reach $73 Billion in Annual Revenue by 2020

June 23, 2013 by Jeff Shepard

Although the market for smart grid technologies is already established, representing more than $33 billion in revenue in 2012, it has grown with little contribution from a number of countries with populations greater than 100 million, and with almost no activity in Africa, with its population of 1 billion.

This suggests that the market is likely to continue robust growth for the foreseeable future. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, the market for smart grid technologies will reach $73 billion in annual revenue by the end of 2020, totaling $461 billion in cumulative revenue from 2013 to 2020.

Bob Lockhart, research director with Navigant Research, says: “However, the term ‘smart grid’ has been overused to the point of losing its meaning. A more precise definition includes five key applications: transmission upgrades, substation automation, distribution automation, smart grid information and operations technology, and smart metering.”

Of these five, by far the most capital-intensive application is transmission upgrades, which require substantial infrastructure investments. Transmissions upgrades will represent nearly $250 million in revenue from 2013 to 2020, or more than half the total for the overall smart grid technology market, the study concludes.