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Smart Grid Technology Market growing and growing

Smart grid intends to modernize the power grid by using the latest technology that supports the utility to reduce the transmission and distribution loss. This can be achieved with the help of advanced metering infrastructure, software’s such as SCADA, DRM, DMS, MDMS, etc., and communication networks such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-Wave, etc. According to a [...]

U.S. Electricity Grid in urgent need to upgrade the grid.

The U.S. Department of Commerce cites the urgent need to upgrade the country’s infrastructure and cites a modernized grid as an essential example. While admitting that “traditional” infrastructure such as highways and airports need to keep current, it stresses the need for broadband and smart grid to keep the country competitive in the 21st century. [...]

Smart Grid companies: Alstom

Alstom Grid combines solutions based on its key historical technologies to bring a Smart Grid offering capable to adapt any local or national energy system’s requirements and constraints. provides equipment and services for electric power. One Alstom smart grid challenge is equipment sales in North America. Although highly successful in Europe and the Middle East, [...]

Smart Grid companies: Aclara

Aclara invests heavily in research and development and standards group participation and leadership to ensure that our technologies continue to meet customers’ increasing demands. Aclara smart grid technologies include its TWACS advanced metering infrastructure based on a power line communications system that has proven particularly effective in rural areas, although Aclara smart grid wins have [...]

Smart Grid companies: ACCENTURE

ACCENTURE Accenture is the world’s largest consulting firm, doing $23 billion in 2010. The Accenture smart grid practice area has been one of the firm’s fastest growing areas over the past few years. Although known for business process and IT skills, Accenture’s smart grid group has also added deep expertise in power engineering, distribution automation [...]

Smart Grid Technology Market growing and growing

February 7th, 2012

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Smart grid intends to modernize the power grid by using the latest technology that supports the utility to reduce the transmission and distribution loss. This can be achieved with the help of advanced metering infrastructure, software’s such as SCADA, DRM, DMS, MDMS, etc., and communication networks such as Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Z-Wave, etc.

According to a new market research report “Smart Grid Technology Market – Analysis & Global Forecast By Hardware, Software & Communication Network Technologies (2011 – 2016)” published by MarketsandMarkets the total smart grid technology and related application market is expected to reach $80.6 billion by 2016.

This research report categorizes the global smart grid technology market and its related applications market on the basis of different kinds of software’s that are being used for the smart grid network, smart meter, various smart sensor, communication network and geographical analysis; forecasting revenue, and analyzing trends in the market.

On the basis of geography

North America
U.S.
Canada
Mexico
Europe
Germany
UK
France
Spain
Italy
Others
Asia-Pacific
Australia
China
Japan
Korea
India
Others
ROW
Middle East
Africa
Others

A smart grid is not just about installing smart meters across residential and commercial areas, but also about the ability to control the entire energy network. Setting up a communications network is equally essential for the smart grid network.

Countries like Australia, UK, France, Italy, and U.S. have the highest potential across all the geographies. The communication networks have high growth potential and the smart grid technology market size is expected to increase in the next five years.

For more information please, visit MarketsandMarkets

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Smart Grid Dictionary by Christine Hertzog

February 1st, 2012

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Build your Smart Grid knowledge with definitions for over 1700 terms used by electric and water utilities, global standards organizations, regulatory agencies, and businesses focused on the Smart Grid that include:

• electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and storage
• water infrastructure operations and management
• home and building energy management
• electric vehicles and charging stations
• telecommunications and networks
• sensorsenergy efficiency
• cybersecurity
• standards and more

The Smart Grid Dictionary lists website addresses to important organizations to give you convenient access to additional, in-depth information.

For more information visit Smart Grid Library website

See larger image

Smart Grid Dictionary: First Edition (Paperback)

By (author) Christine Hertzog

List Price:	$34.95 USD
New From:	$49.97 In Stock
Used from:	$40.00 In Stock

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U.S. Electricity Grid in urgent need to upgrade the grid.

January 28th, 2012

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The U.S. Department of Commerce cites the urgent need to upgrade the country’s infrastructure and cites a modernized grid as an essential example. While admitting that “traditional” infrastructure such as highways and airports need to keep current, it stresses the need for broadband and smart grid to keep the country competitive in the 21st century.

President Obama has outlined a vision for doubling America’s use of clean energy by 2035 and achieving the goal of putting one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. Having a modernized, smarter electric system is an important step to meeting these goals. Building the necessary transmission infrastructure and utilizing smart grid technologies will facilitate the integration of renewable resources
into the grid, accommodate a growing number of electric vehicles, help avoid blackouts, restore power more quickly when outages occur, and reduce the need for new power plants. Smart grid technologies also provide a foundation for innovation by entrepreneurs and others who can develop tools to empower consumers and help them make informed decisions about energy usage.

To lay out a path forward, the Federal government, in June 2011, released A Policy Framework for the 21st Century Grid: Enabling Our Secure Energy Future.11 This framework features four pillars, which are supported by Administration actions, and includes further policy recommendations to promote investment, innovation, and job growth:

1. Enabling cost‐effective smart grid investments by disseminating lessons learned from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act investments.

2. Unlocking the potential of innovation in the electricity sector through a greater focus on standards and interoperability

3. Empowering consumers and enabling informed decision making with enhanced information to save energy, ensure privacy, and shrink bills.

4. Securing the grid from cyber attacks and improving its recover ability in the event of such an attack.

For more information visit NIST Home

Or you can download the U.S. Department of commerce Report

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Smart Grid companies: Alstom

January 21st, 2012

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Alstom Grid combines solutions based on its key historical technologies to bring a Smart Grid offering capable to adapt any local or national energy system’s requirements and constraints.

provides equipment and services for electric power. One Alstom smart grid challenge is equipment sales in North America. Although highly successful in Europe and the Middle East, Alstom smart grid hardware does not enjoy the same success in the U.S. and Canada. By contrast, Alstom’s smart grid software for control rooms is a market leader in North America.

Alstom smart grid sales in 2009 were just under $8 billion. In addition to selling gear and software, Alstom also performs project management and engineering.

The Alstom offering for on-line grid stability solutions consists of GPS synchronized Phasor Measurement Units (PMU) which provide a real-time image of the grid status that can be employed for better situation awareness on SCADA level or for fast Wide Area Monitoring Protection and Control Schemes (WAMPCS). We provide the full solution starting from the PMU devices, Phasor Data Concentrators (PDC), communication infrastructure and state-of-the-art energy management systems (EMS).

for more info visit Alstom website

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CSC Launches AirSync Cloud

January 21st, 2012

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CSC is collaborating with leading wireless network and performance management software provider, Proximetry, to leverage its AirSync™ platform as the foundation of a “first of its kind” cloud-based smart grid communications network management offering. For utility operators seeking to pro-actively and efficiently manage their smart grid communication network, AirSync Cloud provides network management to multi-vendor, multi-radio (LTE, WiMax, WiFi, 4G,) public and private networks in a secure, reliable, and highly-available manner, hosted from CSC’s industry-leading cloud data centers.

CSC’s Cloud Services provide the centerpiece of the modern virtualized datacenter, offering a model for every utility — whether you want self-managed or a managed service option, or you want private, public or a hybrid cloud, CSC delivers the right cloud, the right way. With CSC, every utility can easily make the initial move to ‘as a service’ — infrastructure, platform ad software on-demand.

AirSync Cloud provides a flexible, secure, scalable answer to the challenges presented by complex wireless communication networks and delivers the real-world benefits utilities are looking for:

• Increased communication network reliability through pro-active management of network assets
• Improved and expanded customer service, with faster response times, fewer service disruptions, better service coverage and enhanced security
• Greater financial efficiency and budgeting reliability with a usage based cost model , that scales with your Smart Grid deployment
• Improved grid availability, resiliency and security, with proactive problem detection and resolution and reduced downtime
• Improved monitoring and measurement, supporting detailed reporting
and changes or expansions in service
• The ability to transform operations data into actionable business data
• Support for future smart grid technologies, using standards-based communications and a scalable infrastructure
• Confidence that the application is hosted on a reliable, available platform, managed by hardware and configuration experts

For more info visit CSC website

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Smart Grid companies: Aclara

January 21st, 2012

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Aclara invests heavily in research and development and standards group participation and
leadership to ensure that our technologies continue to meet customers’ increasing demands.

Aclara smart grid technologies include its TWACS advanced metering infrastructure based on a power line communications system that has proven particularly effective in rural areas, although Aclara smart grid wins have included urban areas as well. The Aclara smart grid technology employs existing power line infrastructure and integrates into existing substations without introducing additional points of failure.

More than 500 utilities in nine countries rely on proven Aclara solutions to achieve operational efficiencies, improve customer service, meet regulatory requirements, and promote conservation efforts. The enterprise suite of applications focuses on:

• Meter Data and AMI/Meter Device Management
• Customer Engagement
• Revenue Management
• Efficiency and Demand Management
• Distribution Asset Planning and Analysis
• Power Reliability Outage Assessment System (PROasys)
• Prepayment Solutions

For more info click here

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Communicating a Consumer-Friendly, Consumer-Safe Smart Grid

January 20th, 2012

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After years of focusing on technology, funding, and regulatory issues, the smart grid industry has at last turned its attention to its most important component, the consumer. Now the real work has begun: we must capture the hearts and minds of millions of energy end-users across the nation to guarantee the successful and widespread adoption of smart grid programs. Register Here Now!

If a consumer focus is your priority, every activity at the SGCC Smart Grid Consumer Symposium 2012 will give you relevant and actionable intelligence that will transform your efforts. At the Symposium, you will:

Get the first look at the 2012 State of the Consumer Report, an expert analysis of our recent research projects, and take it home as a free hard copy or zip drive.
Discover the most effective methods for addressing consumer concerns about privacy and security.
Crack the code of consumer segmentation and explore how to maximize it in your organization.
Learn about SGCC’s Smart Grid Favorability Index and how it will help you keep your finger on the pulse of consumers over time.
Master the set of best practices proven by our research to help drive program enrollment and minimize consumer complaints.

Join the event, so that together we may align our efforts and gain all the tools we need to bring about widespread understanding of the many benefits of the smart grid.

DATE: Monday, January 23, 2012
TIME: 1pm – 5:30pm, Cocktail Reception 5:30pm – 7:00pm
LOCATION: Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, San Antonio, TX
COST: $125 for SGCC members; $175 for non-members
REGISTRATION: Register Here Now!

For more info, click below
2012 SGCC Annual Symposium

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Smart Grid companies: ACCENTURE

January 20th, 2012

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ACCENTURE

Accenture is the world’s largest consulting firm, doing $23 billion in 2010. The Accenture smart grid practice area has been one of the firm’s fastest growing areas over the past few years. Although known for business process and IT skills, Accenture’s smart grid group has also added deep expertise in power engineering, distribution automation and smart grid architecture.

Accenture has more than 200 locations in more than 50 countries.

For more information about their Smart grid value overview click here

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Smart Grid companies: ABB

January 20th, 2012

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ABB is a $31 billion Swiss firm that was late to the smart grid party but made up for lost time with several important acquisitions and strategic changes to the ABB smart grid plan. ABB’s smart grid ambitions are to provide the full range of smart-grid related gear and software. One part of ABB’s smart grid strategy is to become the leader in the blending of information technology (IT) with operational technology (OT). It made important strides in that direction with the 2010 acquisition of Ventyx and the 2011 acquisition of Mincom.

The parent company provides power and automation technologies to a broad base of utility and industrial customers. Its product lines span transmission, distribution, turnkey substations, and industrial automation. It gets more than half its sales in Europe and has had early success in China.

For more information about their Smart grid value overview click here

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Key companies in the Smart Grid world.

January 20th, 2012

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You can generally break the smart grid companies below into three groups – device connectivity, smart grid system architecture, and intelligence driven value. A couple are trying to do it all. Those with focus are moving faster and may provide for sector consolidation in the future. The real “smart” in the grid only comes after you get enough connectivity and a consistent architecture.

The basic make up of the power grid did not change much in the 20th century. In the 21st century, the so called smart grid is finally becoming a reality, applying decades of technology development to the the utility industry. The smart grid is not any one product of service, but a host of technologies and methods that ultimately serve to better balance electricity supply and demand.

Companies operate in various areas of the smart grid market. Demand response and grid storage companies help balance, supply and demand reducing the need for “peaker” generators. Some of this companies are:

ABB
Accenture
Aclara
Alstom
Cisco
eMeter
CURRENT Group
Echelon
Elster
GE
Grid Net
IBM
Itron
KEMA
Landis+Gyr
S&C
Schneider
Sensus
Siemens
Silver Spring Networks
SmartSynch
Structure
Telvent
Tropos
Ventyx

In 2009, smart grid companies may represent one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors in the “cleantech” market. It consistently receives more than half the venture capital investment.

In 2009, the US smart grid industry was valued at about $21.4 billion – by 2014, it will exceed at least $42.8 billion. Given the success of the smart grids in the U.S., the world market is expected to grow at a faster rate, surging from $69.3 billion in 2009 to $171.4 billion by 2014. With the segments set to benefit the most will be smart metering hardware sellers and makers of software used to transmit and organize the massive amount of data collected by meters

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