At present, all countries in the world are committed to the development of smart grid infrastructure in order to ensure the safety, quality, and economy of electricity use. However, one of the important links for the successful operation of the smart grid is the complete and real-time collection of power usage information for each power user. Therefore, the active deployment of an advanced meter reading infrastructure (AMI) at both ends of the supply and demand for electricity will become an The primary task of promoting the smooth development of smart grids. In order to complete the infrastructure construction of the AMI deployment, smart meters must be installed first. Therefore, all countries in the world are also giving priority to the deployment of smart meters.

Global market size

Currently, the number of meters in use around the world, including industrial, commercial, and residential meters, is huge. There are about 1.7 billion units globally. If it is completely replaced by smart meters, the market size will be considerable. From 2012, global smart meter shipments reached 100 million units, up 31.6% from 2011. According to IDC, a market research organization, global smart meter shipments will reach 163 million units in 2015, and the compound annual average growth rate will reach 15.4%. The In-Stat study also pointed out that the global smart meter market revenue forecast will exceed 12 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, and the smart meter penetration rate will reach 59% by 2020. Market research firm PikeResearch also estimated that the global smart meter installation volume will reach 963 million by 2020.

The development of smart metering markets in various countries is mainly driven by the promotion and dominance of national policies, that is, through the implementation of statutory and subsidy policies to promote the construction of smart meters. For example, the European Union requires its member states to replace their electricity meters with smart meters by 2022. Electricity meter. With the active promotion of governments in various countries, the number of smart meter installations has started to show significant growth since 2009. Although countries have promoted smart meters with different strengths and schedules, and the United States, which started the deployment of smart meters earlier, started in 2012. There will be a trend of decreasing year by year, but with the accelerated construction of countries around the world, the deployment of smart meters will continue to increase, and the overall market will continue to grow.

The international smart meter market began with development in Europe, the United States, and other regions. It spreads to other parts of the world, including Canada in North America, Japan, South Korea, and China in Asia, and New Zealand and Australia in Australia. All have relevant pilot programs. Or construction is actively carried out. In addition, taking the ranking of market share in various regions of the world, China takes the largest market share, accounting for 86% of the market share, followed by North America, Europe, Asia (excluding mainland China), Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. .

National smart meter market overview

North America

The United States is the region where the global AMI market is beginning to sprout. Its smart meter market was the largest demand market in the world from 2008 to 2010, accounting for 45% of the global market; but it retreated to second place after the rise of demand in mainland China in 2011. Accounted for 8% of the global market. In the North American market, from 2005 to 2010, the annual compound growth rate was as high as 80%. In 2010, the shipment volume was US$12.1 million, which was a 49.2% increase over 2009.

The United States’ large-scale promotion of the AMI market has mainly started with the Smart Grid Investing Grant (SGIG) funded by the US$4.5 billion funded in the 2009 Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Among them, the AMI subsidy amounted to approximately 817 million U.S. dollars, accounting for 18% of the total subsidies for smart grids. In addition, the U.S. government also actively promotes smart grid demonstration programs, such as the SPP demonstration program initiated by the California Energy Commission, selecting 2,500 users to perform smart meter installations and match demand response plans. The U.S. government urges states to actively promote AMI deployment until the end of March 2012. Under the SGIG plan, more than 10.8 million smart meters have been installed in the United States, and the penetration rate has reached more than 20%; research agency GTMResearch predicts 2014 The number of US smart meter cumulative devices will reach 5,700, and the total number of devices to be completed in 2015 is expected to reach 65 million, and the number of new business opportunities will reach approximately 62.9 billion U.S. dollars; however, the deployment of U.S. smart meters will be in 2011. After the peak of the year, the number of installations is declining year by year; together with some U.S. power companies facing the public’s concerns about privacy security, health impact, and increase in electricity bills, it will create impediments to the promotion. Therefore, the US smart meter market will continue. Grow but show a slowing phenomenon.

Europe

From 2008 to 2010, Europe was the second largest demand market for smart meters worldwide, accounting for approximately 31% of the global market. However, since 2011, it has retreated to third place with a share of 3%. Including the EU-27 countries plus the two countries, Europe currently has a total of 277 million electricity meters; in 2011, the annual demand for electricity meters, including new installations and replacements, totals 12 million to 17 million. about. European countries have enacted laws requiring power companies to promote the establishment of AMI. Among them, Italy and Sweden were the first countries to start investing in AMI construction. They completed large-scale construction in 2009 and 2011 respectively; Spain completed 1 million smart meter replacements and installations in 2011. In order to complete the goal of comprehensive importation, France also completed 300,000 smart meter replacements and installations in 2011, and plans to complete 35 million smart meters by 2017; Finland is also expected to complete in 2013. Comprehensive smart meter devices; Estonia and Norway are also expected to complete the installation in 2017. In 2011, the United Kingdom also announced in 2012 that it has promoted the national AMI construction and launch of a demonstration plan since 2012, and has completed the nationwide installation of AMI and the Netherlands as of the end of 2020. As for Germany, which is different from other countries' government-led practices, it is an industry-led approach. However, the cost-benefit analysis that Germany plans to implement in 2013 will, depending on the results, possibly change the driving policies of smart meters.

As the follow-up France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the European market entered the stage of large-scale promotion of the smart metering program, a new wave of market growth occurred. The number of smart meters installed in the entire European market accounted for 18% of the total meter ratio at the end of 2011; BergInsight It is predicted that from the beginning of 2011 to 2017, the number of smart meters will increase by an annual average of 20.5%, reaching 154.7 million units, accounting for 56% of the total electricity meters; it is estimated that by 2020, all Europe will have 80 % of meters will be upgraded to smart meters. Since many countries such as France and the United Kingdom will complete the installation by 2020, this high growth rate will slow down.

New Australia

Australia is currently actively pursuing the replacement of the traditional meter that is expected to last for the smart meter. It is expected to complete the installation of 2.6 million users in 2013; New Zealand has completed the installation of 1.3 million smart meters in China in 2012. Meter manufacturers competing in the Australian market include GE, Landis+Gyr, and PRIMeters; MDMS vendors are Oracle; in the New Zealand market, meter manufacturers are mainly Elster, and MDMS vendors are also Oracle.

Asia

Japan

In Japan, part of Japan, due to the impact of the 311 Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, it began to plan a new energy-saving law. From the past there was no mandatory transition to active planning to promote AMI. In 2012, the Japanese government subsidized 579.4 billion yen, and it plans to promote home users to complete 80% of AMI construction in 5 years, and it will be fully introduced by 2020. Enterprise users will promote supply and demand adjustment contracts and plan to install AMI in 5 years. Up to 100%. Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd., which had previously actively promoted the construction of the AMI, tried to import approximately 1.5 million sets of electric meters, and Kyushu Power installed about 180,000 sets. Tokyo Electric Power, the largest power system company in Japan, officially announced in 2012 that it will fully promote AMI construction. It plans to install approximately 17 million smart meters that can cover more than 60% of users in its jurisdiction by 2018. Overall, the Japanese government has set a target of 80% of the total electricity demand for smart meters before 2016. It can be expected that Japan will become one of the kinetic energy boosting the Asian AMI market after 2012.

Korea

South Korea's penetration rate of smart meters at the end of 2010 was 5.7%, of which high-voltage customers reached a penetration rate of 99.9%. Low-voltage customers installed only 890,000 units out of 17.53 million, and the penetration rate was 4.8%. In the first phase of the smart grid basic plan and the smart meter universalization program promoted in 2012, the Korean government expects to increase the number of smart meter devices from 550,000 in 2011 to 10 million smart meter devices in 2016. Volume, achieve 50% penetration rate of intelligent electric expression. It is estimated that by the year 2020, the number of smart meters will increase to 1,700, and the market size will reach 5.4 trillion won.

China Mainland

Mainland China began to leap into the world's largest demand for smart meters in 2011. The global market share is about 75%, and it is 86% higher in 2012. The Chinese mainland government announced the promotion of AMI construction since the end of 2009, and in 2011 officially included smart grid and AMI in the 12th Five-Year Plan. China National Grid plans to expand AMI development to the entire country and begin to promote demonstration projects. It is expected that shipments will reach 97.8 million units in 2016. Before 2020, the national user's electricity meters will all be converted into smart meters. It is estimated that investment will be required. With RMB 200 billion, there will be at least 300 million more traditional meter replacement opportunities. In 2011, the State Grid Corporation of China purchased a total of 59.7 million smart meters, the largest in the world.

MIC point of view - U.S. future smart meter market growth will slow, and Asia and Europe will be the markets with the greatest growth potential

Looking at the global smart meter market, the United States and Europe were among the first countries to start construction and have a large population. Therefore, it is currently the fastest-growing and most-demanded market. However, the United States has reached its peak in 2011 due to growth. The force has begun to slow down; while countries in Europe have many countries, there are still many countries that are rushing to catch up and there is still a lot of potential for growth in the future. Although Asian countries started to drive late, due to the active promotion of Japan and South Korea, and the large population of China and India, they have become a rapidly growing emerging market. It is expected that in the next 5 to 10 years, the growth momentum of smart meters will be mainly in mainland China and Europe. As for the manufacturer part, there are currently several European and American manufacturers of home appliances, chips, or MDMS. Since they entered the market early and hold technology, they dominate the global market. However, in the future, countries will gradually develop local regional AMI-related manufacturers. Providing a huge local market demand, especially for emerging markets such as mainland China, its potential for growth cannot be underestimated; coupled with its implementation of protection policies, it even encourages some manufacturers to enter the global market before the top ten.