Worldwide Governments will invest up to $45 billion in smart grids by 2015
9 July 2010 | Green Technology | No Comments
It seems that lately, smart grids are increasingly used by many private companies, cities and countries. In order to facilitate better energy efficiency practices, these smart grids have attached two-way communication tools on both the utility and user. Using computerized systems, this technology enable real-time monitoring of electricity use, distribution and generation. Now that you have an idea about what smart grids can do, I have to say that many governments and private interests worldwide are expected to increase investments in this technology. ABI Research says that total investments will reach $45 billion by 2015.
It was estimated that 4.8 billion dollars will be invested in smart meters for homes, which means that many of us will reduce their energy consumption (these smart meters can even notify connected appliences in the home to turn on or off).
“Most of the electric utility infrastructure deployed in the industrialized world was built between 60 and 80 years ago. Much of this infrastructure is outdated, and with the continuing increase in demand for power year after year, the grid cannot safely and reliably manage the loads of today and tomorrow without significant upgrades,” said Larry Fisher, director of the ABI Research division.
Almost all electrical grids were originally designed to transmit electricity generated from fossil fuel plants, so these systems were not equipped to handle the intermittent nature of renewable energy electricity generation. We can already see plenty of reasons to replace electrical grids with smart grids, so between 2010 and 2015 we will be witnesses to a major change in this technology.
Tags: ABI Research, better energy efficiency practices, real-time monitoring of electricity, reduce energy consumption, smart electricity distribution, smart electricity generation, smart electricity use, smart energy distribution, smart energy generation, smart energy use, smart grids, smart meters for homes