Investment in on-site power technologies is projected to reach over $155 billion through 2023, up from $1.8 billion today, new analysis has found.
According to Navigant Research’s latest microgrid study, the global market for ‘microgrid enabling technologies’ such as diesel generators, natural gas-fueled generators, fuel cells, combined heat and power (CHP), solar photovoltaics(PV), distributed wind power, micro-hydropower, biomass, smart islanding inverters and energy storage will see rapid demand growth over the next several years.
‘Dramatic change is occurring in the microgrid market, as the economic value that these systems bring to the overall power grid becomes more and more apparent,’ said Peter Asmus, Navigant’s principal research analyst and report lead. ‘We expect the technologies that enable these systems to play key roles in the expansion of the microgrid sector to encompass additional technologies and services related to smart buildings, demand response, distribution and substation automation, and smart meters.’
According to the report, while Europe currently leads the market for microgrid-enabling distributed generation technology with a 40% market share and $714.2 million in revenue, by 2023 North America will take the lead, pulling in $4.9 billion, up from around $600 million in 2014.
Among the technologies, energy storage is projected to represent the single largest investment category among microgrid-enabling options by 2023.
CFU Price at posting:
0.7¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held