SBI Energy: Market Insights, Opportunities &Trends

Energy Storage Technologies in Utility Markets Worldwide from leading energy industry market research publisher SBI Energy gives you the tools to:

• Assess the state of your industry and the trends that are impacting it
• Identify exciting new opportunities and evaluate growth potential
• Review potential partners or acquisition targets

Utilities grapple with excess energy lost in off-peak times and energy shortages during peak times.

Solution: Smart grid energy storage

As utilities strategize the integration of renewable energies into the electric grid, energy storage technologies ante-up.

• $34 million in start up funding for an energy storage research hub is proposed in Obama’s 2011 budget planning.
• Companies are launching new energy storage products aimed at tapping into the growing market
• The global utility sector energy storage market is expected to grow by 15.8% per year to over $10 billion in 2015.

Energy Storage Technologies in Utility Markets Worldwide from leading energy industry market research publisher SBI Energy covers:

• Applications in which energy storage solutions can be leveraged within the utility sectors

• The electric grid and its operations, identification of opportunities for energy storage solutions

• Technologies including: pumped hydro storage, CAES, electrochemical capacitors, flywheels, and batteries

• Battery technologies including lead-acid, lithium-ion, molten salt, and vanadium redox and zinc bromide flow batteries

• SMES, or Superconducting magnetic energy storage, thermal storage and vehicle-to-grid

• Global market sizing for energy storage technologies to 2015 are provided.

(Source: sbienergy.com)

Water and Air Purification Systems and Products: Residential & Commercial from leading energy industry market research publisher SBI Energy gives you the tools to:

• Assess the state of your industry and the trends that are impacting it
• Identify exciting new opportunities and evaluate growth potential
• Review potential partners or acquisition targets

An unending battle with pollution. Air pollution and water contaminates exist in all countries of the world. Only three percent of the water on Earth is fresh and much of that is not potable. Air in many areas is well above recommended safe health levels and the air indoors is even worse.

Numerous technologies and products have been developed that can make air cleaner and water purer. Even with the recession, the water and air purification industry is still growing, mainly because air and water is essential to health and many people will forgo many things but not their health.

Water and Air Purification Systems and Products: Residential & Commercial from leading energy industry market research publisher SBI Energy covers:

• Problems with air and water such as contaminants, bacteria, viruses,smog, haze, and technologies that can remedy these problems.

• Economic and demographic trends impacting air and water quality, availability and access.

• Growth of treatment technologies, in both the consumer and commercial arena, from 2010 through 2015 at the global, regional, and country level.

• Company profiles of leading manufacturers in the combined $48.43 billion market for air and water treatment.

(Source: sbienergy.com)

Exciting growth in the world of microgrids is setting the market up for a secure future within the world’s electricity infrastructure network. In 2010 the world market for microgrids reached $4.14 billion, up 15% from the previous year. This exuberant growth is expected to continue for at least a few decades, as the need for microgrids grows and as interest remains high. 

 A large variety of microgrid types are available to fit into every nook and cranny of the world’s electrical network, including: smart microgrids for those that are energy savvy; islanded, decentralized or remote electrification microgrids for hermit villages and islanders, hybrid microgrids for the more creative types and rudimentary microgrids for those that are thrifty or economically challenged. Microgrid installations around the world include everything from diesel generator-based rural electrification projects that supply electricity to small remote villages to large, futuristic cities and surrealistic theme parks that rely on the newest microgrid technologies.

 High interest in microgrids is helping to break a few of the barriers to microgrid market growth. Over the past decade, significant obstacles have stood in the way, such as a meager regulatory base and an array of less than perfect technologies. Government bodies and other organizations with investments in microgrid technologies have been working to develop microgrid guidelines; while universities and other research centers around the world are bent on developing methods and technologies to improve microgrid schemes. 

 North America currently holds the largest piece of microgrid pie, staking a near 74% claim of the market in 2010. While the country is expected to continue to expand its microgrid ventures, it will lose at least a small slice of pie to other countries’ quickly growing share. Asia has already begun to compete with its western cousin and is heading towards a near doubling of its market share by 2020.

 Overall the microgrid market is going to be exciting to watch. Its growth and trajectory will likely flow down already visible channels, as well as in unexpected directions, as the world tackles its electricity issues, and as the microgrid infiltrates the seemingly omni-potent, but aging macrogrid.

-SBI Research Analyst, Nana Lapham

(Source: sbireports.com)

This November, I asked Scott Smith, Vice President of Global Technical Architecture for meter data management company eMeter Corporation how utilities would handle the influx of data coming their way after smart meter installations. 

According to Smith, finding the data storage and communications hardware to provide the necessary functions is not the biggest obstacle facing utilities in a smart meter project.  The telecommunications industry has already covered the difficulties with high speed data transmission and large data storage requirements far exceeding what is needed. 

The challenge, says Smith, is that utilities have to move away from the “historical model” of thinking about Smart Grid implementations from a hardware perspective.  Instead, utilities need to be thinking about Smart Grid projects from a marketing (i.e. consumer relations) standpoint and from a business process perspective. 

For comparison, let’s look at the smart meter rollouts of Toronto Hydro in Ontario, Canada and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) in California. 

Toronto Hydro focused on developing its business plan around customer communication, implementing a time-of-use pricing model and effective use of the Smart Grid data.  The strategy won the company three awards, including the Outstanding Achievement in Marketing and Communications Award from the Association for Energy Service Professionals in May 2010 for its smart meter project.

On the other hand, PG&E simply dealt with its smart meter project from the beginning as an infrastructure change.  As a result, the lack of customer outreach has caused a customer relations nightmare for the utility.  This has resulted in thousands of complaints and even a lawsuit in Bakersfield that claimed the new smart meters were not reliably reporting actual electricity use.

According to Smith, the difference is not that Toronto Hydro implemented a better system technologically, (although to be fair eMeter is the MDM for the Toronto Hydro Smart Grid project).  The difference is that Toronto Hydro took pains to ensure that the business process and customer relations were in place to properly handle the transition to implementing its Smart Grid technologies before the first smart meter was even attached to a house.

-By Norman Dechampes, analyst for SBI Energy and author of ‘The Smart Grid Utiltiy Data Market’

More> http://www.sbireports.com/Smart-Grid-Utility-2496610/

Market Insights: A Selection From The Report

WRR Around the World

There are a wide variety of water recycling and reuse (WRR) installations around the world, reflecting many degrees of investment. Often, the level of WRR involvement is directly related to need; however, this is not always the case. The types of projects implemented in a region are affected by many factors, such as population density, water availability, technological savvy, economic standing and political stability.

This chapter overviews the WRR scene around the world. For purposes of discussion, the global market is broken down into five regions: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia and Oceania. To better understand the WRR market of each area, water scarcity, precipitation levels, affects from climate change and other pertinent factors affecting the region’s water are discussed. Selected water recycling and reuse projects are also highlighted for each region.

Most Water Rich Countries

Countries that are rich in water are realizing the potential of their water resources and are positioning themselves to utilize water to their advantage. Besides, economic security, being water rich also provides military security and independence from other countries.
The top ten water rich countries, in terms of the world’s total freshwater resources, include the following:

Rainwater Harvesting Market Segment Sees 20% Growth in 2009

In the water recycling and reuse market, the total rainwater segment saw a 20% growth from 2008 to 2009, reaching $1.2 billion in 2009. Total increase in market value from 2006 to 2009 totaled over 70% growth (or an increase of $497 million), reflecting a significant incremental increase in growth each year at 18%, 19%, 19.5% and 20% respectively. The rainwater harvesting market’s industrious climb is, in part, fueled by the technology’s economic feasibility and government incentives and mandates.

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Market Insights: A Selection From The Report

Data Centers
The function of a data center is to house the infrastructure needed to store and serve vast amounts of data. These facilities house servers, storage devices, network equipment, power supplies, cooling equipment and other infrastructure. An estimated 33 million servers were in use within data centers globally in 2005. This number is expected to grow to more than 122 million by 2020.

Data centers consumed 130 billion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2005, or 0.7% of the world’s electricity generation that year. About half of the electricity consumed within a data center is used to power servers and storage devices, while approximately 45% of the electricity used by the data center is for cooling systems and the balance for operation of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Assuming no energy reduction initiatives, by 2010 electric consumption of data centers will have grown to 210 billion kilowatt hours and to 355 billion kilowatt hours by 2015. Data centers would then account for over 1.5% of projected total global electricity generation in 2015.

The forecasted energy consumption and associated carbon emissions shown in Figure 3-3 above assume no energy reduction initiatives. However, there are several technological developments and trends underway which will lead to reduced energy use within data centers. These include…

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