GMT Research - The Smart Grid in Europe
2012-2016: Technologies, Market Forecasts and Utility Profiles
The strategies for engaging electricity markets in
Europe are undergoing dramatic shifts; market liberalization and utility
unbundling have promoted a wave of mergers and acquisitions, as well as a crop
of new electric service providers across the continent. Within these new terms
of engagement, the smart grid is emerging as a major focus for regulators and
an opportunity for industry players, as Europe aims to optimize its
renewables growth and nascent electric vehicle (EV) charging station
deployment, as well as to achieve greater efficiency at the consumer level.
By 2016, GTM Research forecasts €6.8 billion per year
in smart grid investment in Europe. The market segments receiving the bulk of
this investment will be Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), Distribution
Automation (DA), EVs and Utility Enterprise (IT systems). Currently, AMI is the
most developed segment. GTM Research analyzes how utilities within each country
are negotiating further deployment and triangulating between policy, in-house
business cases and the consumer's role to enable industry growth.