Latin America US$30 billion smart meter market to be developed

The introduction of smart grids in the global market has brought tremendous business opportunities to smart meter companies. Recent studies have pointed out that Latin America has a potential market of 30 billion U.S. dollars in untapped smart grids, and opportunities for smart meter business development are coming.

Smart grids are poised to enter the Latin American region. Their purpose is not only to maximize energy efficiency through effective demand management, but also to achieve large-scale application of renewable energy. According to relevant statistics, for each US$1 increase in GDP of the Common Market of the South, a cost of 1 cent is needed, and most of the cost of 1 cent is not due to the maintenance of power generation or transmission and distribution. Therefore, the need for smart grid management becomes very important.

In terms of demand management, South America presents great opportunities. The use of new smart grid technologies provided by power companies for network upgrades will bring positive impact and benefits to many customers. Tel-Co Consulting believes that the application of a smart grid upgrade network in the Southern Common Market will first require the deployment of smart meters and communication networks. The investment for this facility is approximately US$250 per residential user. Currently, multinationals such as Cisco, IBM, ITRON, Ezerson, Oracle, and Siemens are all targeting opportunities in the Latin American market: a smart grid potential market worth about $30 billion and almost untapped, where they can sell Equipment, software, and knowhow.

According to the Brazilian Electric Power Distributors Association, the greatest investment will be in the power distribution sector in Brazil, and the investment in smart grid deployment will exceed 20 billion U.S. dollars. At the same time, major service companies are also studying smart grid solutions, and the functional departments are discussing the new regulatory framework. Based on the advantages of the smart grid, it is expected that the loss caused by long-distance transmission on the electric network (currently Brazil's long-distance transmission power loss is about 18%) will be reduced by half. On the Other hand, Electrobras Group hopes to develop a simplified method that can transform the power grid on the island of Palintus into a 100% intelligent system through the Parintins plan.

In addition, Enel, through its subsidiary, Endesa, launched a pilot project in Brazil to install smart meters for telecommunications, which has taken the lead in the smart grid field in Latin America. The Italian national power company is the first power company in the world to introduce remote management technology for power needs. At present, the company has installed about 30 million smart meters in Italy, which helps users manage their own energy consumption through smart meters, especially during the peak period of electricity use, which can stabilize the power system.

Although the technical capabilities of domestic smart meter companies are different from those of foreign countries, and then they are aimed at market demands, the production of products that best meet the market needs is the most critical, and the most advanced may not be the most suitable. Domestic smart meter companies want to eat this "big cake" will work hard.