International smart meter rollouts speed up

October 22, 2013 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

In North America, the first wave of smart meter deployments has crested as government-funded programs wrap up. Many large North American utilities have completed their smart meter rollouts as part of smart grid upgrades over the last few years, and are now pursuing greater efficiency and reliability through data analytics and IT improvements. In other developed countries, however, major utilities are still in the early phases of smart meter deployments. In fact, worldwide smart meter shipments for the first 6 months of 2013 reached 51.4 million, according to Navigant Research.

Three Pagodas, Yunnan, China. Credit: Swordqui/Wikimedia Commons

"The pace of smart meter deployments in North America continues to slow, as smart metering projects that had been fueled by U.S. federal stimulus money come to an end," said Neil Strother, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. "At the same time, smart meter projects in Europe, particularly in France, are poised to accelerate in coming quarters, while in Asia Pacific, China is aggressively rolling out smart meters and Japan is moving closer to large-scale deployments."

No other country is likely to come close to China's frantic pace of deployments over the next few years, even as the country also faces an overall slowdown in its economy. The number of smart meter shipments there increased by 31.2 percent from 4Q 2012 to 1Q 2013, according to Navigant. Smart meters are an important part of the country's bid to modernize its infrastructure, and leadership is determined to push ahead and Navigant expects the country to maintain this pace over the next few years.

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