Urgent power supply issues driving microgrids in Asia Pacific
May 19, 2014 | By
Barbara Vergetis Lundin
Rising renewable energy capacity and electricity consumption in the Asia Pacific region has given rise to the demand for microgrids and the number of microgrid projects deployed in Asia Pacific, both for electrification and as experimental test beds, according to Navigant Research. Inspired by demand from consumers and recent economic development, remote microgrids will show strong growth through 2023 in emerging countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Further, some of the developed nations, including Australia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, will pursue technology development and pilot projects in the next few years and deploy diverse applications, especially in the commercial/industrial, campus/institutional, and community/utility microgrid segments. This will push annual grid-tied and remote microgrid capacity in these countries from 37 MW in 2013 to 597.3 MW in 2023, Navigant predicts. Several of the most heavily populated countries in the region, including China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are experiencing unprecedented rates of rural electrification. Meeting the increased demand for both power and grid services will require microgrids that are capable of operating in isolation from (or in the absence of) the wider power grid, Navigant contends. Developing countries in Asia Pacific, in particular, face urgent issues related to power supply, including weak central grids, shortages of generation capacity, inefficient distribution systems, and uneconomic state-owned power utilities. "Developed countries in Asia Pacific are actively pursuing community-based and commercial/industrial microgrid projects," said Peter Asmus, principal research analyst with Navigant Research. "It will take a few years to gather and analyze data on financing models and technology issues from the pilot projects and commercial installations underway today. But there is no question that microgrids will play a vital role in the ongoing economic transformation in the region." For more: Related Article: © 2014 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex Media Group LLC. All rights reserved. |