A recent report by Markets and Markets focuses on electric substation automation. The report indicated that revenue growth in the market is expected to reach $48.25 billion by 2020. This would mean that a CAGR of 6.71% annually from 2013 to 2018 in the substation automation market. Another report recently released was the Global Substation Automation Market 2016 Industry Trends, Sales, Supply, Demand, Analysis & Forecast to 2021 released by QY Research Group that emphasized many of the same points.
Markets and Markets wrote: “The prominent driver for the electric power substation automation market is the outdated energy infrastructure and growing influence of a smart grid infrastructure that demands a multifunctional solution complying with advanced communication protocols.”
Smart-grid technologies were revealed to have produced a quarter of the global energy demand in 2015, according to a recent report.
The key players in the substation automation market were:
- ABB Ltd – Switzerland
- Siemens AG – Germany
- Alstom S.A. – France
- General Electric – United States
- Eaton Corporation – Ireland
- Schweitzer Engg Lab – United States
- Cisco Systems – United States
- Amperion – United States
- Schneider Electric – France
- Ingeteam – Spain
According to a separate report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) energy utilities will be investing $800 million into Internet of Things connected substation automation technologies in 2016. The investments would ensure that older substations retrofit new systems to benefit substations through automation.
The automating of substations will ensure efficiency and reliability of energy supply for utilities. Real-time analytics through Internet of Things connected technologies will also ensure that utilities can measure how efficiently they are providing their services.
IT professionals will also see more employment through utility-funded efforts into cybersecurity for automated systems. Cyber threats are very real in the substation automation market ; hackers and cyber criminals are capitalizing on the network weaknesses of internet-connected substations.