SCADA devices to pass $1.5 Billion by 2020

Utilities have a growing interest in smart grid investments that reach beyond meter reading and extend to automation technologies that actively monitor transmission and distribution T&D grids and take autonomous action to improve reliability and efficiency. Supervisory control and data acquisition SCADA devices, which operate at substations and individual distribution feeders, are key elements of this shift. According to a recent report from Pike Research, a part of NavigantÂ’s Energy Practice, revenue from T&D SCADA devices will grow from $913 million in 2012 to more than $1.5 billion in 2020.

“SCADA devices perform a wide range of data collection, sharing, and coordinated control actions that make grids more efficient and reliable,” says senior research analyst Bob Lockhart. “As the global utility market emerges from pilot deployments into large-scale smart grid implementations, those vendors that solve those problems, while also enabling utilities to meet tougher sustainability mandates, will be in an enviable position.”

Providers of SCADA systems are making research and development investment choices today that will likely determine which vendors emerge as tomorrowÂ’s leaders in smart grid automation. While vendors are working hard to address the needs of utilities, a gap is emerging between vendorsÂ’ understanding of the market and utilitiesÂ’ perceptions of their needs, according to the report. Utilities are focused on basic outage reduction and reliability improvements, while vendors are reaching toward more advanced capabilities associated with distribution optimization.

The report, “Smart Grid SCADA Systems”, examines the T&D substation SCADA market by number of projects, transmission vs. distribution applications, and device type. Worldwide and regional forecasts are provided for different device types and communication protocols, factoring in dissimilar approaches to distribution grid design in different regions of the world. Substation servers, data concentrators, gateways, remote terminal units, intelligent electronic devices, distributed input/output and pole top/pad mount switch controllers are all discussed, with unit and revenue forecasts through 2020.

The market trends for SCADA protocols and the devices that use these protocols for automation at the substation and feeder levels are all discussed in detail. Profiles of key industry players are included, as well. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Pike Research website.