Smart meter is a device used for recording use of electrical, gas, and water energy. Smart meter interfaces with supplier to communicate the information for monitoring and billing. Smart meters commonly record energy hourly or more often, and report at least daily. It features display screen, which displays consumption of energy in real-time and provide estimated bills. Smart meter is an advanced version of conventional metering system and uses mobile technology to send readings automatically. It is one of the many components of the smart grid that manages energy distribution and consumption through Internet to bring an existence of bi-directional communication, coordination, and control. Smart meter may use one of the two types of network, which include standard mobile phone network and mesh network. Smart meters are used in building automation system to control over heating, ventilation, and air conditioning as per the energy consumption requirements.

Factors Driving Growth of the Global Smart Meter Market

Growing demand for accurate billing and increasing efforts towards energy conservation is expected to fuel growth of the global smart meter market. Smart meter digitally sends readings to the energy supplier for more accurate energy bills. It allows the consumer to take control on energy use, so that consumers can save energy for other purposes such as in industries and medical equipment. Smart meter helps the environment by reducing the need to build power plants or avoiding the use of older, less efficient power plants as consumers lower their electric demand. The benefits of having smart meter is when suppliers have a better understanding of usage patterns, more innovations can be made to the types of tariffs energy supplier offers.

Favourable government policies along with fiscal incentives are key factors driving growth of the smart meter market. According to Smart Energy GB, the government has set the target that by the end of 2020, around 53 million smart meters will be fitted in over 30 million premises across wales, Scotland, and England. Installation of smart meter is already underway. More than 11 million smart meters have now been installed. This is the biggest national infrastructure project that will enable a more energy efficient system for Great Britain. By 2020, every household in Great Britain will be able to use smart meter technology to see how much energy is consumed.

Factors Restraining Growth of the Global Smart Meter Market

Concerns over security and privacy of the data as smart meters are also being used as a surveillance device hampers their adoption. Operational cost of the industry is expected to be affected by the full metering programme. These meters require regular maintenance, and replacement, which is expected to lower their adoption among price-sensitive users.

Global Smart Meter Market: Regional Analysis

On the basis of geography, the global smart meter market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.

North America contributed the largest share in the smart meter market due to huge market demand in the U.S. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2016, the U.S. electric utilities had around 70.8 million Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) installations and around 80% of the AMI installations were residential. The country is majorly focused on upgrading and replacing outdated infrastructure of smart meter, enabling grid reliability, and installing smart power networks.

Asia Pacific is expected to witness significant growth in the smart meter market due to supportive government initiatives toward the implementation of smart meters. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), China exceeded the US in federal smart grid subsidies for the first time in 2010, with over US$ 7.3 billion invested compared to US$ 7.1 billion in the U.S. Growing residential sector with increasing number of water connection is in turn driving growth of smart meters market. According India Smart Utility Week 2019, Government of India plans to implement 14 smart Grid pilot projects by 2019.

Global Smart Meter Market: Key Players

Some of the key players operating in the global smart meter market include Schneider Electric, Siemens AG, Honeywell International, Inc., Itron Inc., Sensus , Elster Group GmbH , Landis+Gyr , Badger Meter, Inc., EDMI Limited, and Sentec.

Global Smart Meter Market: Taxonomy

The global smart meter market is segmented on the basis of technology, type, application, and region

On the basis of type, the global smart meter market is segmented into:

Smart Energy Meters
Smart Water Meters
Smart Gas Meters

On basis of application, the global smart meter market is segmented into:

Industrial
Commercial
Residential

On the basis of technology, the global smart meter market is segmented into:

Automatic Meter Reading (AMR)
Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI)

On the basis of region, the global smart meter market is segmented into:

North America
Europe
Asia Pacific
Latin America
Middle East
Africa

Global Smart Meter Market: Key Developments

In June 2019, Expleo, the technology partner for innovative companies, announced the launch of its Smart Services, a new testing service for smart meter systems.
In October 2018, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) installed around 270,000 new smart meters across Dubai, to develop smart infrastructure for electricity transmission and distribution networks.
In December 2018, VIA, a leader in solving energy industry problems using artificial intelligence and blockchain, announced its partnership with KWHCoin, a blockchain-based solution that integrates renewable energy and distributed energy resources into the grid. This partnership will help to securely analyze smart meter data for utility clean energy incentive programs
In February 2016, E.ON SE, a German electric utility company partnered with global technology company Siemens to develop smart metering technology in Germany.
In February 2015, Landis+Gyr, global provider of energy management solutions, and Ericsson, global technology communications and services provider, created a partnership to address the Middle East’s Smart Metering and Smart Grid transformation projects.

About Author

Ankur Rai is a Research Consultant with over 5 years of experience in handling consulting and syndicated reports across diverse sectors. He manages consulting and market research projects centered on go-to-market strategy, opportunity analysis, competitive landscape, and market size estimation and forecasting. He also advises clients on identifying and targeting absolute opportunities to penetrate untapped markets.