According to a new report by Pike Research, Remote Microgrids, the worldwide market for remote microgrids over the next six years will expand from 349MW of generation capacity to over 1.1GW by 2017. The catalyst behind the increase will be the integration of solar PV, which Pike advised would help reduce diesel fuel consumption.
The postulated growth for the microgrid sector is set to provide projected revenue for the market, according to Pike’s average forecast scenario, of over US$10.2 billion by 2017. Even if the global economy does not see recovery by 2017, Pike notes that a conservative scenario still sees the results topping out around US$4.5 billion.
“The global remote microgrid segment is the most attractive of all microgrid segments from a revenue perspective,” says senior analyst Peter Asmus. “Recent research – also reflected in Pike Research’s recently updated Microgrid Deployment Tracker – indicates that this sector is far more robust than previously reported and with solar PV prices continuing to decline, is poised for substantial growth, even without government incentives.”
Since developing countries amount to nearly 80% of the world’s population, yet only consume 30% of global commercially traded energy supplies, they will represent the top prospective market for remote microgrids over the next few years. Additionally, Pike Research notes that major financial support for remote micro girds is being provided by the United Nations, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other organizations such as the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Bill Gates Foundation.
Remote Microgrids takes a look into the global market opportunity for remote microgrids in different key segments including village power systems, weak grid island systems, industrial remote mine systems and mobile military microgrids. Pike Research studied the market issues and demand drivers that go along with the adoption of microgrids for remote applications, assessed technology and implementation issues and profiled the front-runners in the growing market.
