Smart meters have become well-known for their role in electric utilities' smart grid deployments, but a lesser known trend is the increasing importance of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for gas utilities. The global gas utility market is following in the footsteps of the electric smart grid industry in updating networks, communications, metering devices, pilot programs, and ultimately deployments of smart gas meters. According to a new report from Pike Research, the global installed base of smart gas meters will grow quickly over the next several years, increasing from just 8.5 million in 2009 to 36.3 million by 2016.
"The natural gas grid has been referred to as 'the other grid', taking the back seat while the electric smart grid receives significant attention," says research analyst Jevan Fox. "Although not in the spotlight - and receiving zero funding from the federal stimulus bill - the smart gas grid is becoming an area of increasing focus for utilities, especially combo-utilities with both electric and gas assets."
Fox adds that some of the key drivers that are motivating gas utilities to complete an AMI rollout include:
- Reduction in meter reading labor costs
- Increase in meter reading frequency and accuracy
- Outage detection
- Power quality monitoring, outage prevention, and load planning
- Theft prevention
- Remote disconnect
- Cathodic protection analysis
Pike Research forecasts that Europe will be the largest regional market for smart gas meters, with 13.5 million units installed by 2016. North America will be the second-largest region with 12.2 million smart gas meters in the same timeframe. Asia Pacific and Latin America are also important regions for gas AMI, especially given the rapid growth of gas infrastructure and customers in key countries.
SOURCE: Pike Research