More than $14 billion will be invested in microgrid controls technologies within the next decade, according to a new report released by research firm Guidehouse Insights.
The research firm predicts that the total annual microgrid controls spending starts at $551.5 million in 2020, increasing to almost $2.8 billion annually by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.8%.
The success of the microgrid market rests on the shoulders of digital control platforms that can orchestrate diverse distributed energy resources (DER) into a single optimised aggregation system.
Although the costly items for any microgrid are investments in DER assets, the key to project performance and the extraction value from these same assets are the controls, which often represent less than 10% or even 5% of total projects’ cost, says the study.
For many microgrid controls platforms, emphasis is shifting from hardware devices and on-premise gateways to software and customisation performed in the cloud. As with other microgrid trends, such as a recent focus on modular offerings with standardised hardware components, the market continues to shift and grow in diversity, application, and purpose.
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The report shows that overall spending on microgrid controls is less in 2020 than previous forecasts showed but grows faster in revenue over the forecast horizon due to shifts in technology choices favoring cloud-native software.
Peter Asmus, research director with Guidehouse Insights, said: “Microgrid controls technologies are ever-evolving and vary widely.
“Most often a combination of hardware and software, these controls systems are the orchestrator marshaling generation, storage, and loads to bolster resiliency and optimize DER assets to meet prescribed economic and environmental goals.”
Learn more about the report.
