Major Government Roll Outs Broadening the Scope of the smart gas meters at a global level

Published On: February 2018

Smart Gas Meter: Market Introduction

Smart gas meters have increasingly substituted existing meters. Smart gas meters are helpful tools for the end users as provide energy efficiency, monitoring and enables the end users to keep on top of the gas bills. Smart meters provide a two way communication between the meter and the central system. With numerous advantages over traditional gas meters such as energy efficiency and conservation, smart gas meters market has witnessed a significant growth in recent times.

Significant increase in government roll out of smart gas meters in households and commercial application (relatively controlled) in recent times to spread awareness regarding smart and efficient usage and production of energy has been a key growth factor for the smart gas meter market. EU alone has made big strides in the government roll outs with 1.5 million smart gas meter already installed in households. United States and Asia-Pacific are other prominent regions with immense scope of development in smart gas meters market with government mandates playing a significant role. Major players such as Elster, GE Energy, Itron, Landis+Gyr, and Sensus are playing a significant role in the development of significant infrastructure required for the implementation of smart grids at ground level.

Although the smart gas meters market has witnessed a significant growth in recent times there still exists a lack of global implementation of the smart gas meter approach which results in tremendous future scope.

Major promotion of smart gas meters by the government has resulted in a successful conclusion of the first phase of smart gas meter implementation in many countries. There is still a long way to go to make this initiative customer friendly.

One such problem is the adaptability of smart gas meters. Most of the smart gas meters are effectively trapped with their energy supplier. The gadgets are supposed to record household energy use every 30 minutes and send this information directly to energy companies, meaning customers pay only for the energy they use. The smart meters installed in the households are not adaptable to the rival supplier’s connections. Switching suppliers would result in the meter being no longer “Smart”, but would revert back to a dumb mode which is no different from the traditional meters we have been using for decades.

Lack of significant infrastructure has been a key reason for this problem. The problem will be solved only with the introduction of a new centralized communications network, due in April 2016, according to the Government.

Focus on customer service and government mandates: Key Driver

Government mandates are another source of increasing demand acting as a market driver. Government policies specifically in United States, EU and Asia-Pacific region are targeting maximum roll outs of smart gas meters in households to ensure efficient energy usage. The development of smart grids is widely considered to be a key enabler of the transition towards a low carbon economy.

Smart meters are the next generation of gas and electricity meters and offer a range of intelligent functions. Most of the smart meters that are being installed today use mobile phone-Product signals to send meter readings to your supplier, and other wireless technologies to send information to the in-home display. The data received by the supplier is then analyzed to get a comprehensive picture of the energy consumption estimate.

Need for efficient energy usage and conservation of energy has induced a significant demand in the smart gas meter which enables the customers to be on top of their energy consumption and production

Tapping the new opportunities

Developing nations specifically the Asia-Pacific region has been instrumental in the growth of the smart gas meter market. Recent investment in the manufacturing sector in this region has been boosting the demand for smart gas meters. Increasing population also increases the scope for household application. Growing demand for energy efficiency in this region combined with the sheer population is expected to be a major opportunity for the smart gas meter industry. With china already pushing for massive smart gas and energy meter government rolls outs and other favorable policies such as make in India are expected to attract significant investments from major manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region during the forecast period.

The smart gas meter market is becoming increasing attractive for investors to invest in. Significant investment in Research and Development to develop new technology can further deepen the scope for this market. Establishment of an appropriate infrastructure for the big government roll outs is also essential which can only be done in time through technological development. There exists a major lack of specific infrastructure for smart gas meters as majority of the countries in the Asia-pacific region still resort to traditional methods of gas metering which is expected to be a major hurdle during the growth of the smart gas meter industry.