Smart grids have become rampant in the US with new government policies and grants, but Canada is beginning to set its sights on the technology. A new report by GlobalData said that the US market’s early onset of incorporating smart grid technology varies greatly to Canada’s more cautious approach which focuses more on an environmental standpoint.
In contrast to the US, who will be reaching saturation of smart meter systems by 2014, smart meter deployment in Canada doesn’t follow any set pattern, and is primarily driven by projects initiated by utilities. However, an increasing demand for energy efficiency and grid reliability is leading to development of the demand response market as Canada is poised for its annual demand response capacity to be multiplied nearly 20 times by 2020 compared to 2011 levels. Over the past few years, a number of demand response programs have been introduced to encourage peak load reduction in the country, and these, alongside an extended use of microgrids, will drive the market for demand response in Canada.
Secondly, the growing market for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) is expected to help Canada adapt to smart grid technology. Currently, the BEV market in North America is at the introductory stage, growing at a CAGR of 29% between 2011 and 2020, but the electric vehicle market in Canada is already very competitive, with a number of vendors fighting for market shares in a market expected to grow at a CAGR of 81% during the same period. Canadian enthusiasm for electric vehicles follows concerns for the environment, and the need to reduce dependency on oil as an energy source.
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