The State Grid Corporation of China’s (SGCC) size is mind-boggling. It supplies power to 88% of China and serves an area populated by over 1 billion people. At the end of 2011, SGCC had 286 million customers. Leveraging its huge size and ability to start building Smart Grid technology into its transmission infrastructure from scratch rather than retrofitting an antiquated system, it is not only the driving force behind China’s efforts to build a nationwide Smart Grid, but also for China’s push to be the world leader in developing a large-scale Smart Grid system. According to the SGCC, only 36 million smart meters have been installed as of 2011, but they have an ambitious plan to install over 300 million smart meters by the end of 2015. The sheer enormity of the state-owned transmission company, coupled with streamlined regulatory processes designed to promote rapid construction without barriers typical in further developed countries are among the key reasons that China is the largest, most important market for Smart Grid development in the world.

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