A recent Zpryme and IEEE survey of 460 global smart grid executives found that 69% believe energy storage technology and distributed generation are very important to increasing smart grid development. Half (50%) said microgrid technology was very important to the development of the smart grid.

Energy Storage

• The top three rated benefits (in terms of frequency of response) of grid-scale storage were to provide supplemental power to meet peak demands (45%), to improve power reliability (36%), and to reduce energy costs (31%).

• The type of battery chosen as highest demanded over the next five years was: lithium-ion (48%), fuel cell (27%), leadacid (6%), nickel metal hydride (5%), alkaline (3%), and potassium-ion (2%).

• When it comes to grid-scale energy storage, nearly half (45%) of respondents said North America would see the most growth over the over the next 5 years. Another 26% said Europe would grow the most over the next 5 years. Twenty-three percent said Asia – Pacific would grow the most over the next 5 years.

• Several areas were rated on their importance to deploying and/or developing grid-scale storage and the top three rated were industry R&D (84% said very important), integrating renewables such as wind and solar (68% said very important), and private/venture capital (65% said very important).

Distributed Generation

• The top three rated benefits for distributed generation were supply can be added where needed (47%), reduces costs compared with larger-scale generation facilities (37%), and power reliability is improved (36%).

• Utilities, homes (residential), and manufacturing are the top industries most likely to deploy distributed generation over the next 5 years. Forty-nine percent of executives said that utilities would be the industry most likely to deploy distributed generation, followed by the residential (46%) and manufacturing (42%) sectors.

• Thirty-two percent of respondents said Europe would see the most growth in distributed generation over the over the next 5 years. Another 26% said Asia-Pacific would grow the most over the next 5 years. Twenty-six percent also said North America would grow the most over the next 5 years.

• Several areas were rated on their importance to deploying and/or developing distributed generation and the top three rated were integrating renewables such as wind and solar (74% said very important), industry R&D (67% said very important), and standards (67% said very important).

Microgrids

• The top three rated benefits of microgrids were to meet local energy demand (49%), enhance grid reliability (36%), and ensure local control of supply (30%).

• Over the next 5 years, forty-four percent of executives said that healthcare would be the industry most likely to deploy microgrids, followed by the military (43%) and government (40%) sectors.

• Thirty-two percent of respondents said Europe would see the most growth in microgrids over the over the next 5 years. Another 31% said North America would growth the most over the next 5 years. Twenty percent said Asia- Pacific would grow the most over the next 5 years.

• Several areas were rated on their importance to deploying and/or developing microgrids and the top three rated were standards (66% said very important), industry R&D (64% said very important), and integrating renewables such as wind and solar (55% said very important).