BOULDER, CO—Fueled by the growth of distributed generation and the desire of consumers and businesses to move toward greater independence in their use of electricity, the microgrid concept has moved steadily toward the mainstream in the last few years.

The main technology components of microgrids have made significant headway, and Navigant Research's analysis indicates that the key to future growth in the microgrid market now rests with greater creativity in both the public policy and business model arenas. According to a recent report from Navigant Research, worldwide installations of microgrid capacity will grow from 866 megawatts in 2014 to more than 4,100 megawatts by 2020.

“The pace of microgrid deployments has accelerated rapidly around the world, in a variety of application segments,” says Peter Asmus, principal research analyst with Navigant Research. “In the United States, in particular, the increasing frequency of severe weather is prompting utilities to reconsider their historic opposition to customer-owned microgrids that can disconnect from the larger grid and continue to function, allowing critical mission functions to stay up and running.”

North America is currently the largest region for microgrids today, and will likely continue to be through 2020, according to the report. The Asia Pacific region, however, will likely emerge as the global leader for microgrid deployments by 2030 or 2035, due to the immense need for power for growing populations not served by traditional grid infrastructure. Nearly 2,800 megawatts of microgrid capacity will be installed in Asia Pacific from 2014 to 2020, the report finds.

The report, Microgrids, analyzes the global market for microgrids in five key segments (commercial/industrial, community/utility, campus/institutional, military, and remote) and two new subsegments (grid-tied utility distribution microgrids and direct current microgrids). The report provides an analysis of the market issues, including business cases, opportunities, and implementation challenges, associated with microgrids. Global market forecasts for capacity and revenue, broken out by scenario, segment, region, country, and U.S. state, extend through 2020. The report also examines the main technologies related to microgrids, identifies nine different business models applicable to microgrid development, and profiles key market players. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant Research website.

Navigant Research, the dedicated research arm of Navigant, provides market research and benchmarking services for rapidly changing and often highly regulated industries. In the energy sector, Navigant Research focuses on in-depth analysis and reporting about global clean technology markets.

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Microgrid Installations to Increase Fivefold, Says Navigant Research

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