Market Trends of Vacuum Interrupter Industry
Growth of Smart Electricity Grid Infrastructure to Drive the Market
- In many countries, electric infrastructure is aging, and it is being pushed to do more than it was originally designed for. Globally, the power generation and transmission sectors are witnessing a trend of modernizing the grid to make it smarter and more resilient using advanced technologies, equipment, and controls. Smart grids are able to communicate and work together to deliver electricity more efficiently and reliably. These grids can vastly reduce the duration and frequency of power outages, reduce storm impacts, and restore service at a faster rate when outages occur.
- For instance, the United States Department of Energy launched the Grid Modernization Initiative (GMI) a few years back. It is a comprehensive effort to help shape the future of the US grid infrastructure.
- Governments of both developed and emerging countries across the world are increasingly seeing smart grid technology as a strategic infrastructural investment that will enable sustainable long-term economic prosperity and aid them in achieving carbon emission reduction targets. This trend is expected to provide opportunities to the companies involved in the smart grid network market in the near future.
- Vacuum interrupter technology is used for repetitive switching, fault protection, overcurrent, and short-circuit protection; hence, it allows greater control. Such controls are automated for greater efficiency.
- Moreover, as more renewable and distributed energy sources are integrated into smart grids, monitoring and measurement become essential to balancing supply and demand. The vacuum interrupter industry depends on the extension of crucial infrastructures and the increase in grid automation. Therefore, smart grids are expected to drive market growth.
- Moreover, in September 2022, the US Department of Energy announced a USD 10.5 billion program for smart grids and other upgrades to strengthen the country’s electricity grid. The grid resilience funding will be in the form of grants to support activities to modernize the grid to reduce the impacts due to extreme weather and natural disasters.
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Asia-Pacific to Witness Significant Growth
- The Asia-Pacific region has experienced significant growth in power plant installation projects, particularly in major countries such as India, Japan, and China. However, many utilities in the region are facing challenges in acquiring new ways to install transmission lines, especially within urban areas.
- To optimize power capacity and enable the integration of renewable energy, new load break switches need to be installed, with the gas-insulated type gaining popularity due to its longer life cycles and smaller size of the switchgear system. As countries in the region focus on large-scale renewable energy projects, the gas-insulated type is expected to grow in popularity among the different types of circuit breaker switches.
- For example, the Philippines recently opened applications for renewable energy projects under the third Open and Competitive Selection Process (OCSP3), allowing for 100% foreign participation in large-scale geothermal exploration, development, and utilization projects. Similarly, Indonesia plans to increase the portion of new and renewable energy-based power plants from 30% to 48% within 2021-2030, according to a draft electric power supply business plan (RUPTL) of the state electricity company (PLN).
- As the region's transformation continues, smart grid roadmaps are expected to become more popular, along with increased spending in distributed generation and utility IT and analytics markets. The presence of several rural areas in India without a stable power supply and recent electrification initiatives are expected to increase the emphasis on providing power to these areas, contributing to the demand for circuit breaker switches.
- In addition, utilities face pressure to deploy remote grid access as a major agenda, as they cannot afford personnel to visit remote sites to open circuit break switches and fuse switches during outages. Remote power generation projects also contribute to the growth of the circuit switch markets.
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