Due to expected infrastructure development prior to the FIFA World Cup, Brazil’s smart meter market revenue will increase more than tenfold, from $36m in 2013 to $432m by 2020, at an impressive Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 43%, forecasts research and consulting firm GlobalData.
According to the company’s latest report, Brazil is leading the way in terms of smart grid investment and development in South America. The main market drivers are the need to upgrade grid reliability and power outages, as well as to improve the integration of renewable energy generation into the system, reducing per-capita power consumption.
Additionally, with power theft reaching as high as 20% in some Brazilian regions, local utilities are currently pursuing investments in smart meters, as the technology provides a simpler way for companies to track such activity.
Sowmyavadhana Srinivasan, GlobalData's Senior Analyst covering Power, says: “Brazil’s National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) was expected to mandate the roll-out of smart meters in the country to achieve its objective of better energy efficiency. However, the agency simply defined a set of rules and norms, which indirectly requires the roll-out of smart meters by utilities instead.
“Furthermore, ANEEL has introduced a policy requiring utilities to supply precise geographic information regarding the location of cables, transformers and customer metering points. It is also planning to implement a net metering system, which would enable customers to connect their micro-generation system to the Brazilian power grid with ease.”
However, major market restraints remain in the region, such as bureaucracy and non-transparency, which could harm the protection of investor interest and the enforcement of contracts, according to GlobalData.
