The push behind smart meter development

According to IHSiSuppli's China Research Special Report, China will invest 250 billion U.S. dollars in the next five years to build and develop a grid smart grid to distribute electricity and collect electricity bills more efficiently. Large-scale construction work will start next year.

China’s investment in smart grids will spur the development of smart meters, which are more advanced and can send electricity consumption data to utilities responsible for monitoring and charging. Smart meters currently account for the majority of electricity meters produced in China, accounting for 86.3% of China's single-phase electricity meters and 73.3% of polyphase electricity meters.

Overall, China's smart meter production is expected to reach 102.8 million by the end of 2011, an increase of 7.2% from 95.9 million last year. In 2015, the output of electricity meters is expected to be close to 141 million, and smart meter shipments are expected to continue to rise in the next few years, as shown in Figure 2.

The expansion of the smart grid and the deployment of more smart meters have been included in the 12th Five-Year Plan of China. The work will be led by two state-controlled transmission companies - State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid Corporation. State Grid Corporation covers 26 provinces, accounting for 88% of China's land area. China Southern Power Grid Corporation is responsible for five provinces in southern China and is connected to Hong Kong and Macau.

So far, the State Grid Corporation of China conducted five rounds of smart meter bidding in 2011. The fifth round of tenders took place at the end of November, exactly as it was written. Through these five rounds of bidding, the State Grid Corporation of China may purchase a total of approximately 68.30 million meters, of which 59.7 million are smart meters. IHS Company believes that the five rounds of bidding will exceed US$1.8 billion, and the State Grid Corporation of China stated that it will start large-scale construction from next year.

Excluding this year's bidding, the State Grid Corporation of China has invested US$ 129.7 billion in 2009-2011 and will prepare up to US$ 10.6 billion in funds for smart meter purchase bidding in the next five years.

As part of its ambitious plan, the State Grid Corporation of China plans to build six ultra high voltage (UHC) UHV transmission backbone grids before 2015, building more than 2,950 electric vehicle charging and exchanging stations and 540,000 charging piles. During this period, 6100 smart substations will be built and approximately 230 million smart meters will be deployed.

In addition to the bidding activities of the State Grid Corporation of China, the smart meter market is also strongly promoted by other factors, including the continuous growth of exports. In 2011, exports accounted for nearly one-third of the total smart meter output. This year, exports will reach 30.8 million, and domestic shipments will be 72 million.

Smart meters generally use microcontrollers (MCUs) to implement key functions. Renesas Electronics of Japan is in a dominant position in this regard, accounting for 59.8% of the share, followed by US manufacturers Microchip Technology Inc. accounted for 13.3%, Texas Instruments, 8.2%.

At the same time, China's local manufacturer Renergy Inc. is leading the measurement IC market for measuring power consumption in smart meters. Domestic manufacturers Eastsoft and Fuxing Xiaocheng control the power line communication (PLC) field and provide communication interfaces for smart meters.