Smart Metering in Asia-Pacific 7th Edition

Smart metering is widely regarded as the cornerstone for future smart grids and is currentlybeing deployed all over the developed world, with a growing number of large-scale initiativesnow also being launched in developing countries. Asia-Pacific constitutes the world’s largestmetering market by far with more than 1.8 billion electricity and gas customers – more than NorthAmerica and Europe combined. Annual demand for electricity meters in the region is in the rangeof 130–180 million units, of which China accounts for roughly half. The region saw a wave ofmassive smart metering projects being launched during the first half of the past decade andseveral utilities in the region are now preparing for rollouts of second-generation meters to takeoff, driven by new smart meter functionalities and smart energy use cases. Other markets inSouth and Southeast Asia are on the other hand just beginning their smart metering journeys,following in the footsteps of the leading markets in East Asia.

Berg Insight forecasts that the installed base of smart electricity meters in Asia-Pacific – definedas China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Bangladesh, India, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia,Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand – will growat a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8 percent throughout the forecast period, from857.6 million in 2024 to nearly 1.3 billion in 2030. Shipments will to a large extent be driven byfirst-wave installations in India as well as by replacements of first-generation meters in China andJapan, while emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia will contribute with increasingvolumes throughout the forecast period. In total, Berg Insight forecasts that around 924.7 millionsmart electricity meters will be shipped in Asia Pacific during 2025–2030. The installed base ofsmart gas metering endpoints in the region is at the same time expected to grow at a CAGR of10.9 percent throughout the forecast period, from 237.1 million in 2024 to 442.2 million in 2030.China accounts for the vast majority of the market, both in terms of installed base and annualshipment volumes, although emerging markets are expected to account for a significant increasein annual shipments throughout the forecast period. India for example aims to increase thenumber of piped natural gas connections more than ninefold – from around 14 million in 2024 tomore than 125 million in 2034.

East Asia – defined as China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – has led the adoption of smartmetering technology in Asia-Pacific with ambitious national rollouts and today accounts foraround 91 percent of the installed base of smart electricity meters in the region. The rollouts ofsmart electricity meters in China and Japan are now complete. The nationwide rollout in SouthKorea has suffered a number of delays and the national utility KEPCO now aims to complete therollout by the end of 2025. Taiwan is the least mature market in East Asia and boasts an installed base of just 3.4 million smart meters. In China and Japan, replacements of first-generation smartmeters have already begun and will dominate shipment volumes in the region in the comingyears. East Asia also constitutes the leading adopter of smart gas metering technology in Asia-Pacific, accounting for nearly all installed devices and forecasted shipment volumes in thecoming years.

South Asia – defined as India and Bangladesh – will constitute the fastest growing smartelectricity metering market in Asia-Pacific throughout the forecast period with ambitiousgovernmental initiatives now in place in both India and Bangladesh. The former has for exampleset a highly ambitious target of reaching 250 million installed smart prepayment meters by 2026– a target that will however not be met. Berg Insight anticipates that the installed base of smartelectricity meters in South Asia will grow at a CAGR of 52.4 percent throughout the forecastperiod, reaching 324.5 million units installed in 2030.Southeast Asia – defined as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, BruneiDarussalam and the Philippines – on the other hand remains the most nascent smart meteringmarket in Asia-Pacific, although some countries have made notable progress with major projectsnow underway. Singapore is on track to complete its nationwide rollout within the next year, whilethe main utility in Malayasia is in the midst of a large-scale deployment. The small country ofBrunei is at the same time rolling out smart prepayment meters for all electricity customers. Themain utilities in Indonesia and Thailand are by contrast at the very beginning of their large-scalesmart metering implementation plans while the leading utilities in the Philippines have similarambitions. In Vietnam, the national utility has rolled out basic remote metering technologies foryears with a vision to eventually transition to more advanced technologies. Australasia – definedas Australia and New Zealand – is characterised by a market-driven and retailer-led approach tosmart metering. In the case of Australia, however, recent changes to the regulatory frameworkhave strengthened the role of mandated deployment over market forces. More than half of allsmart meters in Australia are now smart while New Zealand has reached a natural saturation ofmore than 90 percent with second-generation installations now about to take off.The markets in Asia-Pacific are largely dominated by local or regional players and only a fewcompanies such as Landis+Gyr, Itron, EDMI (Osaki Electric) and Trilliant have managed toestablish a notable presence in multiple markets across the region. In terms of smart metercommunications, domestic PLC technologies dominate the electricity markets in China andSouth Korea while RF mesh is the main option in Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Cellularcommunications has meanwhile emerged as the dominant technology in Australasia as well asin India, where RF mesh also has a significant market share. The LPWA technologies NB-IoT,LTE-M, LoRa and Sigfox have at the same time emerged as the favoured options for smart gasmetering projects across Asia-Pacific, although major regional differences exist.