The intense focus on smart grid cyber security from utilities, infrastructure vendors, standards bodies, and world governments is spurring a surge in revenue growth, and the cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that the sector will increase from $1.2 billion in 2009 to $3.7 billion by 2015, according to a new report from Pike Research.
During the period from 2010 to 2015, Pike Research anticipates that a total of approximately $21 billion will be invested in global smart grid cyber security deployments.
According to Pike Research, as utilities around the world have initiated major smart grid infrastructure upgrades over the past several years, cyber security has become a critical priority. Security measures are designed to protect the electrical grid from attacks by terrorists and hackers, as well as strengthening its resilience against natural disasters and inadvertent threats such as equipment failures and user errors.
Pike Research forecasts that equipment protection and configuration management will be the largest security category over the next several years. Among smart grid applications, the firm expects that the greatest investments will go into cyber security for distribution automation (DA) and transmission upgrades, followed by security measures for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters.
Clint Wheelock, managing director of Pike Research, said: “No utility wants to be the weak link in the chain. The concern over grid vulnerability is driving utility technologists to work closely with systems integrators, infrastructure suppliers, and standards bodies to develop a robust framework for smart grid cyber security across multiple domains.”
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