Navigant: Global spending on integrated distributed energy resources to grow tenfold over next decade

Thursday December 12, 2019 Tags: Boulder, Navigant Research, Brett Feldman, IDER

BOULDER -- Integrated distributed energy resource (IDER) spending is expected to grow more than tenfold over the next decade totaling almost $4.8 billion by 2028, according to a new report from Navigant Research.

The report examines the market for IDER programs for utilities and energy suppliers, including forecasts, segmented by program, technology type, and world region, through 2028. 

Several utility-led pilot programs have explored the potential of IDER, controlled in aggregate, to provide valuable grid services. IDER programs actively manage energy through the integration and coordination of one or more of the following: energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, energy storage, and electric vehicles (EVs). 

“The rising penetration of renewable resources is making the load flexibility provided by IDER increasingly valuable,” said Brett Feldman, Navigant research director.

“Financial and regulatory drivers, like renewables balancing grid services, deferred capital cost, and governmental mandates, are pushing utilities and energy suppliers to explore and implement IDER.”

At the same time, several market barriers remain that need to be addressed to allow IDER to graduate from pilots to larger-scale deployment, the report notes.

Key obstacles include DER performance measurement, regulatory rules that do not allow for DER, DER communication and interoperability, a separation of demand side management (DSM) programs, and different vendors and financing mechanisms for different DER.

The report, Integrated DER Programs for Utilities and Energy Suppliers, analyzes the IDER program market for utilities and energy suppliers. The study examines drivers behind the newly developing business models for IDER as well as implementation challenges.

Market forecasts, segmented by program and technology type, extend through 2028 for all world markets. The report also provides recommendations for both utilities and suppliers looking to expand their offerings in the evolving IDER space.

An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the Navigant website.