Aug. 6, 2004 – InfoNetrix ( www.InfoNetrix.com ), a leading technical market research firm focused on utility automation and information technology markets, continues to report strong project activity – 270 projects valued at $100.5 million – in its recently published Q2-2004 Business Horizons™ Reports.
The popular reports, published each calendar quarter by InfoNetrix, identify project activity in three principal automation sectors within the North American electric utility marketplace, as summarized below.
* RTAC (Real-Time Automation & Control) includes projects for…* SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition)* EMS (energy management systems)* DMS (distribution management systems)* DA (distribution automation)* RTUs (remote terminal units) and RTU-like field devices* Communications Systems* Professional Consulting Services * GFAS (Geospatial & Field Automation Solutions) includes projects for…* GIS (geographic information systems)* AM/FM (automated mapping/facilities management) systems* Mobile Computing Systems* Critical Field Applications, including OMS and WMS* Professional Engineering & System Integration Services* Conversion Services * IEDS (Intelligent Electronic Device Solutions) includes projects for…* Protection & Control Devices (protective relays & associated control equipment)* Analytical & Diagnostic Devices (digital fault & data loggers/recorders; power quality analyzers; etc.)* Smart Apparatus (intelligent switches, breakers, regulators, sectionalizers; auto-restoration devices; etc.)* Field Data Devices (RTUs; substation controllers/gateways; other RTU-like devices) InfoNetrix analysts called and interviewed managers at over 250 electric utilities during the April through June survey period.
It should be noted that InfoNetrix Business Horizons™ Reports address a 30-month planning horizon for each utility surveyed. This means that the projects identified in this second quarterly report will likely be initiated between now and winter 2006. Each quarter InfoNetrix analysts survey 200-300 new utilities with a total of 1,000 utilities surveyed each calendar year. “The Q2-2004 survey results indicate that the growth in planned project activity identified in 2003 is continuing into 2004, a positive indication that utilities are investing in their core business and maintaining and improving their T&D infrastructure control and management capabilities,” said Ed Finamore, the InfoNetrix Electric Utility Practice Area Manager.
“Initially, we thought last year’s planned project activity increases might have been a temporary upsurge from the market doldrums of 2002, but now we are seeing sustainable increases over the longer term,” Finamore concluded.The RTAC and IEDS reports also identify utility plans to procure over 9,900 RTUs, including 1,958 RTUs, for new systems and additions to existing installations – down by more than 1,300 as compared to the Q1 report. This indicates a continued movement towards phased system implementation and the continued displacement of traditional RTU procurements by substation controllers and gateway devices communicating directly (i.e., digitally) with substation IEDs.
Both of these trends have been noted in previous InfoNetrix reports and will continue to have a substantial impact on the markets for RTUs, IEDs and other field data devices.
About InfoNetrix
InfoNetrix LLC is a market research and consulting firm with dual headquarters in New Orleans, Louisiana and Sacramento, California providing timely, pertinent and highly focused market intelligence for energy and utility automation suppliers; energy companies; electric, gas and water/wastewater utilities; technical and financial consulting firms; and others with automation market interests, both domestically and internationally.