Cisco sees immense opportunities in China for its smart grid products and is continuing to look at acquisitions to expand in the growing market. Cisco, which is working with a number of utilities including Duke Energy and NextEra Energy, expects the smart grid to be bigger than the Internet in reach. The company has identified $15 billion to $20 billion in opportunities globally in the next five to seven years, Laura Ipsen, senior vice president of Cisco's smart grid unit, said at the Global Climate and Alternative Energy Summit .But that pales in comparison to the market opportunity in China.
"A lot of us looking at the China market see $60 billion by 2030 just for China alone," Ipsen said. "A lot of the big companies -the traditional GEs, IBMs, Siemens and others- are over there exploring that market."Cisco is doing some development work in China related to home energy management, she said. I am in the process of looking at it and saying, 'What are the investments that are most important? How do we work with the government?'" Ipsen said. isco's main focus, however, continues to be the U.S. and European markets. he U.S. power grid is seen as already working at its limit. The vision for a smart grid is a network that will wring new efficiencies from thousands of miles of power lines and aid the development of renewable energy, introduction of "smart" appliances that turn themselves on and off, and support a fleet of electric cars.
The building of a smart grid, a loose term used to describe a more efficient electricity supply chain, is attracting heavy investment from technology giants, telecommunication companies and industrial conglomerates. isco last month agreed to buy start-up Arch Rock for an undisclosed sum and is teaming up with smart meter maker Itron to develop a smart grid communication platform. Earlier, it bought GridNet, which makes software that sends data about electricity usage from meters to utilities.
"For acquisitions, we have a pretty healthy appetite," Ipsen said. "So as things come along, we will move pretty quickly." "I am looking at the whole architecture of the grid," Ipsen added, when asked what particular technologies the company was interested in acquiring. "I am not counting myself out on any of those spaces."
