“The South Asian region is facing a number of challenges, including the highest transmission and distribution (T&D) loss rates and highest projected GDP growth rates of any region in the world,” according to Ben Gardner, president of Northeast Group. “There are already large-scale plans to address these challenges, including a $177 million AMI investment plan in Pakistan and a target to deploy prepaid meters to all residential customers in Bangladesh.”
The four South Asian countries covered in the study–Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal–all have low per-capita consumption and a history of stalled power sector projects. But many of these hurdles will be overcome through large-scale funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, and bi-lateral aid organizations such as USAID and the German KfW. The ADB in particular has pledged nearly $1bn in aid for overall power sector development in Pakistan. Additionally, large-scale smart grid plans in India will have positive spillovers in the region.
Both local and international vendors are active in projects throughout the region. Major global vendors such as EDMI/Osaki, GE, Itron, Landis+Gyr, Secure Meters, and others are all involved in the region’s activity. There is also an increasing presence of Chinese vendors pursuing projects. Local vendors are led by the Pakistani vendor MicroTech, as well as several Bangladeshi vendors active in the country’s prepaid rollout.
SOURCE : Northeast Group, LLC
