Strong DER policies can help create market growth and ensure the grid can meet future demand
A new report from Guidehouse Research explores the global market for distributed energy resources (DER), small-scale technologies that when added to the traditional grid physically or virtually can make it work more efficiently.
Faced with climate change and increases in energy demand, governments around the world are recognizing the importance of renewable energy and a connected, adaptive electrical grid that includes DER. According to a new report from Guidehouse Research, global DER capacity in all technologies will grow from 1.9 million GW in 2024 to 7.6 million GW by 2033 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8%.
“As climate change accelerates, global energy demand rises, and oil and natural gas become scarcer, supplying electricity is increasingly difficult,” says Maya Smith, research analyst with Guidehouse Research. “Consumers using DER can expand the grid’s capacity while lowering their costs, and sometimes, they can even sell energy back to the grid. Although integrating DER into the grid so that they are sustainable and beneficial to all stakeholders is challenging, policy and regulation can help integration by reducing the financial burden of implementation.”
Policy is an important market driver for DER. Acknowledging DER’s different levels of value to the grid—regardless of how operators and technology are distributed—is critical when discussing policies intended to expand DER. In the traditional market, operators set prices for each provider. Now, some countries have decentralized energy markets so that larger companies can connect DER to the grid in larger capacities. While this practice creates pricing flexibility, the complexities of selling energy back to the grid create issues for utilities, governments, and private entities, so pricing can be a barrier to DER, according to the report.
The report, Distributed Energy Resources and Regulatory Policy, focuses on the importance of regulation and policy for DER expansion. It reviews market drivers and barriers and analyzes DER capacity and revenue by five global regions (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa), nine technologies (bioenergy, DESS, EV charging, microturbines, NG gensets, solar, stationary fuel cells, thermal storage, and wind). An executive summary of the report is available for free download on the Guidehouse Research website.
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