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1. Industry outlookThe report's baseline deployment forecast, shows Europe achieving between 26 - 27GW of installed capacity by 2020, of which around 23GW is new installations.Such deployment would:- Occur mainly in the UK and Germany.- Require around 3,500 turbines plus associated infrastructure.- Cost upwards of £75 billion (€86 billion) based on current industry practices.2. Power cable demandGrowth in resulting cable installations will be significant, with an estimated 6,000km of export cable, 2,000km of EU inter-connector cable and 6,500km of array cable installations by 2020.The report's findings show:- In terms of total cable installations, the report predicts that demand will more than double over the period to 2020, with growth of between 2.5 and 3.0 times that of 2011 occurring in both export and array installations.- A near-doubling of export and inter-connector installations by 2016. Thereafter, growth is limited as HVDC use increases and general industry growth slows.- A 250% rise in array cable installations from 350km in 2011 to 900km by 2020.3. Export cable supply vs. demandThe authors estimate that annual export cable installation supply currently stands at around 600 - 650km (vs. 500km 2011 demand). Identified capacity additions are limited. Our analysis shows that export cable installation capacity needs to increase by around 75% within 2 - 3 years if demand is to be met.

The past year has seen a major uptick in deployments of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).  This acceleration is a direct result of developments in the market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs): More than 135,000 PEVs will be sold globally in 2012, and growth is expected to continue at a steady pace.  According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the EVSE market will expand steadily, as well.  Unit sales of EVSE will rise from under 200,000 in 2012 to almost 2.4 million in 2020.  By 2020, the study concludes, 11.4 million EV charging stations will be in operation worldwide.

North America is currently the leading microgrid market and will remain the leader through 2020.  Total microgrid capacity in North America will reach 5.9 gigawatts in 2020, representing 64 percent of worldwide capacity, the study concludes.

Holding the largest share in the world, the Chinese switchgear market is expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.8% between 2013 and 2020, reaching a share of 19.2% by 2020, forecasts research and consulting firm GlobalData.

Electric motors and their controllers are an important but often secondary consideration in the cost premium of electric vehicles (EVs).  Today, new electric motor technologies are being developed by many automakers and their supplier partners in an effort to gain advantages in performance and efficiency, just as they have done for years with their internal combustion engines.  According to a new report from Navigant Research, unit sales of electric drive motors will reach 3.7 million by 2020, growing from 1.5 million in 2013.

Globally, more than half of the energy consumption in buildings – which is expected to rise from 31,983 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 51,253 TWh by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) – comes from residential buildings.  According to a recent report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, the energy efficient housing sector will expand rapidly over the remainder of the decade, growing from an annual market value of $14 billion in 2012 to almost $84 billion in 2020.

But as interest in energy storage technologies continues to increase, it will create new opportunities for TES and lead to steady growth, according to a report from Pike Research. Pike estimates installed TES capacity will nearly triple in the U.S., from 2.7 GW in 2011 to 7.2 GW in 2020.

According to the report, approximately 333 gigawatts (GW) of new HVDC transmission capacity will be added between 2013 and 2020.  For comparison, peak demand in the United States is estimated to be approximately 800 GW in 2013.  In China alone, nearly 200 GW of new HVDC transmission capacity is planned for build-out over the next 8 years.  Energy from hydroelectric generation in distant inland locations will be tapped and transported to power big cities along the eastern and southern coast.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat recently published The Tallest 20 in 2020: Entering the Era of the Megatall. Within this decade, the World’s first kilometer-tall building will be constructed, along with many other buildings over 600-meters tall. “The term “supertall” (which refers to a building over 300 meters) is thus no longer adequate to describe these buildings: we are entering the era of the “megatall.”

Efforts to make buildings smarter and more energy-efficient have given rise to a new class of advanced sensors, allowing building systems to better anticipate and respond to changing conditions.  These devices can create environments that are both more productive for occupants and more operationally efficient for owners.  Click to tweet: According to a new report from Navigant Research, shipments of advanced sensors for smart buildings will grow from 1.8 million units in 2013 to 28.4 million by 2020.

It also sets out a vision for the networks of the future, beyond 2020, in order to lower Europe’s greenhouse gas emissions 5 times by 2050.