The heat measurement solution market is expected to improve next year after being in decline for 2014 and 2015. Revenues for the heat measurement market fell to $920 million in 2014 and continued declining in 2015, but the market will recover in 2016 and return to long-term growth, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight.
In 2014, the primary markets for heat measurement solutions -- Germany, China, Russia and Turkey -- represented almost 70 percent of global revenues. However, the Chinese, Russian and Turkish markets have decelerated due to domestic political and economic instability over the past two years. In addition, boiler legislation in Germany that caused an increase in heat meter shipments in 2013 and 2014 is largely complete, leading to a decrease in 2015 volume. Year-over-year heat-measurement market revenue from the four countries is expected to decline 5 percent in 2015.
While global heat meter unit shipments are forecast to fall almost 4 percent in 2015, heat cost allocator (HCA) shipments will continue growing by more than 4 percent, according to the IHS Smart Utility Meter Intelligence Service. This growth rate will be mostly driven by local billing policies and the expectation of new legislation encouraging installation. Heat meter unit shipments are forecast to reach 5.9 million units in 2016, and the Chinese market will account for more than 40 percent of the shipments.
"Following the European Union Energy Efficiency Directive of 2012, the expected national legislation in European countries promoting the installation of heat meters and heat cost allocators will further support recovery in the coming year," said Claudia Portugal, smart utilities infrastructure analyst for IHS Technology. "The recovery of the Chinese and Turkish markets will also increase global demand for heat meters."
