IBM is opening a multi-million dollar lab to develop technologies for China’s burgeoning smart grid market.

Technology giants including Google Inc, Cisco and Microsoft are investing heavily in smart grids, intelligent power-distribution systems designed to be more responsive and interactive than today’s traditional power grids.

In terms of countries, China, the world’s biggest greenhouse-gas emitter, is investing the most. Beijing plans to invest USD 7.3 billion in smart grid projects in 2010, more than the United States, according to Zpryme, a market research firm in Austin, Texas.

China is far behind the United States and Japan in terms of its smart grid development.

“China is pursuing smart grids as aggressively or more aggressively than any other country in the world right now,” Brad Gammons, vice-president of IBM’s Global Energy & Utilities Industry, told Reuters in an embargoed interview last week.

“They’re very focused and have a very strong commitment to move in that direction,” he said.

IBM — which counts State Grid Corp. of China, the nation’s leading power grid operator, as one of its customers — unveiled its Energy & Utilities Solutions Lab in Beijing this week.

Smart grids include computerised monitoring of the electricity flowing though a power grid and allow utilities to manage electricity usage automatically.

IBM’s products span the range of smart grid systems, including the automation of power stations and electricity distribution networks with the use of digital sensors and communication networks.
ThinkPad R50 battery ThinkPad R51 battery ThinkPad R52 battery ThinkPad T40 battery ThinkPad T41 battery ThinkPad T42 battery ThinkPad T43 battery ThinkPad T60 battery ThinkPad R32 battery