Digital Substation Global Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2034

This report describes and explains the digital substation market and covers 2019-2024, termed the historic period, and 2024-2029, 2034F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global digital substation market reached a value of nearly $7.85 billion in 2024, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.74% since 2019. The market is expected to grow from $7.85 billion in 2024 to $11.8 billion in 2029 at a rate of 8.49%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.27% from 2029 and reach $17.55 billion in 2034.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the growing investments in grid automation programs, rising electricity demand, expansion of smart city initiatives and integration of large-scale renewables. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were shortage of skilled professionals and cybersecurity concerns.

Going forward, the increasing cross-border energy trade, expansion in EV charging infrastructure, shift from conventional to smart substations and demand for real-time grid monitoring and automation will drive the growth. Factors that could hinder the growth of the digital substation market in the future include integration and infrastructure challenges, high upfront capital costs and impact of trade war and tariff.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the digital substation market, accounting for 35.03% or $2.75 billion of the total in 2024. It was followed by Western Europe, North America and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the digital substation market will be Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe where growth will be at CAGRs of 10.27% and 9.02% respectively. These will be followed by Africa and Middle East where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 8.76% and 8.22% respectively.

The global digital substation market is fairly concentrated, with large players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 31.95% of the total market in 2024. ABB Ltd was the largest competitor with a 4.27% share of the market, followed by Schneider Electric SE with 3.42%, Hitachi Energy Ltd. with 3.29%, Siemens AG with 3.23%, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation with 3.09%, GE Vernova with 3.00%, Cisco Systems Inc. with 2.98%, Toshiba Corporation with 2.96%, Eaton Corporation plc with 2.93% and Rockwell Automation, Inc. with 2.78%.

The digital substation market is segmented by voltage level into low voltage, medium voltage and high voltage. The medium voltage market was the largest segment of the digital substation market segmented by voltage level, accounting for 44.21% or $3.47 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the high voltage segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the digital substation market segmented by voltage level, at a CAGR of 9.25% during 2024-2029.

The digital substation market is segmented by module into fiber optics communication network, supervisory control and data acquisition and hardware. The hardware market was the largest segment of the digital substation market segmented by module, accounting for 54.33% or $4.26 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the supervisory control and data acquisition segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the digital substation market segmented by module, at a CAGR of 9.33% during 2024-2029.

The digital substation market is segmented by type into transmission and distribution. The distribution market was the largest segment of the digital substation market segmented by type, accounting for 63.67% or $5.0 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the transmission segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the digital substation market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 8.96% during 2024-2029.

The digital substation market is segmented by industry vertical into power generation, metal and mining, oil and gas, transportation and logistics, defense and aerospace, process and manufacturing and other industry verticals. The power generation market was the largest segment of the digital substation market segmented by industry vertical, accounting for 46.25% or $3.63 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the power generation segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the digital substation market segmented by industry vertical, at a CAGR of 9.22% during 2024-2029.

The digital substation market is segmented by equipment type into intelligent electronic devices (IEDs), digital relays, merging units (MUs), phasor measurement units (PMUs), SCADA systems, remote terminal units (RTUs), communication systems and other equipment types. The intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) market was the largest segment of the digital substation market segmented by equipment type, accounting for 29.93% or $2.35 billion of the total in 2024. Going forward, the SCADA systems segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the digital substation market segmented by equipment type, at a CAGR of 9.02% during 2024-2029.

The top opportunities in the digital substation markets segmented by voltage level will arise in the medium voltage segment, which will gain $1.83 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the digital substation markets segmented by type will arise in the distribution segment, which will gain $2.42 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the digital substation markets segmented by module will arise in the hardware segment, which will gain $1.96 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the digital substation markets segmented by industry vertical will arise in the power generation segment, which will gain $2.01 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The top opportunities in the digital substation markets segmented by equipment type will arise in the intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) segment, which will gain $1.2 billion of global annual sales by 2029. The digital substation market size will gain the most in China at $810.75 million.

Market-trend-based strategies for the digital substation market include next-generation smart metering platforms, deployment of fully digital substations that employ fiber-optic communication, intelligent monitoring and advanced control devices, offering devices that merge multiple functions into a single unit, enabling utilities to speed up digitalization, reduce complexity and improve maintenance, developing advanced software-defined automation portfolios to strengthen grid resilience and accelerate digital transformation, enhancing their protection relays by integrating advanced functionalities to address evolving grid demands and deploying data-driven tools and digital twin technologies in their substation systems to optimize performance, reduce energy losses and ensure more reliable service delivery.

Player-adopted strategies in the digital substation market include focus on strengthening its business operations through new launches, focus on strengthening its market position through new product developments and focus on strategic partnerships to expand their business expertise.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the digital substation market companies to focus on high-resolution sensing and real-time grid intelligence, focus on scaling digital substation capabilities through fiber-optic systems and standardized controls, focus on integrated multifunction digital substation devices, focus on software-defined automation and grid resilience to drive adoption, focus on advanced protection relay enhancements and remote capability expansion, focus on integrated digital twin deployment and performance optimization, focus on high voltage digital substation solutions, focus on transmission segment expansion, focus on accelerating growth in the SCADA segment, focus on power generation opportunities, focus on SCADA systems segment to capture highest growth potential, expand in emerging markets, focus on expanding distribution channels, focus on strategic price structures to strengthen value and adoption, integrated promotion to strengthen market visibility and trust, targeted promotion to accelerate buyer decision cycles and scale adoption and focus on strengthening workforce capabilities to build trust with end users.