Unlocking Abundant Energy Resources

AT THE BRINK: THE CALL FOR A TRANSFORMED POWER SYSTEM

The call for adapting our energy systems to be more sustainable has been growing for at least half a century. Last month the world was once again given a stark warning in the form of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)?assessment report: manage energy resources better or suffer the worst effects of climate change. The report is clear that the world needs a true transformation of energy systems to reduce the risks of irreversible climate change, not just incremental change.

As large as the issue of climate change is, it is not just sustainability that is driving transformation in the energy sector. Global energy demands are expected to grow 37% by 2040. Today’s aging power generation and distribution infrastructure cannot meet this level of demand nor provide the level of services required to support the digital infrastructure we have all become so addicted to.

FROM CLIMATE RISK TO CLIMATE RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT

Combating such large, interconnected infrastructure and resource projects is no easy task. Transforming the power system will require looking at both the physical infrastructure and the digital infrastructure. And yet, there is reason to be hopeful. The required technology to improve power generation, distribution, and usage through the enabling of a smarter and more interoperable power grid is available today.

This new power infrastructure will be a truly Smart System – an intersection of multiple parallel technologies that are increasingly reinforcing and accelerating one another.?The new, intelligent infrastructure will bring together the worlds of sensors, automation, machine learning, computing, cloud infrastructure and communications.

ORCHESTRATING A SMARTER SMART GRID

The power industry has been faced with adopting new technologies for some time and as such is well equipped to embrace innovation and transformation. New sources of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, are increasingly being adopted by power suppliers and customers alike. Without upgrades to the grid, integrating these new sources of renewable energy to a wider population will be complex. But the market is rising to meet the demand for renewable resources. In fact, hundreds of global companies have announced plans to shift to 100% renewable energy with the next 5 years.

As these new renewable technologies are adopted, electrical power will shift from linear flows of power generated by large, centralized suppliers and consumed passively by customers—to decentralized, distributed, smart grid energy systems.

INNOVATIVE POWER TECHNOLOGIES ARE CHANGING THE ELECTRICITY INDUSTRY

Smart grids are essentially subsets of larger electrical utility grids, designed to give organizations greater control over their energy resources and to make better use of utility-provided energy in conjunction with locally produced power. Most importantly, smart grids can connect and disconnect from the larger grid, thus operating as a “micro-grid,” both connected to a grid or as an island.

The smart grid and the utility grid are linked by a “point of common coupling” that maintains voltage at a constant level until there is a problem on the utility’s grid. If the utility’s power starts to fluctuate, the smart grid taps its on-site energy production to even out the flow. If the larger grid goes down completely, the smart grid disconnects and uses its own local generating and/or storage capacity to provide power.

Because smart grids are a connected and highly-instrumented phenomenon, they are by definition a huge Smart Systems and Internet of Things (IoT) opportunity. They incorporate a wide array of sensors that can sample electrical current at up to 60,000 times per second. This huge volume of data feeds sophisticated AI algorithms both at the edge and at the core, allowing smart grids to operate autonomously. And the energy flow from smart grids is two-way, which requires specialized software to manage scenarios that involve selling as well as buying electrical energy.

Fortunately, we are at a point of increasingly mature technologies, increased computing capabilities,?higher performance networks?and lowered costs of key elements such as batteries. These mature and well-aligned technologies will enable more rapid adoption and a truly transformative, sophisticated smart grid.

By applying complex IoT solutions, which facilitate automation on an industrial scale, smart grids can improve energy efficiency at the source. By integrating IoT and?digital twins?technologies across vast infrastructures like power plants, suppliers can shave time and labor from their presently manual processes. This translates to vast savings. And simplifying processes through the use of a connected IoT system can provide predictive maintenance and improve outage management, offering a significant degree of stability and optimization in an ever-evolving and unpredictable market.

The climate data may be daunting, but the technologies, business models and players are all in place to transform our power systems to a sustainable, interoperable smart grid. ◆

Read more and download a free excerpt of our Growth Opportunities in?Distributed Energy Resources?Brief?here.