Tag: Future

How Data—with Context—Will Drive a More Secure Energy Future

March 8, 2022
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I’ve come to depend on the navigation system in my car. It predicts traffic jams, gives me the fastest route, informs me of store hours, and even tells me where to get a burger. To give me this experience, the navigation system draws on multiple data sources, puts it into context, and presents it through a single interface.

In order to efficiently navigate the energy transition, operators in power and utilities must reach the same level of maturity with their data. With multiple sources of data from sensors, to outage logs, to images—all stored in various enterprise systems—this industry won’t be able to unlock the full value of its data until it’s combined, contextualized, and available with less effort. Only then can we use it for a reliable, resilient, green energy future.

Getting to this point will require power and utilities companies to conquer the first challenge: bringing all their data together. Data and information are still extremely siloed in this industry; tucked away in legacy systems, deliberately locked in vendor point solutions, or stored inside the minds of domain experts.…

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Predict, Optimize, Synchronize, Control: How AI Can Fulfill the Promise of Sustainable Energy Resources and Reshape the Future of Utilities

January 15, 2022
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The world is changing rapidly as technology advances at breakneck speed. From the fourth industrial revolution and virtual reality to 5G and artificial intelligence (AI), our society is on the brink of tremendous technological upheaval. Although many industries evolve alongside innovations, some, such as utilities, have not moved at the same pace. This is in large part due to a range of complex existing barriers that most regulated industries face, with changing regulatory regimes and lack of funding.

Despite challenges, the utilities industry is long overdue for modernization. Just the fact that, of the G20 countries, which account for 80% of the world’s emissions, only six have formally increased their emissions reduction targets tells us how little we have collectively accomplished. While, from a distance, it looks like the energy industry is dragging its feet, the question of transitioning to green power is much more complicated. In terms of grid reliability and resilience, success will depend on how distributed energy resources (DERs) are integrated, optimized, synchronized, and controlled.…

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What History Tells Us About the Future of Cyber Vulnerabilities in the Power Industry

December 27, 2021
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cybersecurity

The power and energy sector is one of the most critical areas of our country’s infrastructure, making it a prime target for cybercriminals increasingly looking for ways to infiltrate and disrupt the sector and ultimately the national grid. In fact, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in early 2021 that found the grid, and subsequently its distribution systems that carry electricity from transmission systems to end-users, to be growing targets for large-scale, strategic state-sponsored cyber war operations. 

This heightened interest and motivation can be attributed to hackers looking for larger ransomware payouts as well as nation states who consider the sector key to crippling the U.S. economy. High-profile attacks like the Colonial Pipeline have given threat actors more motivation to go after critical infrastructure. These groups continue to mature and adopt sophisticated tactics, techniques, and procedures, while industry leaders look to safeguard their critical systems and essential services.

If recent history is any indication of what we can expect in 2022 and beyond, the power and energy sector must prepare for the worst and prioritize their industrial cybersecurity programs accordingly.…

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DOE Envisions Future Grid’s Transformation into a ‘Network’

October 26, 2021
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The grid must accommodate more inverter-based generation and adequately handle the bi-directional flow of electricity, but it must also apply alternative grid configurations and coordinate planning and operations across multiple participants and jurisdictions. That’s the vision Michael Pesin, deputy assistant secretary for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Grid Research and Development division, outlined in detail in a keynote speech for attendees at the Experience POWER conference and exhibition, which took place this week in San Antonio, Texas.

The vision is rooted in multiple priorities laid out by the Biden administration, which include ensuring the nation’s power infrastructure is “fully modernized, secure, resilient, and reliable,” said Pesin. Its urgency is also remarkable: “The goal is to have a pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net-zero greenhouse gas [GHG] emission economy by 2050,” he noted.

However, it is already rife with challenges: “In the wake of major rolling blackouts, like the energy emergencies in 2020 and 2021, it is no secret to anyone that today’s electric grid is being pushed to do more than it was originally designed to do, and, designed 100 years ago, it is pretty much based on the same principles.”…

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GE Hitachi: Nuclear Costs, Innovation Must Be a Pivotal Focus for Carbon-Free Future

June 24, 2021
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The post GE Hitachi: Nuclear Costs, Innovation Must Be a Pivotal Focus for Carbon-Free Future appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Nuclear energy’s future as a critical pillar in a decarbonized world will depend on its adaptability to rapid change, but the sector must focus on costs, certainty of outcome, reliability, and experience to cement its role beyond the transition, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) President and CEO Jay Wileman told POWER in an exclusive interview.

While the world’s existing nuclear fleet of more than 400 GW already plays an important energy security role—providing affordable and stable power that is largely independent of fuel market price fluctuations—an expansion will be necessary to bolster climate-conscious energy goals. But the challenge is multi-faceted, Wileman said.

First, it will require keeping online the world’s installed base of 450 reactors, both by maximizing their lifetime output and diversifying their commercial applications beyond power generation. “If you lost that installed base, you’re setting yourselves decades backward in your path toward getting to the carbon goals,” he said.…

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