News

Study: new technologies at the service of energy grids


Published 10 Décembre 2019



Think Smartgrids’ Data and Digital Transformation Working Group, led by Cosmo Tech and DCbrain, recently published a new study on new technologies for energy grids: several of them show great promise for improving the efficiency and sustainability of our energy networks. The study was previewed on November 11th, on the eve of European Utility Week in Paris.

Think Smartgrids’ Data and Digital Transformation Working Group, initiated in 2017 by two of its members, Cosmo Tech and DCbrain, had conducted a first study last year on digitalization projects carried out throughout Europe by network operators. The study made it possible to draw up an overview of the digital transformation of European utilities, as well as the opportunities and constraints it represents.

On the basis of this first study, the digitalization WG also identified the new technologies used by electricity grid operators. Four technologies in particular stood out and were the subject of a new study: Machine Learning, Digital Twins, Reinforcement Learning and Blockchain.

New technologies hold great promise for improving the operations planning, efficiency and sustainability of energy systems. They also build a bridge between the electrical engineering ecosystem and the IT world, which accompanies the deployment of smart grids.

AI technologies, which existed ten years ago at the concept stage, are now spreading throughout Europe, first in an experimental form, and some of them already in the context of industrial deployments. Think Smartgrids’ working group has thus described concrete applications and analyzed various use cases, with the aim of enlightening energy stakeholders on the potential offered by these new technologies, but also to enable them to better anticipate the ongoing revolution in our energy systems, a key issue in the fight against global warming.

 

Download the study: DATA ANALYTICS IN UTILITIES – The rise of new technologies.  Authors: Benjamin de Buttet (DCbrain), Thomas Lacroix (Cosmo Tech), Karl-Axel Strang (Enedis), David Szniten (Klee Group), Arthur Penserini (SNG Consulting)