Providing a comprehensive understanding of grid orchestration, its challenges, and the transformative potential it holds, this eBook focuses on:

1. Grid Orchestration: The art of harmonising diverse energy sources, demand patterns, and grid infrastructure.
   • Explore the role of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive analytics in optimising grid operations.
     
2. Decentralisation: The shift toward decentralised energy production.
   • Decentralised grids empower local communities, enhance resilience, and reduce reliance on centralised power plants.
     
3. Smart Grids: Smart grid technologies, including advanced sensors, real-time data analytics, and demand-side management.
   • Smart grids enable efficient load balancing, fault detection, and self-healing capabilities.
     
4. Cybersecurity Challenges: Grid orchestration faces cybersecurity threats due to increased connectivity.
   • The importance of robust security measures to safeguard critical infrastructure.
     
5. Renewable Integration: Integrating renewable energy sources seamlessly into the grid.
   • Addressing challenges related to intermittency, storage, and grid stability.
     
6. Policy and Regulation: Policy frameworks and regulatory aspects influencing grid orchestration.
   • Balancing innovation with compliance is crucial for a sustainable energy future.

Watch the latest interview with Microsoft:
Accelerating the energy transition with Artificial Intelligence

“Orchestrating the Grid” eBook, serves as a roadmap for energy professionals, policymakers, and researchers. By embracing grid orchestration, together we can create a resilient, efficient, and sustainable energy future.

Recognising the need to address these concerns, we’ve developed advanced network operations solutions for utilities. One of the key technologies driving this progress is Software Defined-WAN, which empowers and supports Distribution Automation in remarkable ways.

The goal of Distribution Automation in the Utility grid is a real-time adjustment to changing load conditions, facilitating distributed generation, performing fault location identification and service restoration, and reacting to failure conditions within the Distribution grid, usually without operator intervention.

Read our solution brief and get an overview of how to manage and optimise your industrial fixed and mobile networks using SD-WAN.

Capabilities include:

• Simplified management using a common management tool for your Enterprise and Industrial devices,
• Multi-WAN support for always-connected mobile use cases,
• Security policies are extended to the devices at your network edge,
• On-premise or cloud-hosted architectural flexibility,
• Scalable solution that allows thousands of assets to operate simultaneously, positioning the customer to meet future requirements

If you prefer a more technical perspective, we have also prepared a validated design document. This guide provides tested and documented approaches to help you successfully design, deploy, and extend SD-Wan for distribution automation.

You can select which content paper you want to download in the form below.

Cloud-based software with the right analytics capabilities will allow your company to maintain profitability, and improve transparency, efficiency, and compliance. But where do you start?

Sustainability practices for utilities companies

Download the Oxford Economics report below, Sustainability in Oil, Gas, Energy, and Utilities, to learn how you can start integrating sustainability practices into your overall business and technology implementation, and see improved outcomes in business performance and brand reputation.

This report shows how technology can:

• Deliver safe, reliable, and sustainable energy solutions and automate essential workflows while staying within budget
• Increase transparency across the board using IoT and data management processes
• Leverage actionable insights from real-time data to optimise resources from financial capital to skilled workers

SAP is ready to help utility leaders like you keep your business profitable while managing the transition to a more sustainable future.

Breaking Barriers: What’s Holding Back Europe’s Energy Transition, is based on a delegate survey and round table think tank at the Enlit Europe 2022 event with supplementary expert interview input to identify the challenges and needs for the region’s energy industry to meet the Paris Agreement targets for 2030 and beyond.

With almost half of the respondents in the delegate survey believing that those 2030 targets will be missed by five years or more – and likely in turn putting in doubt the meeting of the 2050 targets – the scale of the political and industry’s collective challenge is laid bare, as is the need for urgent action at all levels.

Have you read?
Data and creativity can help solve the energy transition’s biggest challenges, say DISTRIBUTECH keynote speakers
Navigating the energy transition in a time of geopolitical uncertainty

The six barriers are as follows:

1. High costs, and in particular how these will ultimately be paid by consumers.
2. Supply chain weaknesses, both short term, such as the conflict in Ukraine, but also long term, such as the infrastructure investment required to meet the energy transition.
3. Inflexible grid infrastructure, including outdated regulation, restrictions slowing the pace of infrastructure development and lack of investment incentives, e.g. for digitalisation.
4. Lack of customer engagement, due in part to lack of interest and understanding but also to the current ‘top down’ business model.
5. Incomplete digitalisation programmes, with functionally separate parts of the generation-transmission-distribution-consumer value chain and the differing resource abilities within companies.
6. Political will and market design, including a lack of high level leadership and strategic direction and limited coordination between the various market players.

Notably of these inflexible grid infrastructure and political will and market design were rated as the most significant, with both being cited by over 80% of the survey respondents, and with incomplete digitalisation closely following.

Have you read?
E-mobility deployment and its impact on European transmission and distribution grids
Gridlock: how the Netherlands hit capacity

Energy transition recommendations

Turning to the recommendations, the report highlights that the energy transition is a one-time expense that will ultimately make energy cheaper and customers should be able to benefit immediately if for example renewable energy prices were decoupled from that of fossil fuels.

Costs also can be contained if projects are assessed for their whole system value.

Similarly, a system value approach is needed for procurement to optimise supply chain costs.

Regarding the grids, these need to be redesigned from the bottom up with the right incentives and rewards and flexibility trials need to be scaled up massively.

The key recommendation for the digitalisation challenge is to view the energy transition as a platform problem, with the creation of modular ‘platform of platforms’ with free flow of data, while at a high level a centralised market plan with market harmonisation across European countries is required.

Kelvin Ross, Editor-in-Chief of Enlit, says the report doesn’t flinch in highlighting the bottlenecks to progress that the sector is facing, but it also has a roadmap to overcome them.

“The energy sector is facing its own ‘pandemic moment’ and needs to deliver an energy transition vaccine: it needs to work out how to compress what usually takes several years into several months. Our report suggests where it should start.”

Utilities are facing unprecedented challenges in maintaining supply and customer uptime. To thrive in the new era, they need to connect and modernise grid operations end to end.

Grid security, WAN modernisation, substation and distribution automation, smart meters, and mobile workforce collaboration, are the solutions to help leading power companies adapt to the changing landscape and fuel continued growth and innovation.

Read this whitepaper and understand how to:
• Enable grid automation using proven IP networking technologies
• Deploy proven end-to-end security systems
• Empower the workforce with a unified collaboration platform

Want to know more? Get in touch with our utility experts, and request a call back here.

Machine learning tech provider Sense announced the release of Inside-the-Meter Intelligence to Become the Norm, a new whitepaper produced by Guidehouse Insights.

The whitepaper explores the emerging market for next-generation smart meters and how advanced analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will drive a transformation in home energy use and grid intelligence.

The report forecasts that global markets will experience a surge in smart meter upgrades and replacement projects throughout the next decade, comparing meter lifetimes across utilities in North America and Western Europe.

This is due to the initial surge in smart meter installations experienced during the late 2000s and early 2010s. According to the report, over the next decade, the US and pockets of Western Europe will experience a similar surge in upgrade and replacement projects, reminiscent of this first wave of smart meter installations.

This anticipated upgrade trend is already playing out in some areas, with a growing number of utilities having selected or installed next-generation devices as part of their second-generation smart meter deployments.

Have you read:
Open-source data-science toolkit to augment DER efficiency
Adani Electricity invests $62mn into Mumbai smart meter installations
IoT for utilities: Harnessing big data from grid’s edge

Key capabilities for smart meter transformation

According to the report, three key capabilities are required to transform smart meters into powerful grid-edge computing devices:

1. High resolution waveform data capable of enabling real-time device identification
2. Edge computing in the meter itself
3. Low latency networking via WiFi or cellular to support real-time consumer experiences

“In the US alone, an estimated 65 million smart meters will need to be replaced by the end of 2027. This dovetails with ambitious energy efficiency and electrification goals codified by the Inflation Reduction Act,” stated Michael Kelly, senior research analyst & managing consultant at Guidehouse.

“As utilities across the [United States] evaluate next-generation smart meter capabilities, it is imperative they understand the potential of advanced inside-the-meter intelligence and how it can support energy efficiency and demand response priorities,” added Mike Phillips, CEO of Sense.

“Sophisticated next-generation smart meters…have the potential to transform the utility-consumer paradigm by providing new capabilities around device recognition, proactive notifications, and a real-time experience, all of which will enable everyday consumers to have more insight and control into their home energy use.”

This results in a significant reduction in latency of action, greatly improved situational awareness, more accurate analysis, and advanced event detection. It also helps evolve distribution grid operations and enhance the customer experience.

Importance of Distributed Intelligence

Distributed intelligence is important because it provides power and control to edge devices, resolves issues quicker, manages transactions and power flows in real-time, predicts and manages energy needs across the entire network, delivers consumer-based insights to improve safety and address usage, and empowers an open and vibrant ecosystem of solution providers.

Tampa Electric Company, a utility in central Florida, recently performed both lab and field testing for DI applications wherein the results far surpassed the capabilities of cloud-based analytics for three common use cases on the distribution grid; and field testing confirmed the results across thousands of customer meters, while also revealing other valuable, real-world applications for the data.

These results mark the beginning of a paradigm shift.

Read more: How distributed intelligence demonstrates value

By moving analytics into devices at the grid edge, Itron is simplifying how utilities convert data into insights and helping utilities deliver greater benefits through advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). Now, with a DI platform that can deploy data-intensive applications for current and future use cases, utilities will realize continuous ROI growth over an AMI investment’s entire life.

In addition, they will have the technological foundation to enable advanced grid operations and innovative business models with the emergence of distributed generation and smart-home solutions.

The future of our modern grid is dependent on leveraging more DI at the grid edge to help manage growth, reliability, and safety.

Learn how Tampa Electric is exploring and validating the value of distributed intelligence and why DI apps surpassed the capabilities of cloud-based analytics.

The white paper, Internet of Things (IoT) for a connected world. IOT Cyber Security – Threats and Regulations, explores the topic for manufacturers and sees TÜV SÜD informing on applicable standards while illustrating how to ensure successful global market access.

The paper stated that although offering convenience and accessibility, IoT devices are vulnerable to cyber risks.

Although potentially providing significant avenues for energy savings and prosumer capability, such products attract potential data security and privacy risks. And if they are insufficiently protected, manufacturers may be held accountable.

As the demand for IoT devices expands, so too do the associated risks, because potential vulnerabilities or design errors in devices become more significant. “In 2020, 11.7 billion connected IoT devices were in active use worldwide, and this figure is expected to rise to 30 billion by 2025”, stated Florian Wolff von Schutter, head of Cyber Security for CIoT (Consumer IoT) Devices at TÜV SÜD Product Service.

Unfortunately, market growth is matched by rising loss resulting from cyber-crime, which is expected to cost the world more than $10 trillion by 2025”.

Also of interest:
Schneider Electric launches cyber solution to bolster asset protection
Energy sector cyber security still a growing priority
LoRaWAN expands the addressable IoT market—smart utilities

EU Radio Equipment Directive imposes stricter requirements

According to the EU Commission, over 80 % of all cyber-attacks target wireless devices. The EU Commission’s delegated act of the Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU has thus imposed stricter cyber security requirements for these devices, including smartphones, tablets, electronic cameras and wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, but also toys and baby monitors.

The regulation was published on 12 January 2022. By the end of the transition period on 1 August 2024, the manufacturers of IoT devices must have established suitable measures to protect privacy, reduce fraud risks and safeguard the stability of the network. Since there have been no harmonised standards in this area so far, manufacturers are advised to take steps to have their products assessed by an independent third party well in advance of this date.

Mastering the challenges

The requirements for market access of CIoT devices – known as the 3Cs, or connectivity, cyber security and compliance – have increased. Examples of connectivity include seamless communication between CIoT devices and the possibility of upgrades and updates. Cyber security includes protection against malicious attacks caused by malware or based on weak passwords or lack of encryption.

And where compliance is concerned, manufacturers must observe cyber security standards and regulations as well as national laws. The topic of cyber security for CIoT products is addressed by the ETSI EN 303 645 standard in the EU and, to some extent, also in the United Kingdom, while in the USA it is governed by the NISTIR 8259 standard and still other standards apply in India and on other continents such as Australia. To make matters even more complex, different data protection and privacy laws and regulations apply in the USA, Europe and Asia.

The white paper stated how manufacturers who comply with all applicable regulations face better chances of long-term success in the IoT industry and will gain the trust of their customers.

Even manufacturers of CIoT devices that have in-house cyber security experts are well advised to use third-party services.

It supports diverse use cases that can help utilities embrace decarbonisation, decentralisation, and digitalisation while ensuring power system resiliency and safety. It can also evolve to support future substation virtualisation applications.

View more news and content from Nokia here

Read our whitepaper to explore a network blueprint that can extend IEC61850 communications everywhere, enabling utilities to fully reap the many benefits that automation can bring.

The majority of improvements made in recloser manufacturing are to help utilities better manage and mitigate the disruption of electrical services.

From simplifying the mechanism and incorporating smart technology, reclosers have evolved into a critical must-have component for a utility’s grid reliability. The improved technology also supports eliminating the need for routine maintenance.

Globally, grid reliability issues are related to various external factors. For the purpose of this whitepaper, the scope of this problem will address challenges in APAC, LATAM, Middle East, and European regions. It highlights how the right reclosers and partners can reduce widespread power outages.

For deeper insight into the challenges, use cases, and possible solutions, a bespoke whitepaper has been researched and designed to provide you with the necessary information you are looking for.

In a new report, Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation: The Hydrogen Factor, the organisation points to the emergence of new centres of geopolitical influence – particularly in the southern hemisphere with good potential for renewables that can be generated cheaply – as the production and use of hydrogen increases and traditional oil and gas trade declines.

IRENA estimates that hydrogen could cover up to 12% of global energy use by 2050 with almost one-third traded across borders – a higher share than natural gas today. Countries that have not traditionally traded energy are establishing bilateral energy relations around hydrogen, with over 30 countries and regions planning for active commerce already today.

For example, in Latin America Chile was first off the mark with Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay following. South Africa and Namibia are leading the way in sub-Saharan Africa while Australia and New Zealand, which also have hydrogen strategies in place, also are developing or considering trade routes.

Have you read?
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Conversely, fossil fuel exporters such as Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates increasingly consider clean hydrogen an attractive way to diversify their economies. However, broader economic transition strategies are required as hydrogen will not compensate for losses in oil and gas revenues, according to IRENA.

“Hydrogen could prove to be a missing link to a climate-safe energy future”, commented Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA.

“Hydrogen is clearly riding on the renewable energy revolution with green hydrogen emerging as a game-changer for achieving climate neutrality without compromising industrial growth and social development. But hydrogen is not a new oil. And the transition is not a fuel replacement but a shift to a new system with political, technical, environmental and economic disruptions.”

Geopolitical play out

IRENA in the report indicates that the geopolitics of clean hydrogen will likely play out in different stages, with the 2020s as a big race for technology leadership as the costs fall with the scaling up of infrastructure. But demand is expected to only take off in the mid-2030s as cross border trading increases at pace with the cost competitiveness of green hydrogen with fossil-fuel hydrogen.

The organisation suggests that countries with ample renewable potential could become sites of green industrialisation, using their potential to attract energy-intensive industries. The manufacturing of equipment like electrolysers and fuel cells could drive business, with China, Japan and Europe already having developed a head start.

In this connection, the report notes the dominance of China as a producer of several critical materials used in electrolysers, including nickel, gadolinium, zirconium, lanthanum, cerium and yttrium.

However, with the many countries that have declared their ambition to become exporters of hydrogen, hydrogen trade is unlikely to become weaponised and cartelised, in contrast to the geopolitical influence of oil and gas.

Policy considerations

In its policy considerations, IRENA notes that hydrogen is part of a much bigger energy transition picture, and its development and deployment strategies should not be pursued in isolation and that setting the right priorities for its use will be essential for its rapid scale-up and long term contribution to decarbonisation efforts.

On the international front cooperation will be necessary to devise a transparent hydrogen market with coherent standards and norms and supporting the advancement of renewable energy and green hydrogen in developing countries is critical for decarbonisation and could contribute to global equity and stability.

Policymakers should consider the broader impacts of hydrogen development on sustainable development to ensure positive, long-lasting outcomes.

The Black & Veatch Asia Electric Report has found that connecting renewables onto grid systems is by far the greatest challenge ahead of simply installing renewable energy generation assets as the region intensifies its replacement of coal assets with low-carbon energy resources.

Narsingh Chaudhary, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, said: “The report reveals that pressures to lower grid emissions are mounting from investors, large customers and governments as infrastructure needs continue to transform.”

The study states that for net-zero goals to be met, utilities and energy stakeholders in Asia will need to employ more integrated generation, transmission and distribution solutions.

Chaudhary added: “The introduction of more renewable energy, is changing the very nature of electric grid management and this means Asian electricity providers must plan and invest seriously across the entire system of generation, transmission and distribution assets.”

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Asia switched on to the power of digital

Other key findings of the report include:

• Only 15% of respondents see a future for coal generation asset investment beyond 2035; in addition, 85% believe there will be less investment in coal over the next five years.
• In contrast, nearly half of respondents see a long-term future for new gas generation asset investments beyond 2035 while an additional 25% think investments will be channeled to upgrading existing facilities.
• This aligns with optimism around hydrogen as a zero-emissions energy carrier. 73% believe that hydrogen will help meet carbon emission goals beyond any other technology, while 46% think it will take off as a clean and affordable alternative to gas generation.
• Advanced system control devices is the top investment priority area to improve transmission systems.
• Almost half of respondents are considering smart grid improvements in the next five years, more than any other grid hardening technique.
• 35% of industry respondents say their organization has no decarbonization response in place.
• 25% of industry respondents are not confident with the performance and resilience of transmission and distribution networks hence the need for further investments to be directed towards modernising the infrastructure.
• Underinvestment in transmission and insuffient energy storage have been highlighted as two of the top three industry threats to providing reliable services to consumers

Harry Harji, Associate Vice President for Black & Veatch’s management consulting business in Asia, added: “The energy transition is underway across the region with more than 80% of respondents saying they are channelling capital to clean energy investments.

“Solar, in particular, looks set to receive increased investments over the next five years while almost half of the respondents think hydrogen will emerge as an alternative to gas generation by 2030.”

Find out more about the report.

In its report, State of Managed Charging in 2021, SEPA found an increase in utility companies expanding managed EV charging services such as demand response and Time of Use pricing from pilots to full-scale rollouts.

The study found an increase in utility-managed EV charging programmes from 26 in 2019 to 71 in 2021.

Trends including the continued growth of vendors in networked Level 2 and DC fast chargers segments, increased interoperability, and the emergence of Charging-as-a-Service business models highlight a rise in the use of managed EV charging, according to the study.

The need to avoid energy distribution upgrade bottlenecks and to mitigate unnecessary stresses on and costs to the power grid is driving the increase in the use of managed EV charging, says SEPA.

The report states that by adopting managed EV charging, utilities are able to achieve decarbonisation goals, improve customer services and enhance network management.

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Canada’s Hydro One pilots Vehicle-to-Home concept for grid reliability

Key findings of the study include:

• Utilities are becoming more comfortable with managed EV charging technologies and concepts, and are now focused on how to increase customer participation.
• Telematics has emerged as an integrated offering beyond pilot-scale.
• Early observations from the COVID pandemic has shown that customer charging is more evenly distributed throughout the afternoon, extending the peak from 5-11pm.
• Capabilities among NSP and EVSE vendors are expanding to offer managed charging services to fleets.
• Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is experiencing increased interest and capabilities: 25% of surveyed utilities are currently piloting or planning V2G programmes.

Garrett Fitzgerald, senior director, electrification at SEPA, said: “Most US drivers have not yet adopted a default charging behavior – because they don’t yet own an EV.

“This presents a massive opportunity for utilities to influence customer charging habits in a way that maximizes benefit to the power sector without compromising driver convenience. The shift from passive to active managed charging, alongside the pairing of networked chargers with vehicle telematics-based programmes is one step closer to a vehicle-to-grid future.”

Joseph Vellone, head of North America at ev.energy, added: “This report highlights some impressive results from innovative EV charging programmes across the US, including reliable demand-side management through >80% customer retention, customer energy-bill savings of $200/year, and utilization of 70% lower-carbon electricity to charge.”

To be able to expand the managed EV charging concept, SEPA urges utilities to:

• Structure programmes such that the default behavior benefits both the customer and the grid.
• Implement managed charging programmes to allow participation via OEM telematics and networked chargers.
• Include customer education in the marketing and recruitment phases of the project, and provide technical education after enrollment.
• Leverage dealerships, in-app messaging, and traditional marketing to educate and inform customers who are not currently EV owners.

Find out more about the report.

The report, A New Space Race, is based on interviews with 500 senior managers from a range of infrastructure disciplines in 10 countries.

Key findings of the report include:

• Adaptability, sustainability and addressing climate change are top-of-mind for infrastructure leaders. To transform infrastructure in line with changing business models and regulations and to address business and environment challenges, the report calls for infrastructure developers, owners and managers to focus on adaptability, resiliency and decarbonisation.

Matthias Rebellius, CEO, Siemens Smart Infrastructure, said: “Infrastructure stakeholders are starting to act with real urgency. They recognise the need to accelerate decarbonisation, to build greater resilience and adaptability, while maintaining competitiveness.”

• The majority of energy infrastructure stakeholders say net zero energy is impossible without digitalisation. Up to 67% of the interviewed managers within the energy sector believe that net zero energy is impossible without digitalisation. The majority of investments in digitalisation over the next five years will be directed towards AI-driven prediction and automation, according to the study.

The study also found an increase in the number of organisations setting net-zero goals with 94% of those confident they will achieve carbon-neutrality by 2030.

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ELES pilots Advanced Energy Management System with Japan’s NEDO and Hitachi

The majority also consider adaptability as the most critical factor when designing new buildings or facilities to allow the re-purposing of spaces to suit changing occupants.

• Infrastructure is lagging behind other industries in digitalisation progress

Up to 63% of the managers say the use of digital tools is lagging within the buildings and power segments. Only 31% of those questioned said they make full use of the data available to them, with almost half reporting they have not yet done so.

Rebellius, added: “Major change is challenging, but our highest goals are possible if we harness the power of data and new technologies, welcome greater cooperation and keep driving innovation.

“Buildings will be a lot more digital in the future. A facility manager will not only be able to automate, and remotely control more functionality, they will also benefit from a wider network of better sensors that flow into integrated visualisations and richer datasets. This will support a new level of fine-grained control and insights that are needed to make future buildings more resilient and flexible.” 

The report states that infrastructure managers are racing towards three spaces, including:

• A New Physical Space Race – The changing needs and expectations of people in their buildings, factories, facilities, offices, homes, and surrounding infrastructure.
• A New Digital Space Race – The evolution of the operational backbone of physical spaces, driven by advances in AI, automation, energy technologies, connectivity, and data-driven predictions.
• A New Earth Space Race – The impact of physical and digital space on the planet as a whole, including a revolution in energy systems that will create a sustainable legacy for future generations.

The report also concludes that the pandemic sparked an urgent race to adapt, digitalisation is a race into new frontiers and climate change is a race against time.

The report is available for download.

As if floods, fires, drought and extreme weather such as February’s disruptive deep freeze in Texas weren’t enough, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the industry last year seemingly out of the blue, creating uncertainty about safety while straining the bottom lines of many water utilities.

Despite that, the industry rose to the challenge, demonstrating remarkable agility and adaptability through its front-line professionals to keep the water flowing – true to its mission of delivering a clean, reliable and safe supply.

All the while, cybersecurity concerns continue to loom large, along with the sector’s chronic headache: what to do with an infrastructure well past its prime.

Black & Veatch’s 2021 Strategic Directions: Water Report, based on expert analyses of a survey of more than 200 US water sector stakeholders, examines those complexities in the transforming water, wastewater and stormwater industries striving to advance “One Water,” the premise that integrated and holistic water resource management — the value of all water regardless of history — must be considered when drafting plans and making investment decisions.

Technological advances from process intensification to data analytics and artificial intelligence continue to light a path forward, helping utilities and industry optimise asset performance, reduce costs, save energy, achieve regulatory compliance and bolster security.

More than ever, utilities are compelled to unleash the value of data and analytics in their operations to drive better decision-making, with heightened resilience as the end game. While consumers are sounding the call for more robust systems, the survey’s responses make clear that there’s more work to be done.

Amid infrastructure aging cConcerns, ‘Digital Water’ is key

To little surprise, three-quarters of survey respondents cited aging infrastructure as their foremost challenge in a chronically underfunded industry, far outdistancing issues such as making the case for capital improvement programs (34 percent), system resilience (30 percent) and managing capital costs (26 percent) (Figure 1). Resilience’s showing was up one spot from last year when one-quarter of respondents listed it among their three most challenging issues.

As utilities within the water industry continue to grapple with doing more with less, digital solutions can be a game-changer. Leveraging digital technology can harness data precisely, leading to enhanced capabilities in tracking consumption, driving customer engagement, optimising performance and prioritising investment dollars. Greater sustainability and resilience through informed asset management and planning are the benefits, along with an invaluable, holistic view of the water system.

Without question, data can guide utilities to higher operational efficiency, greater performance predictability, and better maintenance planning, along the way, boosting insight about when, where and how much to invest in systems. The opportunity to gather and integrate information using current data-collecting systems — complemented with evolving next-generation, cost-effective sensors and smart devices — enables predictive analytics to detect leaks, forecast usage, reduce costs and everything in between.

What’s not to like. But Black & Veatch’s survey shows that many utilities are missing out, harvesting more data but lacking insights about what to do with it all. Some two-thirds of respondents categorize their data management practice as robust and strengthening but not fully integrated, up slightly from a year earlier. An additional three in 10 respondents say their data is unintegrated and siloed, consistent with the 2020 survey. Just 5 percent called their data management robust and fully integrated.

In a separate question, half of the respondents say they’re collecting lots of data but not effectively leveraging it to actionable information, down from 60 percent in 2020 (Figure 2).

The bottom line: Siloed data keeps utilities from having a complete, clear picture of their assets and operations and how best to invest in them.

Still, utilities are exploring other digital options, including digital mapping to catalog utility systems and assets – evidence that digital technology is taking a firmer hold across the water and wastewater industry.

COVID-19 and the water sector

Across the spectrum of water services, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact was profound the instant it began its spread through the U.S. in early 2020.

Industries and businesses shuttered, forcing tens of millions of layoffs that, in turn, produced delinquencies in water bills, cutting into the revenues and cash flows of utilities of all sizes. By and large, they suspended water and wastewater shutoffs to past-due accounts, both as a humane gesture and as an acknowledgment of the importance of water and sanitation during a health crisis, regardless of one’s ability to pay. Some utilities forgave the unpaid amounts; others deferred them.

Have you read?
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US utilities to intensify digital water programmes – here’s why
Consumer happiness and decarbonisation drive ‘new energy concept’

Closures of big commercial and industrial water customers adversely impacted utility revenues and cash flows as water demand shifted to residential areas, where displaced workers suddenly found themselves working remotely.

Two-thirds of respondents to Black & Veatch’s survey reported that the outbreak had at least a moderate impact on their day-to-day operations. But the sector weathered the storm and learned from it, demonstrating admirable agility and adaptability.

More than two-thirds of respondents credited COVID-19 for their organization’s increased consideration of technology, pointing to the pandemic-forced remote working practices of their employees. Thirty-two percent report giving more thought to customer engagement, with 29 percent saying they’re supporting increased remote operations and automation (Figure 3).

As the survey shows, utilities appear to be moving beyond their historical business activities and increasing their engagement with digital and electronic management approaches. Water, wastewater and stormwater utilities found that perhaps their data management wasn’t as robust as they thought during the operational challenges of COVID-19, inspiring them to ramp up efforts to harness and optimize the use of information.

Despite its impacts, the pandemic amplified the opportunity and need to accelerate innovation in strategy, operations and funding to protect human health and the environment, along the way greasing the economic engine that comes from infrastructure investment.

Resilience must be a priority

More than ever, the industry is at a crossroads to invest in its systems and pursue greater resilience manifested in so many forms, from financial resilience to the operational and strategic varieties. Yet again, there’s work to be done on that.

When respondents were asked to prioritize projects by their organization, those meant to ensure or enhance water quality — the chief mandate of water providers — held the most sway, with roughly four in 10 casting that as the highest prioritization. Efforts to bolster the conditions of assets or to replace them altogether was the principle priority of one-quarter of respondents, followed by addressing capacity and growth (17 percent) and operations and efficiency (12 percent). Projects meant to bolster resiliency drew just 5 percent, with nearly three in 10 labeling resilience as their lowest priority.

The takeaway: Many system managers direct their energy and focus on meeting state and federal water quality standards and simply keeping the system running. For managers, any issues beyond the job’s operational requirements tend to get kicked down the road as “tomorrow’s crisis” — something to address only after today’s crises are managed.

Nonetheless, utilities would be wise to leverage new funding sources, collaborate with partners, plan systems holistically and prioritize water as a way to revitalize, rejuvenate and equitably build our communities of tomorrow, with an eye on hardening their systems against a growing array of challenges.

Find out more about the study.

About the author

Cindy Wallis-Lage is president of Black & Veatch’s water business, leading the company’s efforts to address water infrastructure needs around the world. A global champion for the world’s water resources, she advocates understanding water’s true value and promoting its resilience so that communities may achieve their social, economic and environmental sustainability goals. Wallis-Lage has been involved in more than 100 projects worldwide, helping public and private entities successfully develop, enhance and manage their water, wastewater and stormwater facilities and infrastructure.

The majority of communications services providers (CPS) surveyed by Nokia and GSMA state energy efficiency is either ‘very important’ or ‘extremely important’ to their digital transformation and climate action programmes.

Up to 83% of surveyed CPSs say energy efficiency is a key focus in network transformation over the coming years. With technologies such as 5G coming into the picture, 67% of CPSs say energy costs might rise over the next three years.

Other factors including increased television and movie streaming, video conferencing from remote working, and online gaming are also increasing the demand for energy.

This means telcos will be forced to deploy more data centers, which require more energy capacity to be able to store, process and manage data from various applications.

Nokia and GSMA say AI will be critical to optimise energy management for telcos as the demand for both energy and the internet increases.

By leveraging AI in energy management, telcos are able to ensure the consumption of energy across their network is managed quickly with less human intervention, in line with changes in energy demand and internet use, according to the statement.

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Despite the growing need for AI-enabled energy management processes, many CPSs say they are still in the planning stage for technology deployments. However, nearly 50% said they expect to achieve energy savings of 10% to 20% over the next two years as AI energy solutions are rolled out and optimised, highlighting the increased focus on energy management within the telco sector.

Beyond curtailing energy demand, AI-powered energy solutions are expected to drive other important outcomes, such as reducing the number of on-site visits personnel have to make to troubleshoot network issues.

Volker Held, Head of Marketing for Managed Services, Cloud & Network Services at Nokia, said: “Reducing its carbon footprint is an important challenge for the telecommunications industry, given rising internet traffic trends and its implications for energy consumption. This research from Nokia and GSMA underscores the shared concerns of our industry and the variety of solutions and services that Nokia is working on with communication service providers to address this shared responsibility. AI solutions hold the promise of realising quick and substantial energy efficiency gains and ensure we fully live up to our environmental and social responsibilities.”

Tim Hatt, Head of Research and Consulting at GSMA Intelligence, added: “AI has clear and tangible benefits to improving the energy efficiency of telecom networks and is a big part of the solution in driving sustainable 5G networks. It’s important to deploy AI early in order to train the algorithms and continually optimise network ops and costs over the long run.”

The study is based on the response of some 103 CPSs.

Find out more about the report.

The report analyses the state and trends of electricity and gas markets and technologies across North America, Europe, Asia – including China and India – and Australia, and provides insights on progress in the fight against global warming and the ongoing energy transition.

The report also explores the evolution of leading industry players and predicts major trends for the future. Key findings include:

• Electricity spot markets are at record high levels, linked to sustained demand, lower generation capacity margins, high gas prices, and, in Europe, high carbon prices.

• Supply of renewable-based electricity has increased while renewable costs continued to decrease in 2020: both solar and wind power generation capacities rose in 2020, representing 10% of the electricity generation market. The downward cost trend could reverse in 2021 and in the following years, as critical metal, equipment, and transportation prices as well as interest rates increase.

• Growing momentum around green hydrogen, which has the potential to decarbonise an additional 15% of the world economy. Green hydrogen is costly, around three times more expensive than fossil-based hydrogen; however, decreasing renewable electricity and electrolyser costs could lead towards parity by 2030.

• Competition in the electricity and gas retail markets has largely recovered early 2021, however, presently, high energy prices are triggering consolidations. Whilst utilities demonstrated financial resilience in 2020, oil and gas players were more severely hit, though many have now recovered thanks to higher demand and prices for oil and gas. Stakeholders pressure on oil and gas majors has accelerated their diversification towards electricity, renewables and e-mobility and reinforced their carbon neutrality commitments, particularly for European International Oil Companies (IOCs).

• Energy and utilities players are moving quickly to decarbonise and harness the current energy transition to develop new models and reinvent themselves in valuable ways. By digitising and embracing low-carbon technologies. Many are attempting to find the right balance between meeting stakeholders’ expectations and ensuring business transformation in competitive markets.

• Whilst the appeal for clean technologies, essential to energy transition, begins to intensify, it is crucial to remember that achieving this means not compromising on security of energy supplies or energy affordability.

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According to Colette Lewiner, Energy and Utilities Senior Advisor at Capgemini: “The impact of COVID-19 has been important. However, as we saw in the first half of 2021, the pandemic did not lead to a sustained decrease of greenhouse gas emissions compatible with the 1.5°C global warming objective for 2100.

“Efforts on low carbon technologies deployment, stationary storage increase, and electrification growth must be multiplied. It is important that sustainability of electrical generation, battery storage and hydrogen production be evaluated over their lifecycles. Renewables have changed the measurement metrics and new ones are needed. Net-zero trajectories for global businesses must rely on indisputable scientific measurement methods and accurate data that include all Green House Gases. Access to energy today is becoming a societal challenge: industry and governments must find the balance between decarbonising and ensuring that global energy needs remain accessible for all.”

Philippe Vié, Group Vice-President Energy and Utilities sector at Capgemini, adds: “As energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions are on the rise again, we need realistic affordable plans to accelerate energy transition.

“Curbing the climate change trajectory requires a shift in gears when it comes to investment, and a requirement to consider the right balance between investment and a tangible result. Every dollar invested must lead to a decrease in emissions. Much more investment in low carbon generation is needed now if we are to meet both the growth in electrification – 2 to 3 times current capacity required by 2050 – and at the same time, decarbonizing electricity generation.”

Recommendations from WEMO to meet climate change goals whilst ensuring energy security of supply, and affordability for citizens, are:

• Setting ambitious but realistic energy transition plans considering the adaptation time of societies, their industries, and the lifestyles of their populations.
• Accelerating research in low carbon technologies (solar, wind, electrical batteries, green hydrogen) and reducing administration obstacles for the construction of renewable installations.
• Measuring the effect of actions taken. Financial institutions should define standardized extra-financial criteria, thus enabling comparisons between efforts undertaken by companies.
• Paying special attention to cybersecurity. Smarter systems, notably smarter electrical grids, are needed to accommodate a large share of renewables. However, this is tied to an increased cybersecurity risk as more devices become connected to networks.
• Implementing adaptation measures to cope with the delay in reaching climate objectives.

The report is available for download.

With lndia moving towards decarbonisation of its power sector, says report author and IEEFA contributor Saloni Sachdeva Michael, there is an urgent need to examine the financial risks of high-carbon portfolios, with a view to integrating green criteria into lending decisions and credit risk analyses applying to distribution companies. 

“Establishing hybrid rating (green + credit) information systems is a fundamental task at the heart of green finance,” Sachdeva Michael says, “and is a necessary step to increase disclosure, transparency, and accountability of the Indian distribution sector.”

In the current annual credit rating system for discoms employed by the Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), the sole green parameter, the renewable purchase obligation (RPO), carries the least weight – and this is not conducive to the development of green finance and a sustainable, low-carbon economy.

“Considering the time and effort required to re-engineer a separate green rating,” Sachdeva Michael says, “the more logical next step is to strengthen the existing integrated rating methodology, drawing learning from the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework used for corporate ratings. New parameters can be added in a phased manner.” 

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The report makes four key recommendations to improve the disclosure, transparency and accountability of the distribution sector: 

• Increase the weighting of the RPO, the sole green parameter in the current rating mechanism
• Add new green parameters to track performance on renewable energy, electric vehicles and energy efficiency
• Link bail-out packages for discoms to green performance based on a hybrid credit rating
• Align domestic banking with global green finance best practices

In the report, the term ‘green’ is used to refer to the decarbonisation of India’s power sector, which trickles down to the discoms. The overall goal is to enhance renewable energy uptake; electrify the transport sector via electric vehicles; increase ‘tail-end’ generation and utilisation through decentralised renewable energy solutions; and boost use of energy efficiency equipment and design, including solar pumps for improving agricultural and energy efficiency.

To reach its target of 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy capacity by 2030 India will need to deploy US$500bn in investments. Of this, US$300bn would be directed to wind and solar infrastructure, US$50bn to grid firming investments and US$150bn to expanding and modernising transmission. For state utilities, financial stability is a significant challenge to attracting the necessary investment. 

In an overall examination of the distribution sector, Sachdeva Michael says despite central and state government schemes and initiatives aimed at improving the discoms’ operations and financial health, the sector continues to be a resource drain on the national economy. 

“Most distribution companies are making major losses as a result of expensive legacy thermal power purchase agreements, poor infrastructure and inefficient operations, among other factors,” she says.

The discoms have accumulated massive overdue payments to generators – Rs119,185 crore (US$16bn) as of June 2021 – creating a liquidity crunch across India’s entire power sector.

Looking ahead, she says, India is already making progress towards its aspiration to decarbonise and achieve energy independence. Critically, she reasons, making that aspiration a reality will strongly depend on the trajectory of the distribution sector.

Currently, tracking and monitoring of discoms’ decarbonisation plans and green performance is limited. The arrival of alternate financial instruments such as green bonds, combined with massive decarbonisation goals, shows the need to update the rating methodology to include parameters that help quantify green initiatives undertaken by the discoms. “A hybrid rating that incorporates both green and credit performance of discoms will provide a true picture of the sector’s green disclosure and readiness for the energy transition,” says Sachdeva Mic.

Find out more about the report.

“Governments need to resolve this at COP26 by giving a clear and unmistakable signal that they are committed to rapidly scaling up the clean and resilient technologies of the future.”

Birol was speaking at the launch of the IEA’s new World Energy Outlook 2021 report that explores in detail the world’s new energy economy at a time when energy markets are extremely volatile.

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The report, designed as a policy guide for governments ahead of COP26, makes it clear that this clean energy progress is still far too slow to put global emissions into sustained decline towards net zero.

Birol explained that high coal, gas, and oil prices are not good news for the global economy and inflation or emissions and that three main factors are causing the situation:

• Huge economic growth – a rebound of 6% mainly fueled by fossil fuels. The recovery is causing the second largest emissions increase in history and is therefore not sustainable.
• Several extreme weather events at the same time, including doughts, floods and extreme winters.
• Planned and unplanned disruptions in supply caused by maintenance works that were postponed due to COVID.

Birol made it very clear that current market volatility is not caused by too much clean energy and even though governments are making pledges, there is still work to do. “More and more governments are making pledges – we are thankful, but, there is a big but, today’s climate pledges would result in only 20% of the emissions reduction by 2030 that are necessary to put the world on a path towards net zero by 2050. The pledges are far from satisfactory.”

The WEO-2021 report shows that even as deployments of solar and wind go from strength to strength, coal consumption is still growing strongly this year.

The analysis spells out what the government emissions pledges mean for the energy sector and the climate and sets out what needs to be done to move from mere pledges to a net-zero trajectory consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.

The report makes recommendations based on two scenarios; the Stated Policies Scenario and the Announced Pledges Scenario. The differences between the outcomes in the Announced Pledges Scenario and the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario are stark, highlighting the need for more ambitious commitments and greater investment if the world is to reach net zero by mid-century.

Insufficient investment is contributing to uncertainty over the future and spending on clean energy transitions is far below what would be required to meet future needs in a sustainable way.

“Reaching that path requires investment in clean energy projects and infrastructure to more than triple over the next decade. Some 70% of that additional spending needs to happen in emerging and developing economies, where financing is scarce and capital remains up to seven times more expensive than in advanced economies,” stated Birol.

“There is a looming risk of more turbulence for global energy markets,” Dr Birol said. “We are not investing enough to meet future energy needs, and the uncertainties are setting the stage for a volatile period ahead. The way to address this mismatch is clear – a major boost in clean energy investment, across all technologies and all markets. But this needs to happen quickly.”

The briefing did however present some good news.

The report stresses that the extra investment to reach net zero by 2050 is less burdensome than it might appear.

Also, pursuing net zero would create a market for wind turbines, solar panels, lithium-ion batteries, electrolysers and fuel cells of well over $1 trillion a year by 2050, comparable in size to the current oil market.

Laura Cozzi, Chief Energy Modeler, IEA applauded China’s announcement to cease funding new coal projects and added that emissions can be quickly reduced by using cost-effective technologies that are currently available.

These include wind and solar, nuclear expansion, methane abatement, energy efficiency and electrification. Said Cozzi: “We are entering the decade of the turning point, for emissions and energy markets. For the first time, the world is ensuring economic growth, while reducing emissions.”

Download the report.

“We believe the US will struggle to achieve its ambitious goals,” states the research firm in a new paper, citing factors including technological limitations, policy design, market structures, and political and constitutional foundations.

Brian McIntosh, director of North America Power Services at Wood Mackenize, said: “Based on our understanding of technologies, market policies, the challenges of quickly building transmission lines, and the electrification of energy, we believe that 66% clean generation by 2035 is more feasible.”

Efforts to be implemented by the US to achieve the goal will only enable the country to greatly reduce its carbon footprint but not achieve a net-zero emissions power sector.

In addition, the US will witness a decrease in wind and solar power prices owing to proposed policies and financial incentives and the continued competitiveness of renewables, states Wood Mackenzie in the One giant leap: President Biden’s vision for repowering America report. This will follow a 2021 increase in prices across all solar segments due to supply chain constraints.

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To achieve the 2035 goal, “wind and solar power would have to become the largest sources of generation by 2035, alongside massive expansion in carbon capture and zero-carbon hydrogen,” according to David Brown, head of Markets and Transitions at Wood Mackenzie. “The remaining gas-fired power plants will need to be fitted with carbon capture and storage, but the technology’s ability to deal with large-scale carbon emissions in the power sector needs to be proven.”

Solutions such as energy storage and demand-side management that help ensure grid reliability and resilience are still expensive and will need to be inexpensive for the 2035 goal to be a reality, according to the study.

The US will need to increase its storage capacity for captured carbon from 25 million tonnes per annum today to 1 billion tonnes per annum by 2050 to achieve a net-zero economy. The captured carbon will be required to back up renewables, even in a net-zero scenario, according to Wood Mackenzie. Increased investments from the public and private sectors are vital in hydrogen infrastructure development for the US to meet the 2035 net-zero power sector goal.

McIntosh added: “A multi-day storage solution is needed in a net-zero world, but we think we can expect no more than 10 to -15-hour durations from battery storage by 2035.”

However, the goal set by the US Department of Energy to reduce the cost of long-duration energy storage technologies by 90% by 2030 might help expand available solutions and deployment.

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Total energy demand would have to peak at the end of 2021 and the electrification of buildings and deployment of energy efficiency accelerated to meet the 2035 target, states Wood Mackenzie.

Speeding up electric vehicle adoption will also be vital although an increase in EV use will expand consumer energy usage by 20-30% by 2030. However, optimised EV charging can be used to reduce EVs straining grid networks. This is where solutions such as demand response, Time of Use tariffs, and Vehicle-to-Grid can be used to ensure grid resilience.

Wood Mackenzie reiterates that to achieve a net-zero power sector by 2035 and a zero-emissions economy by 2050, the US will need to add $10 trillion to its proposed spending on climate mitigation in areas including:

• cross-state infrastructure for high-voltage power transmission; 
• a carbon abatement-cost fund to support carbon removal capacity, such as CCUS, DAC and low-carbon hydrogen; 
• energy storage technologies for both long-duration solutions in the power sector and for distributed, behind-the-meter, demand-side management. 

Find out more about the Wood Mackenzie report.

Written in collaboration with BloombergNEF and the German Energy Agency, Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate the Energy Transition reviews the state of play of AI adoption in the energy sector, identifies high-priority applications of AI in the energy transition and offers a road map and practical recommendations for the energy and AI industries to maximize AI’s benefits. 

According to the report, AI could create substantial value for the global energy transition. BNEF’s net-zero scenario modelling shows that every 1% of additional efficiency in demand creates $1.3 trillion in value between 2020 and 2050 due to reduced investment needs. AI could achieve this by enabling greater energy efficiency and flexing demand. 

Roberto Bocca, head of energy, World Economic Forum, said: “AI is already making its mark on many parts of society and the economy. In energy, we are only seeing the beginning of what AI can do to speed up the transition to the low-emissions, ultra-efficient and interconnected energy systems we need tomorrow.

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“This report shows the potential and what it will take to unlock it – guided by principles that span how to govern, design and enable responsible use of AI in energy. Governments and companies can collectively create a real tipping point in using AI for a faster energy transition.”

High priority applications of artificial intelligence can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon energy future 

(1) Identifying patterns and insights in data to increase efficiency and savings: It is estimated that between $92 trillion and $173 trillion investment in energy infrastructure will be needed between 2020 and 2050. Even single-digit percentage gains in flexibility, efficiency, or capacity in clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure systems can therefore lead to trillions of dollars in value and savings.

(2) Coordinating power systems with growing shares of renewable energy: As electrification increases across sectors, the power sector is becoming the core pillar of the global energy supply. Ramping up the deployment of renewable energy will create a need for better forecasting, greater coordination, and more flexible consumption due to the intermittent nature of solar and wind.

(3) Managing complex, decentralised energy systems at scale: The low-carbon energy transition is driving the growth of distributed power generation, distributed storage, and advanced demand response capabilities. Enhanced orchestrated and integrated into networked, transactional power grids will be vital.

Navigating these opportunities presents huge strategic and operational challenges for energy-intensive sectors and energy systems themselves. AI has the ability to identify patterns and insights in data, “learn” lessons accurately and improve system performance over time, and predict and model possible outcomes for complex situations. 

Recent efforts to deploy AI in the energy sector have proven promising but innovation and adoption remain limited. AI holds far greater potential to accelerate the global energy transition but it will only be realized if there is greater AI innovation, adoption and collaboration across the industry. To address this, the white paper establishes a set of principles to help industry govern and scale AI technology in a rapid, safe and fair manner.

The nine principles cited in the report aim to build industry trust in AI technologies so that they can play a greater role in the energy transition. Companies and policymakers must play an active role in governing and shaping the use of AI in the energy sector, establishing best practices for responsible deployment, and creating an enabling environment to unlock the full potential of AI technologies. 

Andreas Kuhlmann, Chief Executive Officer, dena, said: “As dena, we have been focusing on digital technologies for years. Especially with our ‘Future Energy Lab’ we are boosting Artificial intelligence projects AI is an essential technology for the energy transition since it will provide the glue to connect the different sectors (power, heat, mobility and industry) and serve as digital technology to effectively monitor systems and processes. To efficiently control the energy system of the future, which will be very volatile due to renewable energies, such agent-based control will play an overarching role.”

Jon Moore, Chief Executive Officer, BloombergNEF, also commented: “One of the key findings from our workshops was that whilst we could identify many tangible opportunities for AI in the energy transition, there was a real need for a set of common guiding principles to make these opportunities scalable.

“These principles should ideally create a framework that enables multiple stakeholder groups to work together effectively, on a pre-defined set of activities from governance, to design, to enabling infrastructure. They will enable us to move past the many ‘proofs of concept’ projects towards successful large-scale implementation of solutions.”

Access the Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate the Energy Transition report.

This article was originally published on our sister portal ESI Africa.

Read how the full-stack networking and cyber security solutions that Cisco has to offer can help ensure you have the digital architecture you need to deliver reliable, efficient, and safe electricity – and power continued growth and innovation.

The report, Utilities Industry – Services and Solutions, states that traditionally utilities in the region have focused on the risks of weather and natural disasters and paid little attention to enhancing their supply chains, workforce collaboration, customer service, cybersecurity and other operations that require digital solutions.

Before the pandemic, utilities’ digital transformation programmes were mainly focused on modernising aging infrastructure and responding to climate change, states the report.

However, the pandemic has pushed utilities to invest in the deployment of digital technologies capable of helping them to improve the resilience of their supply chains, grid networks against cyberattacks and to enhance workforce management and customer services.

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With work-from-home regulations in place, digitalisation has helped utilities to ensure continuity of work by staff as agile work-from-anywhere models with enhanced cybersecurity capabilities were established, according to the study.

Modernising customer service infrastructure

Modernising customer service infrastructure is another major challenge utilities are taking on, the report states. Replacing customer information systems (CIS) requires major investments of time and capital, as well as organisational change management to foster acceptance of the new technologies in this traditionally conservative sector.

Service providers are helping utilities carry out these changes through training, tools, accelerators and execution frameworks that reduce the risks of CIS transformation. Moreover, digital transformation projects focused on the development of new and innovative customer service platforms with functionalities such as voice, text, chatbots, social media and in-person contact, that are capable of improving customer experience and engagement.

In addition, utilities are now leveraging data management and data science for supply and demand forecasting, situational awareness, automated demand response, and other functions, a development simplifying the transition to renewable energy. The installation of smart meters and automated outage prediction tools is helping utilities to address the persistent challenge of changes in energy demand and the fluctuating nature of renewables.

Other key study findings from the report include:

Renewable energy driving merger and acquisitions (M&As): More M&As and other consolidations are expected to take place in the energy and utilities industry as companies try to align their portfolios with environmental and sustainability goals.

Growing penetration of distributed energy: Utilities are moving rapidly towards wind, solar, and other green sources of energy to reduce their dependence on coal and fossil fuels.

Increasing competition from niche players, particularly in deregulated markets: Large utilities players are under pressure from regulators to keep energy prices low and are losing market share to nimble, asset-light competitors, thus impacting their profitability.

Increased competition from other industry and new revenue streams: With the advent of renewables generation and electric vehicles (EVs), the lines of operations between utilities and adjoining sectors such as oil and gas are blurring. Over the last few years, some of the large oil and gas companies have made bold investments in the utilities sector as part of long-term plans to decarbonize their energy portfolios.

Find out more about the report here.

This is according to the latest National Renewable Energy Laboratory report from the Storage Futures Study (SFS), which describes the significant market potential for utility-scale diurnal storage (up to 12 hours) in the US power system through 2050.

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The report, Economic Potential of Diurnal Storage in the U.S. Power Sector, has been written by NREL analysts Will Frazier, Wesley Cole, Paul Denholm, Scott Machen, and Nate Blair, and explores the total market potential for storage technologies, and the key drivers of cost-optimal deployment.

“We find significant market potential for diurnal energy storage across a variety of modelled scenarios, mostly occurring by 2030,” said Will Frazier, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) analyst and lead author of the report. “To realise cost-optimal storage deployment, the power system will need to allow storage to provide capacity and energy time-shifting grid services.”

For this work, researchers added new capabilities to NREL’s Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity expansion model to accurately represent the value of diurnal battery energy storage when it is allowed to provide grid services—an inherently complex modeling challenge. Because the value of storage depends greatly on timing, ReEDS simulated system operations every hour.

The researchers used ReEDS to model two sets of scenarios—one that allows storage to provide multiple grid services and one that restricts the services that storage can provide. All the scenarios use different cost and performance assumptions for storage, wind, solar PV, and natural gas to determine the key drivers of energy storage deployment.

Key findings:

• Across all scenarios, utility-scale diurnal energy storage deployment grows significantly through 2050, totaling over 125GW of installed capacity in the modest cost and performance assumptions.
• Initially, the new storage deployment is mostly shorter duration (up to 4 hours) and then progresses to longer durations (up to 12 hours) as deployment increases, mostly because longer-duration storage is currently more expensive.
• In 2030, annual deployment of battery storage ranges from 1 to 30GW across the scenarios.
• By 2050, annual deployment ranges from 7 to 77GW.
• Not allowing storage to provide firm capacity impacts future deployment the most, although not allowing firm capacity or energy time-shifting services can also substantially decrease potential deployment.
• Operating reserves do not drive the deployment of storage within the study because they find limited overall market potential for this service.
• More PV generation makes peak demand periods shorter and decreases how much energy capacity is needed from storage—thereby increasing the value of storage capacity and effectively decreasing the cost of storage by allowing shorter-duration batteries to be a competitive source of peaking capacity.
• Over time the value of energy storage in providing peaking capacity increases as load grows and existing generators retire.
• More PV generation creates more volatile energy price profiles, increasing the potential of storage energy time-shifting. Like peaking capacity, the value of energy time-shifting grows over time with increased PV penetration.

Visit the Storage Futures Study page for more information about the broader study.

The SFS—led by NREL and supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Energy Storage Grand Challenge—is a multiyear research project to explore how advancing energy storage technologies could impact the deployment of utility-scale storage and adoption of distributed storage, including impacts to future power system infrastructure investment and operations.

This growth trajectory is clearly defined in BNEF’s latest annual Electric Vehicle Outlook (EVO) however, the report also urges governments aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 to do more to spur their adoption.

Achieving net zero goals will require decisive further policy action on all fronts, as well as encouraging active modes of transport, such as cycling and walking, according to BNEF.

Colin McKerracher, head of the advanced transport team at BNEF, said: “The growth of electric transport is an amazing success story to date, and the future of the EV market is bright. But there are still over 1.2 billion combustion cars on the road and the fleet turns over slowly. Reaching net zero by mid-century will require all hands on deck, particularly for trucks and other heavy commercial vehicles where the transition has barely started.”

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For the first time in 2021, the Electric Vehicle Outlook examines what would be required to bring global road transport emissions onto a trajectory compatible with net zero by 2050 and presents analysis based on two seperate scenarios.

BNEF’s Economic Transition Scenario (ETS) – which assumes no additional policy measures – would see global sales of zero-emission cars rising from 4% of the market in 2020 to 70% by 2040. Leaders like China, the U.S. and European economies run far ahead of these numbers, but lower levels of adoption in emerging economies reduce the global average. The equivalent for buses sees their zero-emission sales rise to 83% by 2040. Zero-emission light commercial vehicles grow from 1% today to 60% of their market over the same time period, and medium and heavy commercial vehicles to just over 30%, from almost zero now.

In this year’s report, BNEF has added a Net Zero Scenario (NZS) for the road transport sector. The scenario shows that zero-emission passenger cars, for instance, would have to hit almost 60% of sales in their segment globally by 2030, not 34% as they do in the Economic Transition Scenario – that’s 55 million EVs sold in that year, as opposed to 32 million.

Heavy trucks slowing progress

Nikolas Soulopoulos, commercial transport team lead at BNEF, said: “Policymakers need to take urgent action in the heavy truck segment, which is far from being on course for net zero. In addition to introducing tighter fuel economy or CO2 standards for trucks, governments may need to consider mandates for the decarbonization of fleets. They should also consider incentives to push freight into smaller trucks, which can electrify faster than larger ones.”

The charts below show that two segments within road transport – two/three wheelers, which are heavily used in developing countries, and buses – are close to being on track to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, just on the basis of established trends in relative economics.

The projections for cars and light commercial vehicles are shown as being on a “positive trajectory” because even without further policy measures, current trends get the market to move a big step toward meeting net zero by 2050, even if timelines will have to be accelerated. The last chart shows that the outlook is far more problematic in the heavier commercial vehicle segments.

The report also examines the wider implications of both its Economic Transition Scenario and its Net Zero Scenario for road transport. It estimates that electric vehicles represent a $7 trillion global market opportunity between today and 2030, and $46 trillion between now and 2050, under the Economic Transition Scenario.

Key report estimates for the Economic Transition Scenario:

• By 2040 the charging network needs to grow to over 309 million chargers across all locations
• Home chargers would have to reach 270 million, public chargers 24 million, workplace chargers 12 million and bus and truck chargers 4 million. To install all of these would require over $589 billion of cumulative investment in the next two decades.
• The electricity used to charge electric vehicles on the road would add 9% to global demand by 2040.
• Lithium-ion battery demand from EVs is set to rise sharply, from the current 269GWh in 2021 to 2.6 TWh per year by 2030 and 4.5TWh by 2035.

Under the Net Zero Scenario, all the numbers above would have to be much larger. For chargers, $939 billion would be required in investment by 2040 to install 504 million units. For electricity demand, that scenario would take the extra megawatt-hours needed to 14% by 2040 and to just over 25% by 2050. For the electric vehicles themselves, the total market opportunity reaches $80 trillion cumulatively by 2050.

The window for achieving net-zero emissions in the road transport sector by 2050 is closing quickly. An immediate increase in policy action is needed to bend the curve toward net zero. Investments in public transit and active mobility are an important part of the solution mix for net zero, as they can reduce demand for vehicles and vehicle miles, while also delivering a public-health benefit.

The report is available for download.

G4DS represents a group of natural gas distributors in France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Romania that collaborate to provide a unified voice on matters such as policy, decarbonisation strategy, market design and the future of gas.

The whitepaper highlights the role of DSOs in preventing climate change and emphasises the need for investments to ensure that gas grids are ready for clean energy sources, such as renewable gases including, in the longer term, hydrogen.

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In order to decarbonise Europe’s energy system, GD4S firmly believes that natural gas (during the transition period) and renewable gases (including biomethane and renewable hydrogen) will remain part of Europe’s energy mix. Gas can decrease greenhouse gas emissions, in particular in power generation, as it will gradually replace more carbon-intensive coal- and lignite-fired power generation.

The whitepaper, though a variety of policy recommendations, highlights three main areas of focus.

The paper begins by providing details on how to leverage the potential of renewable gases to reach climate neutrality. Renewable gases (biomethane, renewable hydrogen and synthetic methane) offer a robust solution to meeting the EU’s energy and climate objectives, with significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The existing gas infrastructure can transport these new gases to different end users across the building, transport and industrial sectors, as well as others.

Secondly, the paper describes how to leverage gas grids as an asset for decarbonisation and sector integration. Sector coupling between gas and electricity sectors will optimise energy infrastructure, demonstrating that all technology options should be treated on an equal basis and evaluated in terms of their decarbonisation potential and their costs.

In addition, it details how a truly integrated energy system should maximise the existing distribution grid wherever possible, and deliver a decarbonised energy system at least cost and with least disruption to end users. Greater integration of renewable and low-emission energies, either in the form of electricity or gases, will result in an increasing weight of intermittent generation and necessitate the capacity to store and distribute the energy produced to consumption centres. Gas networks, due to their flexibility, are a key element to improve efficiency.

Finally, the paper outlines GD4S’ commitment to decarbonisation through methane emissions mitigation. The paper highlights how improving data quality, digitalisation of the network, enhancing leak detection and repair, and roll-out of renewable gases will all help to reduce methane emissions. It also outlines the policy and regulatory measures required to support DSOs’ efforts to reduce methane emissions.

The whitepaper is available for download.

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According to the report, World Energy Investment 2021, the Chinese government lowered restrictions on building new coal plants, giving a green light for construction in more provinces. Cambodia, Indonesia and Pakistan were other countries where coal-fired final investment decisions (FIDs) picked up in 2020. Those three countries together approved almost 5GW of new coal capacity in total. In India, the amount approved dropped below 1GW, its lowest level in a decade.

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China’s coal-fired FIDs in 2020 were about 25% their 2010 level, India’s less than 5%. FIDs for gas-fired power plants edged down globally in 2020 but were still more than double those of coal (50GW versus 20GW). A large reduction in FIDs for new gas-fired capacity in the United States more than offset growth in parts of Asia (outside China and India).

Sushil Purohit, president at Wärtsilä Energy and EVP Wärtsilä Corporation, responded to the report: “It is encouraging to see an increase in clean energy investment this year, but make no mistake, we are miles away from where we need to be in order to rapidly decarbonise our systems and avoid catastrophic climate change.

“The narrative over the past year has been focused on how we can build back better following COVID-19, but so far the opportunity has been missed, as clean energy investment needs to more than triple in order to keep the door open for a 1.5°C stabilisation.”

Post-COVID recovery

The report indicates that global investment in energy is set to rebound by nearly 10% in 2021 to $1.9 trillion, reversing most of last year’s drop caused the pandemic.

With energy investment returning to pre-crisis levels, its composition is continuing to shift towards electricity: 2021 is on course to be the sixth year in a row that investment in the power sector exceeds that in traditional oil and gas supply, according to the report.

Global power sector investment is set to increase by around 5% in 2021 to more than $820 billion, its highest ever level, after staying flat in 2020.

Renewables are dominating investment in new power generation capacity and are expected to account for 70% of the total this year. The report states that the investment now goes further than ever in financing clean electricity, with a dollar spent on solar PV deployment today resulting in four times more electricity than ten years ago, thanks to greatly improved technology and falling costs.

“The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, and I’m encouraged to see more of it flowing towards renewables,” said Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director. “But much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Based on our new Net Zero Roadmap, clean energy investment will need to triple by 2030.”

Oil & gas

Upstream oil and gas investment is expected to rise by about 10% in 2021 as companies recover financially from the shock of 2020, but their spending remains well below pre-crisis levels.

Oil majors are holding oil and gas spending flat on aggregate in 2021, despite recovering prices. Meanwhile, some national oil companies are stepping up investment, raising the possibility of increased market share if demand continues to grow.

There are signs in the latest data that spending by some global oil and gas companies is starting to diversify. IEA’s analysis last year highlighted that only around 1% of capital spending by the industry was going to clean energy investments. But project tracking to date in 2021 suggests that this could rise to 4% this year for the industry as a whole, and well above 10% for some of the leading European companies.

Financial markets

The influence of recovery packages and new climate policy measures comes through in expectations of rising expenditure in 2021 on renewable power, electricity grids, energy efficiency – notably in the buildings sector in Europe – and emerging technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation and storage and low-carbon hydrogen.

Sustainable debt issuance reached a record level in 2020, and renewable power companies have outperformed fossil fuel companies on international equity markets. But even though spending on clean energy is set to rise in 2021 by around 7%, the report notes that growth in these capital expenditures has lagged changes in financial markets, in part due to a shortage of high-quality clean energy investment opportunities and appropriate channels for allocating capital into projects.

Dr Birol said: “Clear policy signals from governments would reduce the uncertainties associated with clean energy investments and provide investors with the long-term visibility they need. Our Roadmap shows there are huge opportunities for companies, investors, workers and entire economies on the path to net zero. Governments have the power to unlock these broad-based benefits.”

The sentiment is shared by Sushil Purohit: “World leaders must grasp this crucial advice from the IEA and rally around the COP26 summit to enable a huge increase in renewable energy deployment, matched with the flexible generation technology and battery storage that is required to support it.”

The report is available for download.

The report, Zero-Carbon Investing: Opportunities from China’s Carbon-Neutrality Goal, issued in partnership with the Investment Association of China, states that the market size of the seven areas will reach nearly 15 trillion yuan (¥) ($2.32 trillion) by 2050.

In addition, stakeholders within the seven areas are expected to leverage about ¥70 trillion ($10.8 trillion) in infrastructure investment directly or indirectly through 2050.

The seven key investment areas include:

1. Resource recycling

Resource recycling in three key areas will create a ¥2.8 trillion ($430 billion) market by 2050 and achieve 40 billion tons of carbon emissions reduction between 2020 and 2050, meaning over 30% carbon reduction contribution for the zero-carbon transition.

The three areas are products recycling in energy-intensive industries (steel, cement, aluminum, and plastics), waste as an energy source (straw, forestry waste, domestic waste, and animal manure), and recycling of EV batteries for energy storage.

By 2050, the market size of used EV batteries for energy storage in the power system will reach at least ¥114.5 billion ($17.73 billion) and as such battery recycling will not only benefit the economy but also help ensure sustainability of the environment.

Drivers behind the large market potential of EV battery recycling will include the rising demand for energy storage, a growing supply of retired EV batteries, a favorable policy environment and a positive market atmosphere.

2. Energy efficiency

Energy efficiency is expected to play a key role in helping China reach its net-zero targets. Despite China being successful in leveraging energy efficiency to decarbonise its energy industry and in ensuring the reliability of its grid networks, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure the sector is fully taken advantage of.

Between 2006 and 2016, China’s total investment in energy efficiency reached ¥3.2 trillion ($500 billion), with a compound annual growth rate of 44.1%.

The development of new policies encouraging innovation and the development of new standards are some of the actions required.

Industrial energy efficiency is a top priority for overall energy efficiency improvement in China.

Rocky Mountain Institute has urged the Chinese government and energy efficiency stakeholders to focus on four main areas to ensure the sector is fully tapped:

• The improvement of energy efficiency of general equipment;
• The cascade utilisation of residual heat and pressure;
• Process and system optimisation based on digital and intelligent technologies;
• The application of energy-saving technology for specific industrial processes.

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3. Digital technologies

The digital transformation based on information and communication technologies is transforming every sector of the global economy and will act as an accelerator for energy systems’ optimisation. The study states that achieving China’s zero-carbon energy transition by 2050 will require deep electrification and nearly 75% will come from renewable sources.

Digitalisation is expected to help China further enhance its energy management. The application of IoT in energy management is anticipated to approximately reduce the energy consumption of industrial/manufacturing equipment by 0%–15%.

The use of artificial intelligence-based machine learning in factory data centers can reduce cooling system energy consumption by 40% and increase overall system energy efficiency by 15%.

4. Demand-side electrification

The report has urged China to electrify buildings’ heating and cooking following 100% electrification of cooling, lighting and household appliances.

Electrifying heating and cooking will present a huge new market and carbon emissions reduction potential.

5. Zero-carbon power generation

The electricity sector accounts for about 40% of total carbon dioxide emissions society-wide, mostly due to
the combustion of fossil fuels in thermal power plants. Therefore, decarbonisation of power generation is of
great importance for the emissions reduction of the entire economy.

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According to an analysis by the Energy Transitions Commission, nearly 65% of China’s total power generation will come from wind and solar by 2050, 10% from nuclear, 14% from hydropower, 10% from biomass, and 4% from natural gas plants retrofitted with carbon capture, usage, and storage.

Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that by 2050, if China moves ahead with decarbonising its power generation to meet net-zero targets, the total emissions reduction of the power system will reach 33 billion tons compared with a business-as-usual scenario. The renewables market size will reach ¥4.5 trillion ($700 billion) per annum.

6. Energy storage

Energy storage, which is referred to as the guardian of high-penetration renewable energy systems, will form the basis of China decarbonising its power generation fleet to meet net-zero goals.

In 2050, China’s battery energy storage capacity will reach 510GW and the market size will reach ¥1.6 trillion (US$250 billion), according to the report. Energy storage is expected to contribute one-third of the carbon emissions reductions from the power system between 2020 and 2050.

By the end of 2019, China installed 1.7GW of battery storage capacity, a 59% increase from 2018 installations and is expected to install 510GW by 2050.

Distributed energy storage is expected to be gradually applied at scale under the trend of Internet of Energy (IoE).

7. Hydrogen

China’s hydrogen demand is expected to increase from the current 25 million tons per year to 81 million tons per year in 2050. Using only green hydrogen would decrease carbon dioxide emissions by more than 20 billion tons within the next three decades for the zero-carbon energy transition.

The future market potential of hydrogen is huge, and the sales of hydrogen alone would bring an annual
market value of ¥630 billion (US$98 billion) in 2050.

By leveraging hydrogen, China is expected to decarbonise if not all then most of its heavy carbon-emitting sectors including manufacturing, transportation and power generation industries.

Jie Zhang, vice president and secretary general of the Energy Investment Professional Committee of Investment Association of China (IAC), said: “To achieve China’s carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality targets, the zero-carbon economy will be a high priority for investment in the next four decades. We believe that the insights from this research are able to deepen the market’s understanding of the zero-carbon concept, raise awareness of green development, and set the tone to accelerate the energy transition in China.”

These areas of focus are expected to generate 30 million new jobs and will account for 80% of all carbon emissions reduction.

The launch of the report follows China pledging to achieve CO2 emissions peaking by 2030, and carbon neutrality by 2060.

The whitepaper is available for download.

According to the report Enabling energy markets for net-zero: Reforming code governance, action is needed in three key areas to accelerate the energy transition:

1.  Strategic guidance and co-ordination – Ofgem should issue strategic guidance to Code Panels and Code Managers to ensure they are aligned and co-ordinated with government and industry priorities for net zero and consumer outcomes.

2.  Accountable and incentivised code management – this includes the introduction of reputational and financial incentives to improve performance, with greater transparency, and competitive tendering of code managers to ensure value for money.

3.  Simplification and accessibility – harnessing the power of digitalisation to reduce regulatory burdens, make rule changes more accessible to market participants and steps to simplify the rule book.

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Although the energy transition is rapidly accelerating with the digitalisation, decentralisation and decarbonisation of the grid, energy market rules and standards are also increasingly becoming outdated resulting in slower than required energy transition progress, according to the report.

Reforming change processes governed through energy ‘codes’ is therefore vital to ensure market governance continues to be a key enabler, rather than a barrier to a net-zero future.

The report states that since widescale reform takes time, it is vital for Ofgem, the BEIS and the industry to take action now rather than later.

Trevor Hutchings, Gemserv’s director of Strategy, said: “We think that there are several opportunities to act now, making demonstrable improvements to code governance which will unleash further innovation, competition and efficiencies in the market.  This can be done without jeopardising wider reform over the longer term.”

Bob Hull, energy industry expert and lead author of the paper, added: “Energy codes have successfully underpinned the energy system since the late 1990s but have become complex and change is slow. In the meantime, markets and technologies have moved on and they need to be modernised to help drive the transition to net zero.  Our recommendations should deliver early benefits and can provide a strong catalyst for future change.”

The report is available for download.

The report Energising Industry highlights the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors to achieve decarbonisation.

While future prices for carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and green electricity remain uncertain, the research predicts the annual net value of industrial decarbonisation will more than double between 2020 and 2030 – from around 100 to just over 200 billion euros per year.

Accenture says it expects new technological innovations to emerge, leading to growth in value continuing over time.

The majority of companies are focusing on energy efficiency since most transformative solutions, including electrification technologies and carbon capture, are not yet financially attractive.

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However, hydrogen is the most promising technology for significant decarbonisation progress in heavy industry, according to the report.

For heavy industry, the total net value of hydrogen adoption is forecast to increase from around 20 to 100 billion euros annually between 2020 and 2040.

At the same time, switching to natural gas would follow a decreasing trend, from generating 11 billion euros in total net value in 2020 to 6 billion euros in 2040.

Despite an evaluation of all global CO₂ patent filings since 2013 revealing that the growth of new technologies or applications for the mitigation of or adaptation to climate change may be slowing, the report reveals that European industrial firms are still investing in some new areas.

Almost 40% of investments made during the past five years were linked to decarbonisation, including investments in renewables, hydrogen, intelligent cloud and energy distribution.

Chemical companies are spending heavily on 3D printing, biofuels, hydrogen and battery technology; energy companies are more focused on platform ecosystems, cloud technologies and renewable energy; and mining, metals and building materials companies are concentrating on larger investments in energy distribution and chemicals, such as hydrogen.

Recommendations to accelerate decarbonisation

The report recommends European companies to focus quickly on driving efficiency and identify new business models, for example, by benchmarking against industry peers and leaders.

Adopting new technologies, more expansive carbon-pricing efforts, joint investments and alliances across the value chain and improved supplier pre-qualification, based on carbon footprint will also help companies to accelerate their decarbonisation efforts.

European companies should also foster an innovative entrepreneurial culture, enabling them to pivot to new opportunities ahead of their industry peers.

Götz Erhardt, a senior managing director at Accenture, said: “Industrial companies across Europe are struggling with uncertainty around the fragmented regulatory environment, infrastructure challenges, the development of key technologies and their pricing.

“That’s why decarbonisation efforts are not progressing fast enough, despite the potential for innovation and value creation. However, public and financial support is at an all-time high, and, as key enablers of the energy transition, European industrial companies need to reimagine their operations at a faster pace.

“Industrial decarbonisation in Europe is a major opportunity for both energy producers and industrial energy customers.

“But while they are capable of driving transformational change and redefining business models, they need support from the public sector, given the investments required and the uncertainty of the pace and scope of technological innovation. Successful industrial decarbonisation requires a multi-faceted approach with the public and private sectors working in coordination to ensure Europe retains its competitive advantage.”

Accenture also conducted expert interviews with a study group of 30 companies.

The report is available for download.