Electrical grids are stepping up decarbonization efforts.Supplied
To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Canada needs to rely more on cleaner energy. That means hydroelectricity, wind and solar. But it’s not enough to be sustainable. For true modernization, utilities also need to create a more intelligent and resilient grid.
The right technology is critical for this transformation. Consider New Brunswick, where 60 per cent of households rely on electricity for heating, and over 70 per cent of power outages stem from weather-related incidents.
Recognizing these challenges, IBM partnered with New Brunswick Power, leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast storms up to 72 hours in advance. The information allowed the utility to plan where to deploy personnel and equipment and mobilize quickly to keep restore power to the grid quickly. It also helped New Brunswick Power reduce their reliance on outside contractors, cutting the cost of the outage.
The project illustrates how digital technology can help build more resilient grid systems to support the movement towards the electrification of everything.
In a recent survey of 800 utility executives from 34 countries, from the IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics, 56 per cent said technology has made it easier to go green. It is now the number one decarbonization driver, more so than regulation.
“It’s all about how we’re connecting different technologies together and interacting with them,” says Lylia Djait-Paulien, associate partner, IBM Sustainability Practice. “The connecting points, access to data and communication across different systems is the role we play at IBM.”
As utility providers work to meet both increasing demand and the need for sustainability, they are challenged to satisfy expectations from investors, stakeholders, customers, employees, and regulators alike. That requires embracing decarbonization broadly, across the culture, strategy, and operations of the utility, says Ms. Djait-Paulien.
“Whether you’re focused on grid operations, managing your assets or the customer experience, all the projects and domains that an organization covers need a decarbonization metric.”
Utilities can make calculated trade-offs in the energy mix, by knowing when and where renewable energy can be stored and used. AI and data analytics can play a significant part in that, and in identifying when demand is at its highest so utilities can adjust the supply.
In Denmark, for instance, IBM partnered with the city of Copenhagen and its largest utility, Andel, to create an AI-powered flexibility platform to help balance the grid.
“With the utility provider, we developed the IBM Utility Flexibility Platform, where we use data to adjust heat and power consumption based on the available supply of renewable energy,” Ms. Djait-Paulien says.
The platform also allows high-volume consumers – like building owners, companies, real estate firms, shopping malls and supermarkets – to assist with load balancing. These energy users can make their own ventilation, cooling, and freezing facilities available to the grid operator to manage when supply is low. By leveraging that capacity, Andel avoids tapping into the fossil-fueled reserve power plants to meet demand, cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re balancing the load of how much energy is coming in with how much is actually being used. That’s how we realized significant cost savings and avoidance of CO2, which is always what you’re trying to achieve,” says Ms. Djait-Paulien.
Other technology-enabled efforts involve ensuring the supply chain is doing its part to cut emissions. That’s where IBM helped Iberdrola, a Spanish utility company and one of the world’s largest producers of clean wind energy. Iberdrola serves over 100 million customers. They set a goal of providing them with clean and affordable energy, and also aimed to have at least 70 per cent of core suppliers set sustainability policies.
To increase the efficiency and sustainability of its supplier ecosystem, Iberdrola partnered with IBM Consulting. They built an automated digital procurement process using the SAP Ariba supply chain application. With it, Iberdrola can better assess the environmental and social impacts of each of its suppliers, allowing them to secure the best price possible on sustainable materials, products and services.
Achieving these large-scale innovations, with sustainability at the core, calls for strong methodologies and practices. It also requires a mindset shift, says Ms. Djait-Paulien. To accelerate the pace of innovation, she says companies need to be comfortable with the “build and fail fast” mentality, operating at the speed of a startup and reaching the scale of the enterprise.
As part of the energy transition ecosystem, companies and stakeholders can assess different ideas, validate the ones that have the best potential, and look at scalability and sustainability. For energy and utility companies, that can make an enormous difference in their ability to operate cleaner and more efficiently, setting themselves up for long-term success and for a low-carbon energy future.
“That’s the consulting aspect,” Ms. Djait-Paulien says. “We identify challenges and help find not only the solution, but how it’s going to work for the individual customer.”
Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with IBM. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.