Are we ready for the energy internet to heat up?

China Energy Storage Network : With the continuous development and deep integration of emerging energy technologies with information technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and mobile Internet, the development prospects of the energy Internet have become increasingly clear. The energy Internet is increasingly widely regarded as an important technical fulcrum for realizing the future energy revolution.

Wang Yimin, Secretary General of the Global Energy Interconnection Development Cooperation Organization, said at the "Energy Internet Forum" that they are actively promoting strategic and technological innovations to accelerate the construction of the global energy Internet. In terms of technical equipment planning, the development content, development goals and implementation plans of 98 technical equipment in 4 major categories, 18 subcategories were proposed; in terms of key technology research, 17 global energy Internet technology research and development projects were deployed.

This research work started in 2014 and is scheduled to be completed by 2018. In terms of standard system construction, we are organizing the preparation of a global energy internet standard system roadmap and standard system table, and researching and publishing a standard system plan.

It is understood that the construction of the global energy internet is divided into "three stages", namely, domestic interconnection in 2020, intra-continental interconnection in 2030, and inter-continental interconnection in 2050. Wang Yimin pointed out that as long as 5% of the world's clean energy is developed, the global energy demand can be met.

By building a global energy internet, the proportion of clean energy in the world can be increased to more than 80% by 2050. By 2020 and 2025, the proportion of clean energy in my country can be increased to 18% and 26% respectively. In 2020, the load centers in the east and central regions will receive 310 million kilowatts of external clean electricity, and the total PM2.5 emissions will be reduced by 20%.

In the "2016-2020 China Distributed Energy Industry In-depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Report", CITIC Consulting pointed out that the energy Internet emphasizes the integrated development of renewable energy (especially new energy and distributed energy) and the Internet, which will subvert the traditional energy system and fundamentally solve the energy supply and security problems, and will promote the rise of a new energy revolution.

my country's energy production and consumption system still uses coal as the main energy type, and the traditional power grid has major safety risks. The development of energy Internet that is interconnected with distributed renewable energy will be the general trend. Technological advances such as energy Internet (external factors of energy revolution) will be the catalyst or driving force for the development of new energy.

At present, China is still in the early stages of developing the energy internet. Traditional energy producers and transmission and distribution service providers still dominate the market and actively use the gap before the introduction of reform policies to step up capacity building for new businesses and retain and expand the base of high-quality energy users. New energy suppliers and cross-border enterprises are exploring, building and operating new business models in the energy service market through unconnected and localized energy networks, such as smart oil and gas pipelines, smart grids, and smart microgrids.

Shi Yubo, executive vice president of the China Energy Research Society and former deputy director of the National Energy Administration, pointed out at the 2016 China Energy Internet Summit that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the development of the energy Internet industry is expected to maintain a growth rate of 18.5%, and will become one of the strong engines of reform, innovation and development. In addition, the global management consulting firm Accenture also released the "China Energy Internet Business Ecosystem Outlook" report at the end of 2015, predicting that by 2020, the total market size of China's energy Internet will exceed US$940 billion, accounting for about 7% of the GDP that year.

At present, the sustained and steady development of my country's energy internet depends on three main factors: policy, technology and business. The development of China's energy internet still faces a series of challenges, including the need to further improve market policies, the need to improve digital infrastructure construction, the urgent need to guide investment and financing channels towards innovation, and the lack of corporate concepts and capabilities.

Regarding how traditional energy companies and emerging companies can respond to challenges and adapt to development, Accenture Strategy Consulting Managing Director Huang Wei suggested that since energy substitution cannot be achieved overnight, traditional energy companies need to change their mindset and reposition themselves to achieve new value enhancement.

Huang Wei said that on the one hand, traditional energy companies need to find the right entry point and segment the market and business to meet new customer needs. On the other hand, the enterprise level can adopt the "one body, two systems" approach, such as setting up new companies to develop new businesses, in order to ensure the focus of the business. At the same time, attention should also be paid to innovation and efficiency improvement.

Huang Wei also reminded that while traditional energy companies actively embrace innovation and energy Internet, they should also remain cautious and grasp the scale of data exchange to ensure the maximization of value. For emerging companies in the field of energy Internet, they need to fully understand the market situation, actively cooperate with traditional companies, and clearly position themselves to maximize their own advantages.