How will the Fourth Industrial Revolution affect the power and energy industry?

Guangdong Power Grid Management Science Research Institute Jiang Huirong

At present, the fourth industrial revolution, driven by artificial intelligence, big data and the Internet of Things, is sweeping the world, and the Internet and the energy industry are deeply integrated. As an important part of the energy industry, the power industry will also face a huge transformation in the reshaping of the industry structure, and the traditional way of power energy production and service will be greatly changed.

01

The core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have a disruptive impact on the power industry

In the future electric power and energy industry, digitalization and the Internet of Things will become core infrastructure. The energy Internet of Things, composed of a series of intelligent interconnected sensors, will be able to collect, process and convert data as needed, bringing breakthrough progress in energy technologies such as the new generation of power systems, smart grid control and operation. Energy companies can provide services such as real-time monitoring of energy equipment, smart homes, and consumption analysis by conducting intelligent analysis of rich data.

Artificial intelligence and cloud computing will become important means of business innovation, and they can learn autonomously from a large amount of data, accurately predict the consumption data of end customers in the downstream of the industrial chain, make timely decisions, and allocate energy resources in the best way. At the same time, they can also drive the widespread application of high-end equipment such as robots, and have a subversive impact on the overall efficiency, operation control method and operation model of the future energy and power system.

Blockchain technology will greatly change the production and trading patterns of energy systems. Energy trading entities can realize point-to-point energy product production, trading, and energy infrastructure sharing. In the future, it will be able to extend to energy interconnection scenarios such as microgrids and carbon emissions.

02

The deep integration of new storage and IoT with power grid production accelerates the decentralization of the industry

With the mature application of 5G technology and the rapid development of the Internet of Things, the energy industry will be able to build an energy Internet of Things with tens of billions of power equipment and terminals interconnected and data transmitted in milliseconds in real time, which will greatly promote the development of distributed power grids. With sensors, cloud computing, big data analysis and low-cost battery systems, several distributed power grids (microgrids) can operate automatically, and traditional electricity consumers will become electricity producers, achieving self-sufficiency in electricity. Multiple microgrids can be organically connected and centrally dispatched and controlled through a centralized power grid to achieve balance and optimal configuration within the microgrid and the entire power grid. They can also be interconnected through the Internet of Things technology to integrate multiple distributed energy, distributed energy storage and distributed energy use, adjust surplus and shortage, and improve energy supply reliability and utilization efficiency. When distributed power grids become popular, centralized power grids will be greatly impacted, transforming from the main provider of electricity to the guarantor of power supply reliability. By developing automated local real-time control technology, local reconfiguration and stable power supply in the event of a fault can be ensured.

03

The deep integration of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and power grid transmission will accelerate the intelligentization of the industry

In terms of distributed energy access, smart grids will make real-time operational adjustments through intelligent analysis to reduce the fluctuations caused by grid connection. In terms of power dispatching, artificial intelligence can autonomously learn procedures, free up manpower from simple dispatching instructions, and realize a new grid dispatching mode of "autonomous driving". When major events occur or grid equipment is abnormal, artificial intelligence can respond quickly and accurately through automatic learning of historical data to improve the stability of the grid. In terms of grid operation and maintenance, remote-controlled drones can perform regular inspections and data recording of power lines and the environment, and intelligent robots can quickly handle highly repetitive and simple tasks, greatly improving the efficiency of grid operation and maintenance and operational safety.

04

The deep integration of IoT, AI and electricity consumption will promote the diversification of services

With the popularization of distributed power grids, consumers will have greater autonomy in purchasing energy services and will prefer energy services with high flexibility and good economy. User energy trusteeship and energy efficiency trusteeship may become new profit models. Energy companies can obtain customer energy consumption data in real time through the Internet of Things, and use big data and cloud computing to analyze and predict customer energy demand and provide energy efficiency management services for customers. In addition, real-time connection and real-time interaction with customers can be achieved through smart hardware, exploring customer needs in various work and life scenarios and seizing business opportunities for consumption upgrades.

05

The deep integration of blockchain and power trading will promote the transparency of transactions

Energy blockchain can realize digital and precise management of energy, clearly record the source and use of each kilowatt-hour of electricity, and realize accurate management and settlement. In point-to-point power transactions, especially for distributed energy, point-to-point transactions between users and generators can be realized through blockchain. In the determination of line losses, the losses caused by the conversion between different energy sources, the long-distance transmission of energy and other line losses caused by operation can all be notarized through blockchain in the future, and the information will be more transparent. In power finance, the blockchain distributed ledger is used to realize mandatory trust, the relevant parties interact point-to-point, the smart contract automatically executes power transactions, and the demand fluctuations are automatically responded to. At the same time, the direct securitization of power station income can also be realized. In carbon emission certification, blockchain technology is used to build a carbon emission rights certification and trading platform, giving each unit of carbon emission rights a unique ID, stamping it with a time stamp, and recording it in the blockchain, recording the carbon emissions and carbon trading behavior of the generator set in real time and imposing fines on enterprises that exceed the standard. In the decentralized coordination of multiple energy systems, blockchain is used to record the real-time production information and costs of different energy systems. When there is a cross-energy market, transactions between multiple energy systems and their price information can be recorded. On this basis, the marginal prices of various types of energy in various regions can be generated in real time.

06

Grid companies should leverage their strengths to seize new business opportunities

Driven by the wave of the fourth industrial revolution and supported by the national policy on the development of Internet + smart energy, the future electric energy industry will develop in a more decentralized, intelligent, diversified and transparent direction. Traditional power grid companies will face major transformations, and the traditional generation, transmission and distribution model will be impacted. In order to seize new business opportunities, it is necessary to make full use of its own strong technical and resource advantages, build a smart grid and energy Internet of Things as the basis, and use big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence as technical support to build an interactive platform between customers and various energy and service providers in the future, leading the industry to develop an open, shared, and win-win energy ecosystem.

(This article only represents the author's personal views)