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11/22/23, 2:53 PM Digital technology is key to addressing energy mix

Digital technology is key to addressing energy mix

Created: 19 October 2023
While this year's Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure, powered
by Bentley Systems, celebrated sustainability and innovation
across sectors, it also witnessed conversations around the
relevance of conventional energy sources in today's world

Oil Review Africa caught esteemed representatives from the company
such as Alan Kiraly, senior vice president of industries; Brian Rock,
industry marketing director for energy; Thomas D Krom, segment
director-environment, Seequent, and Pat McLarin, civil segment
director, Seequent, to get an understanding of the sector and where it
stands at the moment.
Speaking of Africa, D Krom stressed on the recent developments the
continent has achieved in the geothermal sector. Several companies
from the region, including KenGen, use Bentley's leapfrog energy
A successful energy transition calls for an underground transition products, to look at geothermal resources for electrical production. In
as well. (Image source: Adobe Stock)
fact, Kenya Geological Survey has been recognised as one of the
2023 Founders' Honours Recipients for their exemplary work on airborne geophysical surveys using Bentley's technology,
which involved the mapping of water, geothermal and mineral resources.
The complexity of the energy mix and different storage mechanisms, be it carbon capture and storage (CCUS)
or hydrogen storage, among others, will need better digital technology. McLarin explained that since renewable resources
cannot always serve as the baseload energy, it needs to be balanced with other sources, and stored in different ways. It is
thus important to look underground to efficiently bring about these changes. A successful energy transition thus calls for
an underground transition as well. Considering the very diverse set of needs that makes up energy transition, Bentley tools
can span across different environments, even to low temperature heat or geotechnical considerations, and help people
diversify their energy use.

According to D Krom, gas and CCUS are going to be of prime importance in the transition period. Bentley software can help
map out the system in which carbon can be stored. The company's flow states allow users to model carbon injection; its
geophysical solutions offer tools to map carbon distribution since its very injection. Seequent's acquisition of Flow State
Solutions will further advance their offerings in flow simulation technology in the CCUS space and other energy applications.

"Everybody is fighting for the same resources, and so everybody needs to be more efficient – that is really what we want. We
aim to provide our users with tools to make them efficient, so that they get a better understanding of the subsurface for the
problems that they're addressing, and can do that in the best manner possible," D Krom said.

"The population growth forecast in Africa is really going to drive additional demand within the continent. It will be exciting to
see what happens in Africa because most of the development – mega cities of the future – will be in Africa, and we'll need to
be so much more efficient in the way we utilise our resources. It is not going to be just one thing that enables us to move
forward, but a lot of different technologies together that will help support growth in the continent of Africa," said McLarin.

Another area that Bentley is actively addressing is geoscience education. "Because of our dependency on understanding the
underground, we need to bring in more people through academic channels, as we don't have the workforce with the right skill
set. So we have been working on tools that help make geology sexy again for the younger generation. 3D visualisation and
engagement tools are being considered in teaching visible geology," McLarin said.

Bentley has been in a long-standing partnership with oil and gas majors such as bp, Shell and Suncor, to name a few, and
seen it all, right from the start when on-premise applications were the norm till today's shift to cloud. Speaking of cyber-
security in the oil and gas sector, Kiraly said that Bentley's clients lean heavily on Microsoft Azure, the "big gorilla on the
block". "Everyone accepts it now; it sounds logical. But five years ago it wasn't that easy. [We used to get a lot of 'what is
Bentley doing?' from CTOs of the majors]," he said. According to him, most of the end users believe that Azure is more secure
than physical data centres that require continuous updating and monitoring. There are, however, clients who want all the scale
and scalability of giant clouds in their own systems, and Bentley is working towards figuring out the company's role in such
situations.

On the issue of just energy transition, Kiraly highlighted how majors are calling themselves "energy companies" to include
renewables alongside the conventional oil and gas. He pointed out how the conversations on transition have evolved to imply
oil and gas as hydrocarbons. Stating an instance of how there has been a continuous upgrading of asset performance, he
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