Page 28 - Gi flipbook - November 2018

STAYING SHARP IN

THE DIGITAL AGE

Andy Compton, Director at Compton Energy Associates and increasing number of smaller
Matthew Brown, Energy Lawyer at LexisNexis, examine the generators and/or storage providers,
opportunities and challenges presented to the energy sector including ‘prosumers’ (consumers who
also produce power). This change
by digitalisation means increased complexity, with
more interactions between energy
he advance of digitalisation per cent more in digital electricity vectors, increasingly variable supply
is evidenced by our infrastructure ($47 billion) than in and new sources of demand.
increased use of gas-fired generation ($34 billion) At present, perhaps the greatest
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buzzwords, such as data worldwide . While the energy sector changes are occurring in utility-scale
T analytics, machine learning, has utilised digital technology for power generation, where combined
Industry 4.0 and the Internet of decades, the sector has historically cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants
Things (IoT). This has been been risk-averse in its approach to are progressively becoming unable to
accompanied by an explosion in the adopting truly cutting-edge operate as mid-merit plant; instead
quantity of commercially useful data, technology, governed more by its being used to fill in for renewables.
and the introduction of artificial responsibilities to maintain energy Open cycle gas turbines (OCGTs) are
intelligence (AI) derived tools to security and ensure safety. Yet, as the correspondingly attractive alternatives
analyse it in great depth. This is energy market becomes increasingly to investors, as plants are forced to
presenting ground-breaking business fragmented, it is clear that generate their revenue over
opportunities across the economy. digitalisation is presenting decreasing numbers of running hours.
Few doubt the transformative powers opportunities and threats at a number This increasing variability in the
of digitalisation, not least in the of points in the value chain, from market means short periods of highly
energy sector. However, in common smart meters to tools for managing inflated prices. OCGT and CCGT
with all profound technological the entire system. operators can capitalise on these
changes, there are risks and concerns. Digitalisation arrives at a critical short-lived opportunities – if they can
An indicator of the growing time. The energy system, designed and correctly predict them.
importance of digitalisation in the built around different technologies, However, digitalisation should mean
energy arena is demonstrated by the and for different purposes, requires increased competition for this business
International Energy Association’s transformative change to respond to a from energy storage and demand side
(IEA’s) assessment that in 2016, highly distributed network of largely response (DSR) from aggregated
energy companies invested almost 40 renewable energy projects, with an groups of prosumers. Machine

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