Energy Tech Podcast

The Heating Transition – what’s the future of our energy infrastructure?

OT and IT convergence as catalyst for the energy, mobility, and heating transition

Talking about the data and cyber security risks from electric mobility charging infrastructure

In the energy scene the concept of Virtual Power Plants (or VPPs) has gained significant attention since the accelerated rise of renewables, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. A Virtual Power Plant is a technology and software-driven approach to energy generation, distribution, and management. It optimizes the use of smaller, decentral energy resources considering the (real-time) overall situation of the electrical energy system (considering energy prices/costs, demand, supply, grid utilization, weather, and more) - of a region or country - at any given point in time. A VPP allows decentral energy asset owners to create additional income opportunities or avoid energy procurement costs versus the ‘do nothing’ alternative. There are also significant challenges for Virtual Power Plants: given the extensive use of operational technologies as well as public and semi-public communication and data infrastructures, Virtual Power Plants are highly exposed to cyber & data security risks. They therefore increase the threat surface for the energy industry exponentially (e.g. denial-of-service attacks, false data injection, tampering, and more). Therefore, effective cyber and data security strategies are required and countermeasures must be implemented. #energytechpodcast #energy #digitaltransformation #decarbonize #data #ai #podcast #utilities #innovation #siliconvalley #technology #grids #renewableenergy #vpp #futureofenergy #EnergyInnovation #CleanTech#SustainableTech #GreenInnovation #SmartGrid #climatetech #InnovationPodcast #techforgood #EnergyTransition #EcoInnovation #GreenTech #CleanEnergy #EnergyEfficiency #SmartCities #CarbonNeutral #ClimateInnovation

Digital Power Plants - What can operators of renewable and thermal power plants learn from another to become AI-ready? The power industry is facing the biggest transformation in its long and proud history. The secure digitalization of power generation assets – new and old, renewable and thermal – is right at the heart of an accelerated decarbonization of our energy system. #energytechpodcast #energy #digitaltransformation #decarbonize #data #ai #podcast #utilities #innovation #siliconvalley #technology #grids #renewableenergy #vpp #futureofenergy #EnergyInnovation #CleanTech#SustainableTech #GreenInnovation #SmartGrid #climatetech #InnovationPodcast #techforgood #EnergyTransition #EcoInnovation #GreenTech #CleanEnergy #EnergyEfficiency #SmartCities #CarbonNeutral #ClimateInnovation

Decarbonization and Artificial Intelligence: Solving the biggest challenge with the most powerful technology? Research suggests that Artificial Intelligence can reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 4% to 16% until 2030. Almost 75% of all emissions are caused by producing and consuming energy. More AI for energy needs to be developed, if decarbonization is one of the goals. What's the current thinking on decarbonization, AI and energy, also in the light of the latest AI achievements? How big is the decarbonization ‘opportunity’? The decarbonization opportunity is substantial. McKinsey assumes that to reach net zero by 2050 requires about $275 trillion in cumulative spending on low-emission assets globally (around 7.5% of global GDP every year for 30 years). They also think that decarbonizing energy, industry, transport, and buildings is the most significant opportunity in a generation for many businesses. Since 2015, six decacorns and one hundred thirty five unicorns have been created within the sustainability space.  A potential of between 9 and 12 trillion Dollars in annual sales could emerge by 2030. Why? Because capital and customer demand shift towards a low-carbon economy. Morgan Stanley suggests that between 3 and 10 trillion Dollars of Earnings from decarbonization are up for grabs. The global decarbonization market was already more than $1.5 trillion in 2022. How big is the AI opportunity? AI is often hailed as the 4th industrial revolution. It holds great promise in addressing complex challenges and improving many functions and processes within organizations and across industries. Users now can interface with Generative AI via the Internet. This has led to a strong awareness of AI in the public. AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030, according to Price Waterhouse Coopers. Is energy AI the real opportunity? Boston Consulting Group assumes that applying AI to corporate sustainability amounts to roughly 1 to 3 trillion Dollars in value by 2030 (this comes from additional revenues and cost savings with emission reductions from AI of 5 to 10%). This value can only be captured via investing money in AI and supporting data systems and technologies. For electricity grids, the market potential for AI could be more than $10bn soon. Energy AI therefore can generate significant business-building opportunities and is very likely to soar in the future! #energytechpodcast #energy #digitaltransformation #decarbonize #data #ai #podcast #utilities #innovation #siliconvalley #technology #grids #renewableenergy #vpp #futureofenergy #EnergyInnovation #CleanTech#SustainableTech #GreenInnovation #SmartGrid #climatetech #InnovationPodcast #techforgood #EnergyTransition #EcoInnovation #GreenTech #CleanEnergy #EnergyEfficiency #SmartCities #CarbonNeutral #ClimateInnovation

#cop28 is history and it became obvious that it is still a big stretch for fossil fuel enthusiasts to say goodbye to oil, gas and coal. But even without more mental preparedness to do so, more #energy tech innovation is required to make this happen over time. Another remarkable development are the record earnings levels some companies were able to achieve lately in the energy business. Why is this relevant? Because solid earnings levels make it easier at the end of the day to mobilize money for innovation (either directly from these corporates or indirectly from venture investors). Given where energy prices are, don't expect significant changes to these innovation friendly market conditions. Let's have a look at four key #innovation trends in energy tech in #2024: Given the overall attention #artificialintelligence get's these days, we can expect that this area will get way more attention as we move into 2024. AI can play a crucial role in optimizing energy #grids, predicting demand, and managing and maintaining energy resources. Expect to see smarter grids that can self-heal and adapt to real-time conditions. A big hurdle for the adoption of #ai in energy is the availability and access to relevant data sets, helping the AI to become more intelligent. If data cannot be accessed, the time to AI will be very long. Also big energy players should further develop their AI strategies and support energy startups and scaleups and AI ecosystems with funding, projects and data. To enable AI and further optimize power generation, distribution and consumption also requires more OT and IT convergence. This means that more sensor and device data must be used for optimization purposes. To deliver this requires to overcome security barriers which have been built in the past when a clear split between OT and IT was possible. A rigorous end to end approach to data and digital can increase the earnings from generation assets by twenty to thirty percent according to research. To deliver this requires a new and holistic view on all existing and new data opportunities. The digitalization, interconnection and automation of energy systems increases the attack surface significantly. New attacks by an array of nefarious actors ranging from pranksters to fraudsters to political and state-funded terrorists must be expected. This requires an increased focus on new security technologies and new trust models for energy data. Demand-Side Management will also Get Smarter in 2024. This is true for industrial, business and private energy consumption. All energy consumers can have more tools to actively participate in managing energy demand. This can lower energy bills and help reducing green house gas emissions. Think electric vehicles, storage batteries, smart thermostats, dynamic pricing schemes, and rewards for shifting energy use to off-peak periods. A variation of this topic are Virtual Power Plants. These have been around for more than 10 years but the global VPP capacity is still very small compared to overall generation capacities from renewable and thermal. Expect to see significant demand for VPPs as rising rates of renewables drive business cases. Why? Because more grid congestion and distribution restrictions increase the value of flexible energy. One key challenge is the lack of standardized protocols and security to connect and integrate energy assets into VPPs. Overall, 2024 will be a very exciting year for energy tech! The decarbonization agenda as well as the flow of money into the sector will enable good innovation progress. #energy #digitaltransformation #decarbonize #data #ai #podcast #utilities #innovation #siliconvalley #technology #grids #renewableenergy #vpp #futureofenergy #energytechpodcast