“The development of renewable energy requires expanding the basic paradigms of power system management,” says Gerhard Salge, CTO of Hitachi Energy. “The whole system – production, transport and distribution, demand and storage – must become more flexible. Digital technologies, combined with power electronics, are essential to manage these increasing levels of complexity and variability.

The power of networking

In October 2024, the UK launched the National Energy Systems Operator (NESO). It is an independent body with a digital-first strategy, which aims to harness AI and large amounts of data to improve electricity delivery across the country. A future-ready digital network can ensure stability by balancing supply and demand, optimizing resource allocation and avoiding outages, but it will come at a price. “The UK network needs vast investment,” says Bell. “What is being developed at the transport level is justified by the fact that not building it would cost more, because it would mean reducing the use of the cheapest forms of energy.”

Low-voltage local distribution networks also require investment to meet growing demand as heating and transport become electrified. This is the best way to reduce our use of fossil fuels, according to Salge. “If you also make small-scale adjustments to the networks, the impact is less and the costs increase,” he says. “National or regional integration ensures complementarity between electricity generation, demand profiles and varying types of storage resources, providing energy security ready for any situation – 24/7, 365 days a year. »

Hitachi Energy’s technology portfolio supports large-scale national transmission and distribution projects, as well as localized microgrids that power facilities such as factories and data centers. It supports the utility, industrial, transportation, data center and infrastructure sectors with advanced software solutions for network, asset and risk management, in addition to energy trading. This will become important not only for professional traders but also for the general public.

As decentralized energy storage assets such as electric vehicles and homes begin to exchange energy with the grid via bi-directional V2G (vehicle-to-grid) and V2H (vehicle-to-home) chargers, consumers and Companies become active rather than passive actors. the system. Automated energy trading will allow them to reap the benefits without having to become energy trading experts themselves.