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The energy industry has changed a lot over the last 20 years. As the world population is growing exponentially year on year, worldwide energy consumption is also growing rapidly. This calls for new, innovative, and smart energy solutions that encourage more efficient energy management that helps to achieve more availability, sustainability, affordability and minimizes the use of fossil fuels and emissions. The energy sector is undergoing a massive digital transformation. Here is how energy suppliers can use digital technologies to improve operations and steer the world towards a more secure and smart energy future.
Internet of Things
As more and more machines and objects are loaded with sensors and connected to the internet, IoT is revolutionizing every industry, and the energy sector is not an exception. IoT technology can enable efficient grid management in the energy sector. By placing smart IoT devices along the distribution lines provide real-time power consumption data that energy companies can use to make decisions about voltage control, network configurations, and more. It also alerts the operators of outages and can even automatically reroute power. IoT devices on generation, transmission, and distribution equipment can monitor the wear and tear and helps optimize maintenance schedules. In addition to this, internet-connected smart meters can help customers be more informed about their energy usage and reduce wastage. Thus, from electrical grid management to power generation and energy productivity improvements, the energy sector is all set to be reorganized by the IoT.
Cloud adoption
Cloud technology is one of the robust computing solutions available today. Cloud adoption is playing a crucial role in pushing the energy sector into a successful digital integration. In the energy sector, most companies and organizations still have legacy systems that rely on human involvement. Cloud-based collaboration enables energy companies to install and manage their mission-critical documents on private clouds. But the most important use case of cloud technology in the energy industry is in Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Cloud computing provides a massive opportunity to redefine and transform the relationship between customers and utility companies. Thus, cloud technologies are driving digital transformation in the energy sector.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence holds great potential for the future of the energy system. With the increasing decentralization of the power grid, it is becoming more and more difficult to manage a large number of grid participants and keep the grid in balance. With the help of AI, the energy industry can build smart grids. Smart grids are networks that transport not only electricity but also data that enables the power generation to react intelligently to consumption. It helps evaluate, analyze, and control the data of consumers, energy producers, and storage facilities connected to each other via the grid. Another important area in which AI helps the energy sector is power trading. With AI, it is simpler to evaluate large the amount of data in electricity trading such as weather data and historical data to help improve forecasts that increase grid stability.
Robotic Process Automation
The energy industry deals with a lot of transactions every day that are more prone to human errors. RPA becomes necessary to help the companies to manage the transactions efficiently and to enhance the customer experience. RPA can be implemented on top of the current, underlying legacy systems in the energy industry. They can execute repetitive business processes such as customer records management, complaints resolution, and metering and billing. RPA can also be harnessed to enhance accounting workflows, boos throughput for processes across the value chain.
We understand the nature and operational dynamics of the energy industry. There is an industry transformation that is underway. Whether it is investing in digitizing operations or mastering technologies like predictive analytics, RPA, AI cloud migration, and CRM, industry leaders today must reinvent their DNA to transform, grow, and adapt to succeed. That’s where we at Intone come in. With more than 15 years of energy industry experience, our consulting teams enable energy companies to turn new technologies and digital disruptions into solutions for competitive advantage. Let us help you move the needle to higher levels of performance in today’s digital energy revolution.