Smart grids vital to green energy drive

The global energy landscape is on the cusp of transformational changes as the migration to clean power gathers pace.

With world leaders about to gather in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for the COP 28 climate summit, the transition to green energy will be one of the key topics on the agenda.

Switching to renewables assumes the utmost importance due to the indelible impact of climate change. The replacement of fossil fuels by green energy is bringing about a revolution in electricity generation and expanding its role across economies.

According to a special report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the world’s electricity use needs to grow 20% faster in the next decade than it did in the previous one, if national energy and climate goals were to be met.

Centrality of the grid

Whether it is the spiralling demand for more electricity or the universal initiative to shift to renewable energy, a crucial element in this complex matrix is the power grid. Having been the backbone of electricity transmission and distribution for more than a century, the grid will be expected to bear significant burden with electrification taking deeper roots in society.

A fact reinforced by the IEA when it revealed that operators would have to add or replace 80 million km of grids – equivalent to all grids available globally today – by 2040 to achieve climate targets and ensure reliable energy supply.

Myriad challenges facing the grid

Expanding the grid, although essential, is just one part of the problem. As renewable energy projects grow in number and begin supplying power to an already congested grid, issues related to traffic volume, load distribution, transmission and storage will only worsen. Not to mention the mushrooming of micro and nano grids that need to be connected to the larger network. It also creates a highly unpredictable energy environment.

The modern grid will encounter some typical challenges associated with renewable energy. For instance, balancing supply to demand in real time, due to the intermittent nature of wind and solar power. Add to it the bi-directional characteristics of renewables. It would be incorrect to assume that in such an ecosystem electricity would flow in one direction, from the utilities to those who consume it.

‘Prosumers’, a new crop of consumers and businesses have come to the fore who produce energy locally from rooftop solar panels, electric vehicles, home batteries, etc and are quite inclined to channel the excess power back to the grid.

Make way for smart grids

The transition to green energy requires an intelligent grid system capable of managing the complexities associated with renewables.

Smart grids powered by Industry 4.0 will deploy the latest digital solutions, including software and sensors to monitor and control operations. All in real time while reducing costs and maintaining the integrity of the grid.

Connectivity offered by private wireless – 4.9G/LTE and 5G – to digital twins, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML), the Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing, automation, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, smart meters and big data analytics will revolutionise the way grid operators work and give a fillip to the wider decarbonisation drive.

Digitalisation of the grid is an all-encompassing phenomenon. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a key 4G technology and it’s been around for some time. The arrival of licensed wireless spectrum has enabled private networks such as LTE (4.9G) and 5G to play a major role in providing for grid communications. Industrial-grade private wireless can provide grid operators with a network that is ubiquitous, independent, self-contained, self-healing and secure.

The shift to renewables is triggering a new trend, the proliferation of microgrids in the energy sector. Microgrids operate independently from the traditional grid. They offer immense efficiency and flexibility, especially when it comes to distributed energy resources like solar. Since a microgrid can operate during outages, it reinforces grid resilience and help mitigate disturbances.

Private wireless networks can empower the microgrid controller by helping it to connect to assets administering the grid. It enables optimal load balancing between energy demand and availability of local distributed energy resources. Doing away with the need to deploy cabling to connect sensors and other devices associated with operating the microgrid leads to faster deployment and expansion.

Energy consumption is witnessing a huge spike and there is the need to monitor data linked to production, use and storage. These are often done by applications based in the cloud albeit with certain limitations. This is where edge computing comes in by deploying computing capabilities right at the source of the data and users. The edge basically takes on the role of an intermediary, facilitating communication and storage between computing resources and the smart grid.

“There is a big push to edge compute for processing multiple streams of data in near real-time, robustly, with low latent communications and with cybersecurity that is with low or no overheads. It’s about using the right tool for the job”, says Liana Ault, General Manager for the Energy Orchestration Venture Telco at Nokia Strategy and Technology.

Sophisticated AI-infused analytic software can help grid operators to turn information into actionable intelligence, too. At the same time, machine learning could help in managing asset maintenance programmes, upkeep of records, forecasts and weather tracking.

Furthermore, a smart grid can leverage the benefits of digital twin technology, one of the most promising applications of the early industrial metaverse that creates virtual replicas of physical objects. Currently, grids in distant locations use fibre supporting Supervisory Control and Data Acquisitions (SCADA) connectivity for remote monitoring and control. Digital twins will allow operators to clone the entire environment of a power grid, gain valuable operational insights in real time and not just experience the physical world in a virtual space, but to control it.

Likewise, automation can assist in increasing reliability and lowering cost, given the surge in devices and applications in energy grids. It can even help balancing the grid in case of outages and regulate supply and demand. It, again, allows for the easy deployment of new devices and applications.

Virtualisation, another product of digitalisation, contributes to grid resiliency. Services and apps can be quickly launched in the event of an outage or anomaly. It can aid in grid control, monitoring and restoration.

“Virtualisation will shrink the wires and active grid assets to make maintenance and administration of the grid a largely compute-based task. Yes, there will be a distribution of circuit breakers and physical things, but the control will more automated and centrally administered as general energy system policies,” says Nigel Nawacki, Energy Utility Digital Industry CX Lead CTO at Nokia.

The grid is vital to energy transition

Without a bigger, smarter and more digitally resilient power grid, the transition to clean energy is bound to stall. The concerted push to promote clean energy must be underpinned by state-of-the-art power grids.

Policymakers, grid operators, utilities and the markets are cognizant of this reality. The urgent action to modernise the grid along with the adoption of the latest communications solutions is imperative for renewable energy to be mainstreamed. A sentiment underlined by Pekka Lundmark, Nokia’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), when he said: “There is no green without digital.”

About Nokia

At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think, and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.

Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

Media inquiries

Nokia Communications, Corporate
Email: Press.Services@nokia.com