Building the future of smart energy

Distributed energy storage

The national grid needs to raise power generation to meet consumption during peak hours, but you can’t choose when the sun will shine or the wind will blow. So with more renewables in the mix, more energy storage is required.

Larger capacity Lithium-ion and alternative battery chemistries offer short-term storage solutions, while pumped hydro, thermal storage, hydrogen and compressed air offer more long-term options. Homes and businesses generating and storing their own energy, and EV batteries connected across the grid, open up the possibility of more distributed storage solutions.

AI and automation

The intermittent nature of wind and solar power increases variability in the national supply. And with more energy storage distributed across the network, the grid is growing in complexity. With A.I and automation, the smart grid can monitor and control the infrastructure in real-time to optimise the use of resources and drive cost-efficiencies across the whole system.

Advanced robotics

Solar panels require regular cleaning to operate efficiently, and maintaining giant wind turbines can be a time-consuming and dangerous task for humans. Enter the robots!  In operation today, there are drones for inspecting wind and solar farms, robots for cleaning and maintenance, fully automated PV manufacturing, and robots for installing solar panels.

Green hydrogen

The UK’s plan to reach net zero emissions and the EU’s strategy for energy system integration promote the use of hydrogen and biofuels in sectors where electrification proves more challenging. Hydrogen, for example, looks like the most promising option for the shipping industry due to the ease of retrofitting the current fleet with hydrogen fuel cells.

However, although hydrogen is a renewable source of energy, the majority of the world’s hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas. Green hydrogen, on the other hand, is created via the electrolysis of water. The IEA predicts renewable sources dedicated to hydrogen production will increase 100-fold between 2022 and 2027.