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Utilities Business Review | Wednesday, October 26, 2022
According to the latest study, executives in the energy and utilities industries are more likely than executives in other industries to have implemented sustainability-related changes in their operations.
FREMONT, CA: Many people accuse the energy & power industries of carbon emissions, but besides other industries, the utility sector is ruling in adopting sustainable practices.
Based on the latest study, executives in the energy and utilities industries are more reasonable than executives in other industries to have executed sustainability-related changes in their operations.
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Similarly, nearly half of the energy & power respondents (47%) have engaged in a net-zero emissions goal, which is more than every other industry in the survey of about 1,000 respondents worldwide.
Finding a Way to Equalize the Bottom Line and the Green Line
Across the lifecycle of a utility, like a substation, power plant, solar array, wind farm, or gas pipeline, laws, regulations, and submission requirements must be satisfied.
These needs must be satisfied while dealing with often conflicting pressures to reduce costs, increase long-term sustainability, and meet consumer demands – all while handling increased system complexity. Based on the survey, increased process complexity is a barrier to meeting sustainability goals for 50% of energy and utility executives.
To achieve competing goals, energy and utility companies must find ways to equalize the bottom line and the green line:
1. Use of technology
According to the survey, energy and utilities organizations are more technologically advanced than other respondents, with 55 % using Big Data (compared to only 30% in other industries) and 49 % through cloud technology (versus 36 % for all sectors).
While digitalizing systems and automating operations effectively streamline practices and monitor energy consumption, it also adds complexity and decreases security. Each new network component, like a smart meter or an asset sensor, introduces a new entrance point for potential cyber security risks.
2. Prosumers
As more individuals and corporations establish solar panels or wind turbines, they evolve as energy producers and consumers ('prosumers'). The utility industry is partaking in a massive global shift because of this. Yet, while prosumers raise the energy from renewable sources obtainable on the grid, they also problematize energy monitoring and management and the billing process.
3. Balancing the two-way energy flow
Energy flows one way in conventional power grids – from the power plant to the users. Nevertheless, owing to the growing number of prosumers, there is now a bidirectional energy flow. Furthermore, the growing number of businesses and households engrossing and producing renewable energy creates numerous entrances and exits on the grid, requiring careful monitoring to maintain the bidirectional flow of power.
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