Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 21ST - 27TH FEBRUARY 2020 | 21 QUARTERLY TECH SUPPLEMENT Flex content is a free resource on our website: https://utilityweek.co.uk/category/flex Six technologies to watch 21 Drones and utilities 26 How 5G can unlock the power of smart grids 29 T he utilities industry is going through a period of significant structural change and as a result businesses are embracing innovative digital technologies at a pace never seen before. Emerging tech like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the Internet of ings (IoT), Big Data and 5G are not only seen as ways to differentiate in a competitive marketplace, but also to meet challenging regulatory and socio-economic goals, such as net zero, climate resilience and water conservation. As the electricity grid transitions from a centralised model to accommodate multiple smaller decentralised sources of renewable energy and storage, innovative smart technologies can help monitor and manage the flow of power – and potentially provide new solutions for energy trading. Meanwhile, the roll out of smart meters and con- nected homes devices including smart thermostats and voice-activated assistants are opening up avenues for consumers to cut consumption and energy bills. Roger Hey, DSO systems and projects manager at Western Power Distribution, tells Flex: " e two major changes worldwide are around the need to decarbonise the energy system, and the meteoric rise of digital technology, which is constantly falling in price. Both are highly dependent on each other – all technology uses electricity, and the changes we're making to the grid using things like smart sensors and IoT-type equipment are vital to tackle climate change - the timing couldn't have been better." Water companies in England and Wales have committed to the ambitious goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2030, which in combination with require- ments set out in Ofwat's latest price review (including £13 billion in investment to upgrade infrastructure and services, a 30 per cent cut in pollution incidents and a 16 per cent fall in leakage within five years) has placed a keen focus on efficiencies that could be achieved using emerging tech. Acoustic sensors, smart meters and other logger technologies are helping the sector analyse operational data from various systems in near real time. AI and machine learning technologies can accurately locate leakages remotely, as well as interrogate datasets to predict and avoid failures. Angela MacOscar, head of innovation at Northumbrian Water, says: "Where previously, innovation was seen as a nice to have, now it is a necessity, the enormity of the challenges we face are so great." In the realm of customer service, 2020 will see Will AI and data analytics prevent leaks and outages? Are homes getting smarter? Do we have enough data to run smarter networks? Stephen Cousins kicks off our latest Flex supplement with a look at how far technology is moving from the lab into the field. S i x b i g t e c h q u e s t i o n s f o r 2 0 2 0

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