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18 | 19TH - 25TH MAY 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Utility Week Live 2017 IoT U tilities are only just starting to embrace the potential of a world of interconnected smart and autonomous assets and devices. However, the learning curve will need to be sharp because IoT and associated business opportunities are developing rapidly. There were 900 million connected devices in the world in 2011. This is predicted to increase to 26 billion by 2020, and Cisco believes more than 500 billion devices will be connected by 2030. This surge in IoT-linked objects is set to create $14.4 billion of value in global economies over the next decade. Early steps in the exploitation of IoT have seen utilities adopt smart assets, equipped with a variety of sensors which communicate wirelessly with central asset management systems. This has enabled more detailed understanding of asset health, which has supported a change in maintenance approaches. Where utilities once relied on reactive schedules, now they can practice predictive maintenance. This proactive approach supports more efficient use of field personnel and more accurate investment planning. IoT also equips assets to be able to help protect themselves. For example, in a connected windfarm a leading turbine can detect the force and direction of a threatening gust of wind and instruct its peers to adjust the angle of their blades to prevent harm. But IoT doesn't just promise benefits to infrastructure operators. There can also be direct customer and environmental benefits, as seen in the San Diego trial in the East Bay Municipal Water District. Here, IoT-connected smart water meters were installed to provide customers with hourly consumption updates. The meters also send alerts to the householder if 24 hours of constant consumption is detected, highlighting a potential leak. The result was a 5 per cent drop in consumption. As adoption of IoT-enabled devices grows, utilities could see benefits in operations, efficiencies, customer service and, ultimately, in their bottom line. IoT will be among the technologies discussed in Network Theatre in the 'Transformation in action' seminar at 1pm on 24 May at Utility Week Live. For more information, visit: www. utilityweeklive.co.uk The revolutionary impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) has been a source of excitement for years. KEY NUMBERS number of IoT connected devices in 2011 predicted number of IoT connected devices by 2020 number of IoT connected devices by 2030 according to Cisco potential value created by IoT devices 900m 26bn 500bn $14.4bn Storage £17-40 billion Potential savings across the energy system by 2050 as a result of flexibility technologies, including storage. £2 billion The potential savings storage could provide to networks by 2030. 1MWh The size of the world's first offshore windfarm battery system set to be installed in 2018 off the Aberdeenshire coast. 3,200MW of electricity storage capacity installed in the UK power system Energy storage technologies offer great potential for supporting renewables energy and a variety of other services, including balancing and increasing the flexibility of the UK's energy system. The storage revolution is being discussed in the Network Theatre at 12:45pm on 23 May at Utility Week Live. For more information, visit www.utilityweeklive.co.uk 10,000 the number of jobs which could be created in the UK if 2GW of energy storage was developed by 2020 61 of the 64 projects on the final EFR list were battery-based systems The amount of battery storage that would procured in the first enhance frequency response (EFR) auction Ffestiniog/Wales 360MW Four main pumped hydro schemes Cruachan/Scotland 440MW Foyers/Scotland 300MW Dinorwing/Wales 1,728MW 200MW 2GW The amount of battery storage that would be procured in the first enhanced frequency response (EFR) auction