The new decade has begun on an unsettling note. It’s not only the impact of the pandemic which has overturned expectations. Disruptive technological innovation has presented a set of profound challenges to the way we live, work and play. This has unsettled communities as well as industries, ushering in the beginnings of a new economy.
During the lockdowns and other restrictions that quickly became part of our new normal, we became even more dependent on reliable access to the utilities. If supply shortages restricted services and home working had to be embraced, then we would need to stay connected to vital services to live some semblance of a normal life.
The global economy is driven by electricity. It feeds the giant manufacturing plants of China, fires up stock market displays of New York City, increasingly powers vehicles and, perhaps most important, drives the servers, phones and computers that make our connected world possible.
The Network Economy
Our economy is built on networks. Networks of people, teams, organisations, supply chains and servers form complicated webs that must be kept up and running. What powers these networks is electricity, with the pandemic giving everyone a stark reminder of the importance of infrastructure. It needs to be robust, flexible enough to cope with shifting demands and with a bullet-proof set of contingencies in place, should the worse happen.
With this in mind, it’s the perfect time for electric utilities to redefine their role as they seek to drive, support, and shape the burgeoning network economy. However, it’s not going to be straightforward, and the road ahead is likely to be filled with challenges and disruptions.
What will these challenges look like, and how can they be overcome?
Network modernisation
The task of building a greener and smarter grid has already begun. Part of this journey will consist of breaking from legacy communications networks and shifting towards modern packet-based technologies. This should provide the grid with more robust protections.
A principal driving force of this upgrading process could be the desire to converge operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) in power utilities’ networks.
The Climate Crisis
The extent of the impact of the climate crisis on how utilities deliver their service cannot be overstated. Not only is there an urgent need to move towards renewable sources of electricity, but there is also likely to be increased demand.
Carbon hungry technologies are being replaced with renewable alternatives. Electric vehicles are likely to become the norm. At the same time, utilities will need to manage a more dispersed range of generation sources, from solar farms and large-scale wind technologies to neighbourhood and community generation.
Supply may also be impacted by external factors such as the weather. Managing these fluctuations will require a real-time view of assets across the field.
Integrating new services
New services are likely to be coming online at an ever-growing rate over the coming years. From the Internet of Things, 3D Printing, 5G and improved connectivity to virtual and augmented reality, the potential demands on electricity utilities is set to increase. The utilities themselves will also be using new technologies in how they deliver their service to the customer and meet their growing expectations.
Growing customer expectations
Customers have never relied so much on their electricity supply. The lights are always expected to be on, but it’s not just the lights that matter. With remote working, domestic power cuts are now more than just a minor inconvenience. Millennials and Generation Z, in particular, have heightened expectations about the reliability of the services they use.
Operation enhancement
Utilities still rely heavily on manual processes to keep track of network and inventory conditions. You need automated, real-time tools to stay one step ahead and proactively identify breakpoints and grid expansion forecasts.
Enghouse Networks is trusted by multiple utility companies across North America. We provide a broad range of solutions and cutting-edge tools to help them with establishing digital approaches and efficient transformation.
With Enghouse suite of network and business solutions, you can simplify the management of multi-vendor, multi-technology utilities’ networks and efficiently manage increased network complexity despite limited resources while also making plans to implement new technologies and services.
Contact our experts for a free consulting session, so we can help and support you with your network and operation concerns.
