April 2022 / Vol. 27 No. 4

By Paulo Ruiz, President, Eaton Energy Solutions & Services Group, Electrical Americas region

Today, there’s a generational opportunity to transform energy systems for resilience and sustainability. Energy systems are changing fast. Global electricity demand is rapidly increasing. And the adoption of renewables is accelerating, driving a foundational shift from centralized to decentralized generation sources. At the same time, digitalization marches forward to deliver new data and insights that can be transformed into operational intelligence.

By embracing these trends, our industry can make a massive impact to help the world realize a low-carbon future where power is always on and supported by an intelligent, cybersecure, and flexible infrastructure.

Six Trends Driving Flexible and Bi-Directional Energy Systems

1. The future is electric: Electricity consumption is expected to increase 57 percent by 2050 despite all the progress that energy efficiency programs will yield. Today, global electricity use is about 23 billion MWh, increasing by 13 billion MW each year. To put this into perspective, that’s equivalent to adding three times what the U.S. uses each year until 2050.
   
   This enormous increase in the use of electrical power requires infrastructure upgrades and updates. Energy systems need to scale for our needs today and into the future. It’s about adjusting and improving energy infrastructure.
2. Energy sources are increasingly renewable: The energy transition is accelerating with renewable sources like wind and solar increasing their share as costs decrease and organizations and individuals prioritize sustainability goals.
   
   At the same time, there’s a structural shift in electricity as we move from centralized to decentralized energy sources. The surge of local, distributed energy resources (DERs) in front of and behind the meter is challenging the traditional relationship between energy producers and consumers. To support this shift, electrical systems must get smarter, safer, and more resilient to serve consumers, system operators, and utilities better. We need to break traditional boundaries of what electrical systems can do and enable more flexibility in managing how and when electricity is used.
3. Digitalization is advancing a new power paradigm: We consume and produce a lot of data today, and in the future we’ll create and use even more. The global datasphere is expected to increase dramatically to 175 zettabytes by 2025.  
   
   While this increase in data is driving energy consumption, it also enables the energy transition. Smart systems will need to make automatic, data-based decisions to cope with the complexity of bi-directional energy flow and intermittent renewable power sources.
   
   Recent digital pilot programs and industry-utility partnerships are yielding powerful modeling capabilities. Evaluating distributed energy and load growth scenarios, identifying needed upgrades for higher renewable penetration and increasing demand, and determining where renewables and energy storage should be located. This approach demonstrates never-before-possible abilities to anticipate real-time energy demand. It also supports more flexible energy systems to accommodate an ever-larger share of renewables for utilities and energy consumers alike.
4. Microgrids help ensure critical power is always on: Hospitals, data centers, factories, communities, and other critical power users are already implementing microgrids to advance energy resilience, reduce costs, and achieve environmental and sustainability goals.
   
   Over the last 20 plus years, large-scale power outages increased 67 percent and impacted millions of communities and businesses in the U.S. Microgrids can help balance where, when, and how electricity is consumed, and they can improve the ability of power systems to withstand extreme weather emergencies.
   
   For example, in Puerto Rico, Eaton is developing two low-carbon energy projects with solar-plus-storage microgrids to power manufacturing at its Arecibo and Las Piedras manufacturing plants—reducing emissions, realizing energy savings, and strengthening energy resilience.
5. Data centers support the grid while creating new revenue streams: Data centers are uniquely positioned to benefit from the energy transition because of long-time investments in onsite battery storage and backup power systems.
   
   Because of those investments, data centers can now better support renewable resources while quickly expanding and adjusting energy systems to support our increasingly digital world. They can also contribute to the stability of the electric grid by using underutilized energy storage assets to help balance frequency, voltage regulation, and peak shaving.
6. Energy storage enables electric vehicle charging on the go: Electrifying transport is about much more than the vehicle or the charger. And charging infrastructure needs to be considered as integral to building energy systems.
   
   Updates and upgrades to existing power distribution systems are essential to support vehicle electrification. And adding energy storage and control can help manage peak demand to keep grid infrastructure and energy costs in check.

Action is Required to Unlock a Smarter, Low-Carbon Future

Digitalization and electrification have a cascading impact on energy systems. It’s critically important that our industry seizes the opportunity to make energy systems work harder and do more to power a more sustainable, resilient, and better future. ei