A new report from Dell and Intel entitled “Remarkable energy starts at the edge” explores how “edge computing and 5G can help decarbonize power networks”. At LF Energy, we have always believed that these technologies would be essential to the energy transition and accelerating decarbonization, as demonstrated by our FledgePOWER project, a multi-protocol translation gateway for power systems based on the industrial IoT project Fledge from our sister organization, LF Edge.
The new report emphasizes “how 5G networks and data-driven power grids can combine IT agility and Operational Technology (OT) to deliver sustainable power to an energy-hungry world.” Energy stakeholders are coming to understand that the energy transition represents a wholesale shift in the way power is generated, transmitted, distributed, and used. The future will no longer be centralized power plants sending energy to the grid to be consumed, but instead a two-way system with power being generated and consumed in a distributed fashion. Generation will be distributed, and load balancing will become increasingly difficult as generation and consumption will not always be in sync. Managing this new paradigm requires changes to both IT and OT, including “sophisticated data-driven autonomous systems at the edge of our networks to minimize the carbon intensity of consumed energy.”
LF Energy is already working on many of the technologies required, from improved smart metering standards to reference frameworks for EV charging infrastructure to demand forecasting and more. The Dell/Intel report corroborates these efforts, and further examines how 5G and edge technologies will support them.
Learn more about how to get involved in the work LF Energy is doing in this space.
