Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 07:35
IT Industry -
Market
Page 1 of 2
Rolling out smart-grid technology is a “business imperative” for Australia’s energy distributors and network owners, with a new study finding that the key challenges facing the industry as it considers the deployment of smart grids, are the regulatory framework, funding, ICT, people, strategy and the consumer.
The study by global provider of business
consulting, systems integration, IT and BPO services, Logica, found
that the current key drivers for Australia’s energy companies for smart
grids are service reliability, demand-side management, network
performance and security.
According to Logica’s, managing director, business solutions, Hugh
Bickerstaff , “smart grids will provide better visibility over the
network and enable energy distributors to better manage peak
electricity demands and reduce the risk of blackouts, which is a
concern for distributors right now.”
But, Bickerstaff says “this will look very different in 2020, where
respondents expect to see a greater priority placed on renewable
energies, micro generation, energy storage, lowering carbon emissions
and changing consumer behaviour.”
Bickerstaff also said that 25 percent of Australia’s energy
distributors surveyed already have strategies in place for rolling out
the smart grid technology and were “further refining those strategies
as the result of trials and pilots,” and that “the remaining 75 percent
have begun the development of their smart grid strategy. These
organisations, however, are far from stationary with wide programs of
work underway that fall under the smart grid banner.”
On the issue of ICT, Bickerstaff said that “ICT and the extension of
real-time technologies came back as a major concern for energy
companies,” adding that “there will be unprecedented volumes of data
generated by a smart grid and organisations will need to effectively
manage and gain intelligence from this data.”
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