Background

The lockdowns owing to COVID-19 around the world have dramatically changed the way we work and live. The operations and work environment of electric (and other) utilities have also changed in the past one year. There is a greater need for power utilities to use advanced automation, remote monitoring, robotics and artificial intelligence to handle day-today operations. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science, Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Drones and other types of Robots could play crucial role in the power utilities which are more efficient, faster, reliable and economical. AI has the potential to deliver the active management that will be required for the grid of the future. Powerful intelligence will be able to balance grids, manage demand, negotiate actions, enable self-healing and facilitate a host of new products and services. Indeed, AI, will not just lend itself to the energy transition, it will also enable more efficient and effective utility operations by helping to analyse the massive amounts of data utilities gather from the digital devices. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) could automate several measurable, repeatable and predictable transactions.

Post COVID-19, the pace of digitalization efforts in all businesses including utilities are gaining rapid momentum and officials are getting used to the paper-less operations! The digital devices will generate humungous volume of data in each utility which require AI tools to analyse and transform to business intelligence. In the aftermath of the pandemic, the digital platforms have become the coveted assets for utilities in their business continuity and resiliency; and this movement towards digitalization is irreversible. Emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science and Advanced Analytics, Blockchain, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Robotics will radically revolutionize the utility domain in the near future.