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Technology’s role in resurrecting the power and energy sector 

27 Apr 2022

  • Industrialists note need for renewable energy, proper pricing, digital connectivity, and sound policy decisions
BY Sumudu Chamara With today’s technological advancements and inventions, the world can look into combining various technologies, and in this regard, complementing attempts aimed at dealing with global challenges, such as climate issues, with new technologies is crucial, and can prove immensely effective in the long run. Even though various technologies are already available for such purposes, to mainstream such methods and create a considerable impact, the support of various stakeholders is necessary. When it comes to Sri Lanka, which is currently grappling with several crises, including a power and energy crisis, a significant change can be brought about by exploring how we can reap the maximum benefit of renewable energy sources, and utilising and supporting the available technologies. Policies, investments, technology, and knowledge are key areas that require attention. These were some of the key points discussed at the event “Digital Lanka, Green Tech, Huawei Digital Congress 2022” held in Colombo on 25 April. The event was attended by experts from various fields who discussed how technology can be used to revive various sectors, including Sri Lanka’s information and communication technology (ICT) and power and energy sectors.  Sri Lanka’s energy sector  During the event, Solar Industries Association of Sri Lanka President Kushan Jayasuriya pointed out the importance of urgently shifting to renewable energy sources such as solar power, in a context where the country is going through a massive energy and power crisis. He noted the importance of taking steps to ensure that the national grid is properly equipped to adopt solar power, while also highlighting that policy and decision making processes should pay more attention to this matter.  He noted that even though strengthening and supporting solar power as a power generation method in Sri Lanka may take time, it is crucial to take the necessary initiatives now in order to enjoy benefits in the near future. To support this process, he pointed out, it is important that policy makers make the correct decisions. At the same time, Jayasuriya pointed out the importance of pricing electricity properly so as to minimise or prevent losses to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). Adding that the key aspect is to ensure that the prices charged for electricity reflect the actual costs, he said that failing to take steps to do so will discourage private investors from entering the field. Furthermore, he noted that plans pertaining to renewable energy should be realistic, as otherwise, investors will not come forward.  “It is time that we charge the right price so that we will have money to invest in renewables,” he added. “The future is renewable energy, and we are looking at a 70% share of renewable energy by 2030, which I think is a possible objective.” He added that achieving this objective, however, requires the contribution of various stakeholders from both the private and public sectors. Jayasuriya also noted the importance of making solar power generation more affordable and available, especially when it comes to the household level, and stressed that with the proper support, Sri Lanka can make solar power a beneficial method of power generation. Global challenges and targets  Meanwhile, Huawei Sri Lanka Vice President – Digital Power Don Chen discussed the importance of setting and achieving long-term goals in order to ensure sustainable, eco-friendly, efficient, user-friendly, and affordable technologies concerning various fields such as digitalisation and energy. Elaborating on the digital power strategy, Chen noted the importance of developing clean energy, promoting the digitalisation of traditional energy, integrating digital and power electronics technologies, and converging information and energy flows to drive the energy revolution for a better and greener future. With regard to the necessary steps to be taken to ensure a better connection between the future developments and needs of the energy and technology sectors, under the ‘one cloud’ concept, he described the importance of streamlining the intelligent management of the delivery, storage, distribution, and usage of power.  This mainly relates to the “application platform as a service (aPaaS)” (a cloud service that offers development and deployment environments for application services) and the “energy cloud” (a cloud that enables customers to take on a more active role in the generation and utilisation of energy). In addition, four application scenarios, including energy generation, storage, and usage, were also explained by Chen, and they are intended to streamline energy and information flows during the process of providing energy to consumers. With regard to streamlining root technologies to applications in this process, the importance of integrating, among others, energy storage, cloud and artificial intelligence (AI), and communications technologies was explained. Moreover, Chen spoke of the concept of carbon neutrality (having a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere), emphasising that low carbon, electrification, and intelligence are the ways to achieve carbon neutrality. During the presentation on low carbonation, with a focus on the energy supply side decentralisation, it was noted that clean energy (energy that does not pollute the environment, nor increase the amount of greenhouse gases that may contribute to climate change) will become the main source of energy, and that clean energy generation will account for 75% of the total energy generation by 2050, with photovoltaic (PV) (conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the PV effect) and wind power becoming major new energy sources. With regard to upgrading to new power systems, changes to new power systems with raw energy as the main source was also pointed out. The topic of electrification was also highlighted by Chen, adding that on the energy consumption side, electricity will become the main force in the future. Noting that electricity is the mainstream of energy consumption, he pointed out that some of the targets are to increase power from 20% in 2020 to 49% by 2050, and to increase the sales of new energy vehicles from 4.7% in 2020 to 4.9% by 2030. Speaking of the development of new energy vehicles, regarding which Chen said user experience becomes a key driving force for new energy vehicles, it was pointed out that key factors influencing purchase include charging, mileage anxiety (concerns with regard to the mileage per unit of energy/mileage compared to the amount of energy used), and safety-related concerns. With regard to intelligence, another key aspect pertaining to carbon neutrality in the long run, it was noted that it relates to the deep integration of power electronics and digital technologies. Moreover, during the presentation, it was noted that the convergence of energy flows and information flows become an inevitable source/network/load/storage/intelligence collaborative development. The presentation described that information flows and energy flows are fully integrated to build a modern energy system that is more efficient, cleaner, and cost-effective, improving energy production security and productivity, and enabling low-carbon and personalised experiences in energy consumption. As was mentioned during the event, the main source of carbon emissions are electricity generation and the energy consumption of industries, such as transportation and other sectors. According to the statistics regarding global carbon emissions, in 2020, around 48,900 million tons had been released, and the biggest contributor, which accounted for 40% of the said amount, was the electricity generation sector. Targets have been set to reduce the total amount of carbon emissions to 21,150 million tonnes by 2030, and to 6,315 million tonnes by 2040, with the aim of achieving zero carbon emission by 2050.  At present, five countries and regions account for around 64% of total carbon emissions. They are China, the US, the EU, India, and Russia, which account for 28%, 14%, 10%, 7%, and 5%, respectively. Targets set for each milestone are, among others – ensuring zero carbon emissions from all new buildings; electric vehicles accounting for 60% of the annual passenger car sales; green technologies being used in heavy industries on a large scale and phasing out coal in advanced economies by 2030; ensuring that 50% of existing buildings achieve carbon neutrality; 50% aviation fuel achieves low emissions; stopping 90% of the world’s heavy power consumption assets investment cycle; global electricity generation achieving carbon neutrality; global coal and oil power plants being phased out by 2040; ensuring that more than 85% of buildings achieve carbon neutrality globally and more than 90% of heavy industry production achieves low emissions; and ensuring nearly 70% of the world’s electricity generation comes from PV and wind power. It was further noted that in order to make this process a success, the contribution of many parties, including ICT companies, citizens, the public sector, and startups, is crucial. As industry experts mentioned, even though resolving the energy and power sector crisis is an uphill battle, taking the initiative now to put to good use the available resources and technologies is key. Such endeavours will not only help Sri Lanka get out of the said crisis, it will help the country keep up with other countries that are trying to achieve long-term, sustainable, eco-friendly energy solutions.  


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