Blog

The Future of the Energy Industry: 4 Technology Trends Transforming the Sector

by iSphere on August 9, 2024 in Blog, Energy Industry

The future of the energy industry can be summed up in a single word: change. Transitioning from fossil fuels, vehicle electrification, and smarter, more data-driven energy consumption practices are all examples of industry-wide transformation that will continue for decades to come.

But while change is inevitable, success is not. The latter depends on industry leaders’ willingness to adopt new technologies—not just the hardware used in energy creation, but the underlying IT solutions that orchestrate and manage energy operations.

In this article, we’ll dive into four technology trends that, if seen through to completion, will help the energy industry become more efficient, secure, and stable.

1. Artificial intelligence (AI)

Like virtually every other sector, AI is transforming energy—from generation to distribution to consumption and everything in between. A survey conducted by IBM indicates that 74% of energy and utility companies are already embracing the technology within their operations.

Leaders across the industry already see the potential of this technology to enable faster, cost-effective, and more sustainable energy production and consumption. Here are the biggest opportunities:

Smart Grids – The vastness and complexity of the power grid require an almost superhuman awareness and prediction capability of electricity needs and transmissions. AI-powered smart grids can automatically detect changes in usage, whether large or small, and forecast outages (related to weather, grid faults, sabotage, etc.) to react in real time. With $3 billion in grants for smart grid projects, there’s a lower barrier to companies unlocking this innovation.
Predictive Maintenance – When will key infrastructure components need replacing? Artificial intelligence has amplified the industry’s predictive potential. Programs can increasingly analyze large, complex, and dynamic data sets (including usage patterns, weather data, historical records of maintenance, etc.) to predict potential breakpoints well before they manifest.
Carbon Capture – In the struggle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, any increase in efficiency can be a game changer. AI may be able to help identify and deploy the best methods of using carbon captured from the atmosphere. For example, Argonne National Laboratory is using generative AI to explore the building blocks for metal-organic frameworks that can capture carbon at a low cost. There’s more for researchers to learn but the early findings are promising.

These exciting innovations do come with their own challenges. Data sensitivity and security must be top of mind for energy industry organizations to prevent breaches and the misuse of data. Additionally, there’s significant demand for cross-training IT professionals in both these technologies and the specific needs of the energy sector. As a result, leaders will need to learn how to evaluate and screen AI professionals.

2. Cybersecurity

As mentioned above, cybersecurity is a serious concern within the energy sector, and not just as it pertains to AI. Broadly speaking, cyberattacks pose a significant threat not only to the integrity of energy infrastructures, but also to people’s lives. Killware attacks – which are designed to cause physical damage to valves, pumps, turbines, and other energy equipment – have impacted small towns like Oldsmar, FL and Hale Center, TX. If energy sector leaders are not proactive, it’s only a matter of time before the scope and harm has a regional or national impact.

According to Mike Kosonog, Energy, Resources & Industrials Industry Leader at Deloitte, “We’re seeing two important cyber-related developments playing out in world events. First, the quantity of cyberattacks on energy infrastructure has increased substantially […] Second, the world has shifted in the race to the Future of Energy […] Today, several ER&I companies are moving the needle on decarbonization, electrification, and growing their renewables portfolio—against the backdrop of a rapidly changing technology and geopolitical landscape with more sophisticated threat actors.”

As such, the energy sector continues to make significant investments in cybersecurity solutions. While the specific strategies in play vary (and are themselves diverse), some of the most prominent categories include:

Risk monitoring – With automation, thousands of attempted attacks can be made in the blink of an eye. Risk monitoring can identify when there is a potential threat in the making or if there are weak points in the broader infrastructure.
Regulatory Compliance – Since many energy businesses have international operations, leaders need to navigate and master a growing spectrum of privacy and security regulations. When you’re subject to international regulations ranging from GDPR to PIPEDA and PIPL, your cybersecurity staff needs to be well-versed in global data security best practices.
Identity and access management (IAM) – The ability of energy organizations to control access to critical systems impacts the ability to protect data, digital assets, and critical hardware. Leaders need to prioritize IAM to manage digital identities for users of critical systems and prevent hackers from doing worse damage when they obtain illegal access.
Ongoing architectural developments – A number of resources are continuing to emerge and evolve that will expand cybersecurity experts tool belts, including cloud computing, IoT, robotic process automation (RPA), and more.

As the energy sector faces not only financially costly but harmful and deadly consequences of cyber threats, ongoing security investments are critical to stop bad actors and maintain high quality of service for all customers.

3. Internet of Things (IoT)

With all the complex yet interconnected components, equipment, hardware, and systems involved in the energy sector’s infrastructure, the internet of things (IoT) has become ubiquitous. As much as 74% of the oil and gas industry has already implemented the sensors, processors, and software that are integral to this technology. Now, innovators are seeking out even more opportunities to embrace IoT.

Artificial intelligence is advancing these smart sensors and software in some extraordinary ways. Creating a private large language model (LLM) can help energy organizations to analyze the potential zettabytes of information, learning to make real-time decisions and predictions, without exposing proprietary data to third-party breaches.

Another example of IoT in action among the energy sector is vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging solutions for electric vehicles. Given the strain that EVs put on power grids, there’s a need for identifying and deploying optimal interaction between EVs and the grid. IoT helps solve this problem by gathering data from across the grid, analyzing it with advanced AI algorithms, then producing vehicle charging guidance that’s both convenient for customers and avoids undue strain on the grid.

4. Renewable Energy

If there’s a North Star guiding the future of the energy industry, it’s renewable energy. From wind and solar to electric vehicles to nuclear power and attempts to make “dirty” energy cleaner, the race to create a more sustainable energy infrastructure guides nearly every major investment, policy decision, and initiative in this sector.

The renewable energy landscape remains hopeful, as 2024 sees deployment highs, cost lows, increased demand on decarbonization, and unprecedented investment in renewable energy infrastructure.

Some key initiatives that will determine whether the energy industry takes advantage of this ripe field of opportunity include:

Supply chain digitization to improve transparency, efficiency, and competitor analysis
Reskilling energy employees to operate effectively within new areas of competence, including energy efficiency, renewable generation, clean vehicles, and more

Unlocking the Future with the Right Energy Staffing and IT Solutions Partner

What’s important to recognize is that these four trends for the future of the energy industry aren’t siloed. Each reinforces the others. AI leverages the data generated by IoT, uses it to propose and implement more energy-efficient solutions, and protects it all through advanced cybersecurity measures.

Building a modern IT team in the energy industry requires working knowledge of all these fields and how they interrelate. Ideally, you’ll find specialists in one or more areas, but they’re not always in abundant supply.

Sound like a needle in a haystack? If you go it alone, maybe.

But with iSphere’s energy staffing and IT solutions, we can simplify your search for high-value talent. Our team proactively builds deep networks with hard-to-place candidates, all in an effort to simplify your search process.