The energy landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Energy and utility retailers are facing rising expectations to deliver efficiency, reliability, and sustainability while managing increasing economic pressures and the growing urgency of the energy transition. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports significant shifts in demand, driven by the need to modernize infrastructures and meet environmental targets.
The EIA further expects that the next 25 years will bring:
- 47% more global demand for energy
- 125% more sources of renewable energy
Driving demand: As businesses and governments increasingly digitalize and embrace AI, they drive demand for compute power, which requires energy. On the other hand, tech also helps to ensure a reliable energy supply and minimize environmental impact (more on this below).
Increasing renewable sources: In 2023, only one year, the world added 50% more capacity to generate renewable electricity, mostly in the form of solar photovoltaics.
The power grid never saw this coming
As energy providers navigate these complex challenges, they are seeking solutions that balance operational improvements with customer affordability.
The power grid was originally designed for peak scenarios, where power flows in only one direction across the grid, from generation sources to customers. Now, distributed energy resources such as solar are coming online. Additionally, individuals are buying electric vehicles, and businesses are electrifying their vehicle fleets. These two trends are leading beyond traditional seasonal peaks to a decentralized, distributed and customer-centric power grid, where power can flow both ways between the grid and the customer. The grid wasn’t built this way — but customer demand is forcing it to accommodate such complex scenarios.
How digitalization and industrial AI enable the energy transition cycle
The global shift to renewable energy is accelerating, with digitalization and AI playing key roles. These technologies improve energy efficiency by optimizing production, distribution and consumption.
Smart grids use AI to balance supply and demand, while predictive maintenance minimizes equipment failures, ensuring stable energy supply.
AI also helps manage renewable energy variability by forecasting production and stabilizing the grid. Real-time energy management systems align consumption with renewable availability, reducing costs and demand. Data from IoT devices further supports smarter energy decisions.
As energy companies invest in low-carbon technologies and sustainability, modernizing IT infrastructure on the cloud is crucial for improving efficiency.
How five clients have driven their own energy transitions
In our roles at Eviden and Amazon, we (the authors) have helped clients in energy and utilities use technology to achieve more than they hoped for, both operationally and environmentally. Here are a few brief case studies:
1 ) Getting smarter
Challenge
Transition from a utility to a smart utility with tighter security to protect the national infrastructure and meet regulatory requirements.
Solutions
- Eviden’s ASGS powered by AWS collects and processes smart meter data to provide relevant and near-real-time information to utilities’ commercial and operational systems.
- Eviden’s Next-gen Managed Detection and Response (MDR) platform uses AI, Amazon Security Lake and the Aisaac cybersecurity mesh architecture to provide advanced threat protection, detection, response and recovery capabilities.
Source: Eviden
Benefits
- Streamlined operations and reduced operational costs
- Improved grid management with real-time data insights
- Efficient supervision, outage management and automated billing
- Enhanced reliability, including security resilience, and improved customer service
- Improved response times and increased grid efficiency due to faster adoption of smart grid features
- Accelerated threat detection and response with an integrated risk dashboard
2) Securing the grid
Challenge
Inability to implement attack detection systems required by the German IT Security Act 2.0 and meet the required maturity level.
Solution
Eviden conducted an operational technology (OT) security assessment to evaluate the general threat situation and implemented a proof of concept for network evaluation using an OT intrusion detection system (OT-IDS) from Nozomi Networks. The project also included a comprehensive network analysis. We supported implementation, operation and monitoring of the deployed OT-IDS sensors, OT-SOC and an MDR platform.
Benefits
- Comprehensive threat reduction
- Compliance with the German IT Security Act 2.0 and the required attack detection systems, demonstrated by a successful subsequent audit
3 ) Innovating for efficiency
Challenge
A leading energy company aimed to reduce downtime for wind turbine failures by shifting to predictive maintenance, a key focus for operations and maintenance teams seeking to cut costs and boost productivity.
Solution
Eviden’s Digital Twin Platform integrates data from multiple systems into a unified digital companion. This allows for real-time monitoring, predictive analytics and automated decision-making, improving asset availability and performance. The platform also enables wind sensor mapping, tool life prediction, optimized scheduling and process automation; ultimately reducing waste and manual errors.
Benefits
- 20% reduction in mean time to response (MTTR)
- 12% lower operational costs
- Improved uptime
Additionally, the 3D digital replica of assets allowed for real-time monitoring and faster problem resolution.
4) Searching with GenAI
Challenge
An energy company was having trouble getting relevant information out of its Confluence documentation and GitLab code repositories. Searching was time-consuming, and results were often inaccurate. The situation was draining productivity and internal knowledge management.
Solution
Eviden built a generative AI solution using retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) on AWS to conduct enterprise search. The solution used data ingestion from several IT systems for further classification and retrieval by the GenAI application.
Benefits
The energy company demonstrated the potential of using GenAI to enhance internal knowledge management, accelerate search and increase overall productivity.
5) Easing the costs of living
Since 2018 there has been a 10x increase in debt books on average in Utilities. A quarter of UK households switched energy or gas suppliers in 2022. 62.5% of energy companies report an increase in failure to pay. 7.5 million households are in fuel poverty. In the fourth quarter of last year, unsecured debt rose from £553 to £1,125 this year.
Challenge
As the cost-of-living crisis continues, more consumers are moving away from direct debit payment. As a result, many are heading deeper into arrears and failed payments. Debt books are spiraling, and vulnerable consumers are feeling the difficult consequences as they try to meet their payments.
Solution
Eviden developed the Intelligent FlexiPayments system, an AI-driven payment guidance and notification engine that allows consumers to make payments from multiple funding sources securely and easily, in amounts they can afford. The system encourages monthly or more frequent payments as funds become available; reducing their dues and keeping them manageable.
Source: Eviden Fig 2. Intelligent FlexiPayments
Benefits
- Reduced debt books
- Improved customer experience from payment flexibility and safeguarding
The future of energy systems
The energy world is changing rapidly, with energy and utilities companies, their partners and service providers required to keep up with the evolution and demands. It is not just about targets. Rethinking and reevaluating how to power the world is the path ahead. That said, we at Eviden do have some amazing technological solutions within reach that help energy and utilities companies work smarter and greener.
And at the center of it all, the energy sector has the opportunity to lead this change. But it’s further pressured to optimize efficiency and meet regulatory requirements while minimizing environmental impact.
This journey is not theoretical. Eviden and AWS have been building and implementing digital twins, predictive analytics and AI-powered systems that transform operations, optimize costs and integrate renewable energy sources.
Every challenge we jointly overcome leads to new innovation and growth toward not only a cleaner and more efficient energy system, but also a brighter, sustainable future.
Eviden and AWS are committed to collaborating to help turn these prospects into realities. Join in! Together, we can build the energy systems of tomorrow, driving real outcomes today.
Contact us to explore how AWS-powered solutions can transform your energy and utility operations. As an AWS Energy Competency partner, Eviden works closely with industry leaders to develop proof-of-concept and proof-of-value initiatives, helping organizations move from initial exploration to scalable, impactful outcomes. Discover how we can help you leverage the full potential of AWS to meet your business goals across the energy value chain.
