Truly Historic Times for Energy: Emerson Leader Talks Crossing of AI, Automation and DERs
This is the best time to be involved in the power industry, according to Rick Kephart, vice president of technology at Emerson Power and Water Solutions.
Emerson is a global technology, software and engineering firm serving the power, water and wastewater sectors. Kephart recently sat down with Rod Walton, managing editor of EnergyTech.com, to discuss how machine learning, AI and system integration are revolutionizing energy delivery and management.
Unprecedented change generates unprecedented opportunities
During the interview, Walton and Kephart explored the unprecedented changes being felt across the power industry – and the opportunities they present.
“I have never seen a power market like it is today,” Kephart said.
From energy trading opportunities brought about by advancements in energy storage, to the explosion of distributed energy resources (DERs), opportunities are everywhere, he said.
But it’s artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, that’s really shaking things up, according to Kephart.
“I think you can almost say with certainty [that generative AI is] the biggest breakthrough in computer science in the past 25 years,” he said.
He explained that today’s generative AI models can take tasks that, just a few years ago, took mountains of software and months of time to accomplish, and complete them with greater accuracy in a fraction of the time.
AI is also presenting opportunities to optimize operations.
“One of the biggest trends that we've seen over the past probably five years…is the switch to remote operations and control room consolidation,” Kephart explained. While he doesn’t expect generative AI to play a big role in automation systems or directly controlling something, he does see a role for the technology as a decision support tool.
Today’s electricity is generated with data, Kephart explained. “It's just a tremendous amount of data and we need to be able to turn that data into actionable information to assist in real-time decision making. And that's where this some of the generative AI products will really start to manifest themselves and really start to show value.”
AI can optimize intermittent assets
Kephart and Walton also discussed how AI can optimize intermittent solar and wind generation assets to meet demand and maximize profits.
“I don't have to tell anyone we don't have control over the weather,” Kephart said. But AI tools can generate accurate weather forecasts and then determine optimal generation mixes, minimizing uncertainty and ensuring loads are met.
“I'm very hopeful that, over the next couple of years, we'll see a step change in optimization and how we how we maximize our revenue from these mixed generating assets, including intermittent renewables, and still meet the ever increasing and ever variable demand,” Kephart said.
During the conversation, Kephart also touched on cybersecurity, innovation at the grid edge, and if AI really is coming for everyone’s jobs.
