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Male Speaker: Electricity is fundamental to modern society and the economy.
However, most of the world relies on electricity systems built around 50 years
ago.
These are inefficient and cannot offer an appropriate response to today's urgent
global challenges.
There is an estimated $13 trillion investment required in energy
infrastructure over the next 20 years.
This poses an imminent need and opportunity to shift towards a low-carbon,
efficient, and clean energy system. Smart grids will be a necessary enabler
of this transition.
What is a smart grid?
A smart grid is an intelligent, digitized energy network delivering electricity in
an optimal way from source to consumption.
This is achieved by integrating information, telecommunication, and power
technologies with the existing electricity system.
The benefits of a smart grid include improved efficiency and reliability of the
electricity supply, integration of more renewable energy into existing networks,
supporting the development of electric vehicles at scale, new solutions for
customers to optimize their electricity consumption, reduction of carbon
emissions.
John Krenicki: Smart grid is not just about improving the existing
infrastructure that powers our world. It is about realizing the full potential
of what we can offer. New transport solutions, support for new
economies, and to use the resource we have in the most effective and efficient
manner. Male Speaker: The World Economic Forum's
September 2010 report, "Accelerating Successful Smart Grid Pilots",
developed in partnership with Accenture and industry experts from across the smart grid value
chain, outlines the industry's challenges and conditions for success.
Governments are increasingly recognizing the value of smart grids.
China aims at building a strong smart grid by 2020.
The U.S. has dedicated $4.5 billion of its fiscal stimulus package.
Significant initiatives are currently underway in Europe, Japan, Australia,
and Korea.
Are smart grids guaranteed to succeed?
To ensure that public and private money is spent effectively, smart grid pilots
must be successful in testing all aspects. A poorly planned and executed pilot can
set back the adoption of smart grids and negatively impact the public perception of
low-carbon technologies.
Deploying smart grids at scale will be challenging, but successful pilot projects
can set the direction.
From discussions and research in some of the 90 pilot projects underway worldwide
emerged a series of lessons that can improve the effectiveness of existing
and planned pilots and accelerate their transition to full-scale roll-out.
Mark Spelman: Smart grids are absolutely fundamental if we are going to achieve
some of our climate change objectives. If you like, smart grids are the glue.
They are the energy Internet of the future and they are the essential
component which is going to bring demand and supply together.
Ken Hu: I want to talk about the smart grid from the ICT's perspective.
Information technology will not only support the smart grid to be automatically
observable and controlled. More importantly, it will help us to
achieve the region of smart grids for everyone.
James E. Rogers: The one concern that I have is that we oversell the value of it
because it's going to take a while to roll it out, and it will enable things like
a plug-in electric vehicle but it's going to enable things we can't yet imagine.
So I think it holds great promise for the future, and it's really critical that we
make the economic decision today to implement it so that we can prepare for tomorrow.
Male Speaker: Pilots should be used to improve regulatory incentives.
Regulators have a critical role to play in creating innovation reward schemes that
align incentives across the electricity value chain, and encourage utilities
and their partners to develop new technologies, operating and business
models while acknowledging the risks involved.
Pilots need to develop greater consumer insight and systematically engage with
consumers.
Utilities will need to develop new business models, attract everyday customer
value propositions, and ways to communicate them clearly to ensure
adoption.
Peter Corsell: In my mind, the most important success factor is consumer
acceptance. Having a smart grid pilot that provides
value to consumers, that provides applications that help consumers reduce
their energy bill and gain visibility and control will I think provide the
foundation for popular support for smart grid investments throughout the industry.
Male Speaker: Decision makers need to take on board these recommendations to
deliver smart grids, a cornerstone for a low-carbon, efficient, and secure energy
future.