Big shift needed in power industry

KUALA LUMPUR: Is the key to sustainability for the power industry working with telcos?

This was the question raised on the third day of the 22nd Conference of the Electric Power Supply Industry (CEPSI 2018) at a keynote session themed Electricity Supply Industry (ESI) Digitalisation and Industrial Revolution 4.0.

The speakers were ABB Group’s Power Grids Division, South Asia, Middle East and Africa senior group vice president, Venu Nuguri; Huawei Technologies Co Ltd chief technology officer, Paul Scanlan; and TEPCO Power Grid Inc executive vice president, Dr Hiroshi Okamoto.

A member of the audience pointed out during the questionand-answer segment that the telco industry in Malaysia has embarked on wireless services, whereas the power industry is still utilising wires or cables.

Another observation was that the telco industry has been deregulated and can determine its own direction and growth, while this is not true for the power industry.

In reply, Venu said that the transition from analogue to digital has already taken place where he is based, although it is happening much faster for the telco industry.

“For example, in the power industry, the business model has shown significant change. Big data has started to play a role in business development and expansion, and the ecosystem has totally changed.

“Digitalisation has taken over from the old method of doing things. We are learning and evolving with the advancement. The way I see it, digitalisation has allowed us to be more connected than before, therefore I believe that the power utility sector is catching up with future innovation,” Venu said.

Okamoto cited the partnership between telco and utility companies in Japan and how “we see many more synergies in the future”.

“The TEPCO Group has signed a joint-venture with KDDI (the second-largest telco company in Japan) and TEPCO Holdings has established a new collaboration with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (the largest telecom company in Japan) to offer services for building reconstruction or redevelopment projects,” he said. - Bernama