Powering the future with grid innovation

In this insightful PES interview, Laura Fleming, Country Managing Director UK & Ireland, Hitachi Energy, explores the urgent need to modernize our power grids as electrification and decentralization accelerate. From AI and digital twins to energy storage and supply chain resilience, she outlines the technologies and strategies driving a smarter, more sustainable energy future.

PES:  Laura, thank you for joining us. With increasing electrification and decentralisation, the challenges in grid integration are mounting. Which areas demand the most urgent attention and where are the most promising innovations emerging?

Laura Fleming: The urgent challenge lies in managing the growing complexity of decentralized energy sources, like solar, wind and others, and integrating them efficiently into the energy system. This calls for critical upgrades of existing power grid infrastructure and investments into building new transmission systems that can support the growing demand for energy from applications like data centers, electric transportation and electrification of industry.

There is also the challenge around the speed at which the grid needs to scale up so that it is future-proofed for our electricity demands of 2050 and beyond, which are likely double the capacity we have today.

To address these, we must focus on enhancing grid flexibility, particularly in balancing demand and supply. Promising innovations such as digitization, AI and machine learning for real-time optimization, advanced energy storage solutions and demand-side management will be key. Innovations like these will help ensure that as more variable renewable energy sources are integrated, the grid can maintain stability and reliability, ensuring electricity flows to where it needs to be.

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