Artificial Intelligence (AI) Helps Growth of Low-Carbon Electricity

Posted by: NSchepis // Student at Bridgewater State

Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to enable the growth of low-carbon green electricity. More than ever, the global energy industry is facing pressure to cut carbon emissions. There is a global need for clean, cheap, and reliable energy. But how do we manage the increasing gigawatts of electricity that comes from unpredictable, weather-dependent renewable energy? The answer could be AI.

Renewable forms of energy are replacing traditional ones. The problem with renewable electricity, is that it is inconsistent and unpredictable, as it depends on the weather conditions. For example a solar farm isn't producing as much power on a cloudy day as it would on a sunny day. Too little energy creates energy shortfalls, but too much energy can also be produced. This means switching on back-up forms of energy when not enough renewable energy is produced and using costly storage solutions to manage excess power generation.

AI can forecast and make energy-saving decisions. AI is being used to forecast electricity demand and generation. This helps to lessen the need for back-up forms of power by predicting and managing fluctuations in production. Managing electricity shortfalls by switching off power demand across entire communities or regions on a large scale would be difficult for a human operator, but AI can help with this incredibly complex task that would need to be completed very quickly.