In this first of two episodes for our Energy Transition Talks series, Eurelectric’s Head of Energy Policy, Climate and Sustainability Paul Wilczek joins Peter Warren to examine the intrinsic link between decarbonization and electrification, plus the consequent opportunities shaping the energy landscape. They discuss the need for grid investment and modernization, how transparent information helps bridge gaps between governments and public opinion, upfront costs versus long-term benefits of electrification and how reforming energy taxation and billing can shape the future of electrified communities.

Decarbonization and electrification: A pivotal shift

By 2040, Europe aims to have a largely decarbonized power sector, paving the way for the widespread adoption of electrification across various sectors. According to Paul, this transition not only promotes energy efficiency but also offers significant environmental benefits. As he shares, electrified systems, such as heat pumps for residential heating, can use “just two-thirds of the primary energy” required by traditional gas-based heating systems, resulting in substantial energy savings. Peter indicates that a shift is happening in North America as well, citing the current U.S. government’s incentives for heat pumps.

Despite the increasing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), heat pumps and other electrified technologies, the overall electrification rate in Europe remains stagnant at around 22-23%. This is surprising, Paul point says, as the growing number of electrified processes and users would indicate the rate would rise.

The primary focus has been on decarbonizing the power sector, with efforts to transition to renewable and clean energy sources. However, Paul reveals, the remaining 78% of energy consumption across other sectors has been largely overlooked. Electrification presents an effective solution for further decarbonization, as the electricity grid becomes increasingly green and decarbonized.

According to projections from the European Commission, electrification is expected to account for 35% of final energy demand by 2030, rising to 50% by 2040, and potentially reaching 60-70% by 2050.

The transformation of transportation

The transport sector is undergoing a profound transformation, with the phase-out of combustion engine vehicles playing a pivotal role. This transition is driven by policy initiatives, technological advancements, and a collective commitment to reducing carbon emissions and embracing sustainable energy solutions.

Within the next 20 years, Paul estimates that very few combustion engine cars will remain on the roads. This shift is driven by the European Union's ban on combustion engines in cars, paving the way for electric and hybrid vehicles to dominate the personal transportation market. While some heavy-duty vehicles may still rely on hybrid technologies, the family vehicle of the future is expected to be predominantly electric.

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In our latest episode of our Energy Transition Talks series, Marion Braams, Vice-President, Consulting Expert at CGI sits down with Peter Warren to share her expert perspective on emerging trends in IT, sustainability regulations and reporting. Specifically, they discuss different ESG initiatives across regions, the evolution to and impact of legally mandated standards and certifications, plus the role of green IT and AI for optimizing data and ESG reporting.

New laws mandating ESG reporting create fairness and accountability

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are becoming increasingly valuable for businesses beyond just sustainability objectives, as they can impact risk management, stakeholder expectations, innovation and operational efficiency.

Until now, greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting and emissions reductions have been voluntary for companies, meaning companies that invested in being "greener" faced higher costs than those that didn't. However, new laws, like the CSRD in Europe and the ISSB in the US, are making GHG reporting mandatory, creating a more level playing field and fostering more consistency and accountability across industries.

As Marion explains, without standards developed to measure GHG emissions, people were measuring things in their own ways. “You can't just look at something and know how much greenhouse gases (GHG) it contains, like a beer. You cannot just look at your beer and know its cost or energy use. It depends on how it is made, how much time it was stored, for example. It becomes really complicated to calculate things.”

Companies can apply for certifications from organizations like EcoVadis or the Carbon Disclosure Project to verify their GHG emissions. These certifications require companies to use standardized methods to estimate and report their GHG emissions.

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In this episode of our Energy Transition Talks podcast series, CGI space expert Harjit Sheera shares with Peter Warren how the volume of space data is not only ever-increasing, but also growing in impact and application across industries. Discussing how processing space data for accessibility and effective use was previously an arduous task, they explore how artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced processing platforms are helping organizations make the most of their space data. From environmental impact monitoring to emissions mapping and data layering, space data is changing the way we see and act on energy transition goals.

Improving and accelerating traditionally cumbersome space data with AI

Operating across the entire space stakeholder chain, CGI space experts work as advisors for space organizations, collaborate with regulatory agencies and support end users through application development and managed services.

In her almost 20 years of experience working in space, Harjit knows the legacy challenges space data poses, specifically in terms of harnessing and translating its vast volume. “It takes a lot of processing power, a lot of storage energy and a lot of standardization to make that data available to people who can turn it into something that the end user will see.”

Emerging processing engines (including those processing earth observation data, examining imagery or setting standardized requisite parameters) are using AI, machine learning and advanced algorithms to refine further and perform better, faster. This means greater volumes of data can be processed more efficiently and more, diverse user requirements can be addressed.

Specifically, AI helps identify key elements in satellite images and processes them faster, based on set user requirements. For example, Harjit shares the use case of farmers leveraging AI and satellite imagery data to monitor and demonstrate how they’re farming their land and what kind of crops they’re growing, to claim government subsidies.

Peter highlights the positive implications the advanced deep learning and crop recognition use case has for energy organizations who want to monitor, for example, leaks or the growth of vegetation under power lines and near utility company infrastructure. It all helps to reduce the cost of maintenance and potential damage.

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AI strategies, asset optimization and data quality: the new frontier for oil and gas

In the latest episode of our Energy Transition Talks, Maida Zahid sits down with CGI experts Mark van Engelen and Curtis Nybo to discuss the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the oil and gas space. Specifically, they look at the evolution of—and need for—generative AI in the industry, the value of an iterative, domain-based approach to implementation and cross-industry AI use cases to advance the energy transition.

The new frontier for AI in oil and gas: data, demographics and domain-based approaches

The use of AI to support the asset-heavy oil and gas industry has been in effect for some time, especially for optimizing asset maintenance and predictive maintenance. However, new areas of need are driving the evolving role and growing value of AI within organizations.

First, Mark mentions, is the need for generative AI to help unlock the vast amounts of data in the oil and gas companies (e.g., on the GIS side, on their land side, upstream, downstream, etc.). This rise of ‘data GTP’ as he calls it, means gaining access to that data in a natural language format to pose questions like, ‘How many barrels did you produce last month?’ without clicking through several layers of reporting.

Second, as shifting demographics and changing workforces expose a knowledge gap between retiring experts and new professional entrants, generative AI is helping organizations bridge the gap and provide access to legacy knowledge in an efficient manner.

More crucial than vast amounts of data is the quality of the data. When working on use cases with clients, Curtis says they begin with domains that have decent data quality or supporting data management processes, to maximize ROI and time to completion.

As he explains, “we take a domain-based approach, where in parallel as you’re working on an AI project in the one domain, you can clean up the data of another domain next on your list,” so you’re not applying AI to the whole company at once; you’re starting with one area or team and expanding throughout the organization.

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In part two of our Energy Transition Talks conversation on generative artificial intelligence (AI), CGI experts Diane Gutiw and Peter Warren further explore the implications and applications of AI in the energy and utilities industry. Building upon their discussion in part one, they examine how digital twins, change management and trusted data are shaping the use and performance of AI in energy organizations, ultimately looking to the future of AI as multimodal, human-driven technology solution.

The key to realizing AI value: integrated solutions and digital twins

Increasingly, the greatest benefits of generative AI are emerging not in single solutions, but in integrated, multi-model, multimodal ways of pulling in information, producing expert advice and automating certain functions.

The energy industry, says Diane, is “a great example of a very complex environment with lots of different types of media and data that can be leveraged by these new and upcoming technologies.”

In her view, AI is headed toward digital twin models and integrated solutions. In the energy industry, this increased data-driven automation can help make both the grid and operations more efficient.

Peter Warren shares one key use case for digital twins is to help organizations understand other markets better, as they transition their current model. “You might know your existing industry well,” he says, “but as you move from traditional carbon-based energy to something less carbon-based, be it hydrogen or electricity, you may not know those markets; being able to create a digital twin of something you haven’t formally understood is a huge benefit.”

Diane agrees and suggests that the adoption of a digital twin to represent an organization’s current environment is a great use case, especially where there’s a data-intensive end-to-end workflow. Not only does this provide a robust view of the existing environment, she says, “but also it allows organizations to look at different scenarios and leverage AI to say, for example, ‘What would happen to the grid if this event happened, and how could I automatically adjust?’”

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In the latest episode of our Energy Transition Talks podcast series, Peter Warren sits down with Vice-President, CGI Global AI Research Lead Diane Gutiw to discuss generative AI and its global impact across industries. In part one of the conversation, they delve into the inevitability of AI in everyday life, the need for a structured, secure approach when using these tools and the use cases that are helping organizations improve efficiency and secure a quick return on their AI investment.

AI is inevitable (but requires guardrails)

The burgeoning conversation surrounding generative AI is one of the hottest topics for organizations globally. Questions pertaining to the inherent business opportunities and challenges are emerging at the same rate that organizations strive to define, harness and govern these new technologies.

According to CGI’s AI expert Diane Gutiw, one thing is not up for debate: “AI is inevitable.”

She sees the current AI landscape as similar to the adoption of the internet. “I think we're really going to be leveraging AI when we start to forget that it's there and are able to understand, have transparency into its processes and discern what's being delivered to us.”

However, Diane stresses that AI is not an end in itself. Especially in a business context, she explains, it is a tool developed to serve an intended purpose. “As long as we put the guardrails in place for responsible development, use and build-out of these tools, the power and the opportunities are unlimited.”

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In part two of our Energy Transition Talks conversation with Eurelectric’s Secretary General Kristian Ruby, CGI experts Peter Warren and Tom van der Leest dive deeper into key opportunities, challenges and drivers of the energy transition discussed in part one. In this second instalment, they explore the necessity and complexity of regulation, the role of central markets in a decentralized future and the growing importance of electrification, AI and cybersecurity in the evolving energy market.

Regulation and the role of central markets in a decentralized future

Ensuring fairness and equal participation in the new energy market requires robust regulations. However, as the level of regulatory complexity increases, customers and policymakers alike are struggling to keep up. For customers, compliance with one regulation may be in direct violation of another, while policymakers face challenges in keeping pace with implementation and reporting as more rules are created.

As decentralization continues to be a key trend, the question arises: What is the role of central markets and the regulator in a decentralized future?

Kristian sees this question as critical and believes the local flexibility market will become much more prevalent in the coming years. “We will simply need, for the efficiency of operations and the reliability of operations, to have local flexibility sources and call upon them more frequently with more frequent market signals in order to stabilize an increasingly complex, digitized, complex and centralized grid.”

The decade of electricity has begun

Kristian identifies another area of ongoing evolution: the veracity and reliability of clean energy. “We talked about fair, we talked about reliable, but there's also the clean dimension. With green hydrogen, we want to make sure that it is actually green. That’s where all these questions come in about geographical proximity and the timely match of the actual clean electricity production with the electrolyzers. Setting up a digital platform and defining concrete products around that is the next challenge for digital companies and energy providers to determine together how that is going to look.”

Striking the right balance between environmental integrity and manageable systems is the key challenge at hand, Kristian says, as organizations move from proving their energy is green on an annual basis to hourly or quarterly intervals.

Kristian has no doubt that a multi-vector future will be the most efficient and cost-effective way forward but stresses that electricity is moving to the center of the energy system. Calling the 2020s “the electric decade,” he shares that the electricity sector is seeing unprecedented growth, expansion and change.

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In the latest episode of our Energy Transition Talks, Peter Warren sits down with Eurelectric’s Secretary General Kristian Ruby and CGI’s Tom van der Leest for part one of a discussion on key trends and new business models in the energy market. Specifically, they examine the growing role of everyday individuals in the energy system, how distributed energy resource management systems (DERMS) are changing the way utilities view customers and operations, and why the industry needs to define and support fairness for participation in the new energy landscape.

The energy transition in the utility world has unfolded rapidly over the past decade, with most organizations following similar steps to adapt and prepare. However, as innovative technologies and new opportunities emerge, organizations now are adopting different strategies, giving rise to new trends and creating diversity within the sector.

Kristian details some of the divergent approaches of individual organizations within this new landscape:

“Some are focusing on offshore wind and hydrogen production transmission, others are going downstream, focusing on e-mobility, charging infrastructure, onshore renewables, distribution grids. Some are getting out of generation altogether, focusing on distribution and customers. So, you really have a wide variety of ways that companies position themselves within the sector.”

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