The BBC reports that artificial intelligence will help prevent blackouts and power cuts. As it notes, one way to make energy grids more resilient is by adding large batteries to the grid. When electricity demand goes up, or variable energy sources decline (like solar when the sun sets or wind energy when wind diminishes), batteries can release electricity to fill the deficit in energy supplies.
Battery storage has been increased a lot in Texas.
“Since [a huge storm in 2021] we built over five gigawatts of battery storage capacity in Texas in three years, which is really an incredible pace,” says Dr Michael Webber, professor of energy resources at the University of Texas at Austin. That much energy, he says, is about “four large nuclear power plants.”
But as the BBC notes, “for such batteries to be really useful, they need to know the best time to charge, and the best time to discharge. That means making complex predictions about how much electricity is going to be needed in the future.”
“The main thing that makes the biggest difference is weather and electricity demand,” says Gavin McCormick, creator of a tech start-up.
His company makes AI software that predicts electricity demand and supply area by area. This data can be used to tell batteries when to charge and discharge. The same data can be used in houses to help residents use electricity more cheaply.
“So if you had an electric vehicle that you need to be ready in eight hours, but it only takes two or three hours to charge, what it can do is it can find the five minute periods all night where there’s surplus energy, or maybe there’s clean energy,” notes McCormick. “It will charge in little spurts at all the best times and still be ready by morning.”
The artificial intelligence can make such predictions by analyzing weather patterns, upcoming holidays, work schedules, and even when sports games are on TV. In England, for example, “Everybody gets up and makes a cup of tea at halftime.”
As the BBC notes, “Another company using AI to predict electricity demand is Danish firm Electricity Maps. It focuses its AI on forecasting weather patterns like cloud cover, wind strength, temperature and rainfall. This information is used to better understand how much electricity will be generated from wind turbines or solar panels.”
“If you can predict quite accurately in advance how much wind you’re going to have in the system, you can plan ahead.” says Olivier Corradi, creator of the company. “One example is Google, where we’re providing them forecasts of how clean the grid is going to be in the next couple of hours. They can use that in their data centres to change the time at which they’re consuming electricity.”
As the BBC notes,
AI is also now being used to protect the physical infrastructure that carries electricity to our homes.
One company, Buzz Solutions, uses AI to scan through imagery of electricity cables, pylons and substations, identifying signs of damage such as broken parts or rust.
The system also identifies when trees and other greenery are growing too close to power lines.
Not only can this prevent power outages from damaged lines, but it can also reduce the risk of wildfires, which can be caused from power lines coming into contact with trees as happened in California in recent years.
The tech can also spot and automatically report to power firm staff another major cause of power outages – wildlife.
“A lot of times surprisingly, animals get into substations like squirrels and rodents, and they get electrocuted,” notes Vikhyat Chaudhry, founder of Buzz Solutions. “Their electrocution sometimes leads to a massive explosion at the substation. Our AI that’s deployed at substations, one of the things that they’re detecting is animal intrusions including raccoons and squirrels.”
