|
The name of a company's product is mentioned more often than anyone remembers, but on the first day of the Schneider Electric North America Innovation Summit in Atlanta on Tuesday, another word appeared even more. Digit. This is the key to the grid of the future. Sure, they talked a lot about the products of their multifaceted ecosystem and its many new features, but the digital economy and its connection to the ever-changing energy landscape was the main theme of Schneider Electric's signature event, which attracted more than 1,400 customers, partners, and media. Digit. It helps to regulate the flow of energy on the grid. It helps the sensors communicate. It overcomes and warns of system failures. It is here and will dominate in the future. At this point, we can't live without it. Jean Pascal-Tricoire, CEO of Schneider Electric France, said it was appropriate to focus so much on digital business in North America. "This is the birthplace," he said in his opening keynote at the Hilton Atlanta downtown. "That's how it all started." Now that the digital revolution adopted through developed countries is being deployed at an exponential rate in less developed countries, North America can certainly no longer assert control over such revolutions. These "1s" and "0s" are invaluable for understanding the growing complexity of the global power grid.
"More has happened in the last 5 years than in the last 100 years," Pascal-Tricoire said in his speech. "From 2017 to 2022, AI spending alone will grow sixfold." People spend all day discussing the various implications of the digital revolution in the energy sector. Mark Feasel, ·Schneider's vice president for smart grids, said the company is increasingly dabbling in microgrids, including one that went into operation in Montgomery County, Maryland, earlier this fall. It keeps county public services connected and communicated, even in the event of a disaster. Montgomery County has experienced three such weather events in the past seven years, two of which were severe enough to allow fire and ambulance to be dispatched. Schneider Electric rolled out the microgrid as a service model, eliminating the huge upfront costs of the county borne by Duke Energy Renewables. The deal was structured in such a way that Montgomery County received $5 million worth of funding for infrastructure upgrades, including major electrical switchgear. "The site's energy costs are predictable over the next 40 years," Feasel said. The summit also went out of the family of companies, with five experts from different fields such as education, finance, renewable energy, and cybersecurity, joining journalist Contessa Brewer for a CNBC panel dedicated to the benefits and challenges of the new energy and digital waves. Andrew Marino, co-head of the Carlyle Global Instructure Opportunity Fund, noted that Carlyle has hundreds of companies in its portfolio and is ramping up its investments in the digital and renewable energy sectors. Other infrastructure challenges, such as the constraints of a 100-year-old power grid, have slowed the pace of investment. "The main reason why there isn't more renewable energy today is that the distribution channels aren't ready," Marino said. Of course, as network connectivity increases, so does the scope of cybersecurity attacks. Justin Fier, Darktrace's head of cyber intelligence and analytics, worries that the enthusiasm for the Internet of Things is clouding the collective vision of the bad guys. "We embrace all this technology without realizing the dangers it brings," Fier said. "First and foremost, take the FBI's warnings seriously." I'm starting to see changes, but I'm not seeing fast enough. Eventually, connectivity is growing exponentially, adding billions of new devices every year, whether it's a sensor, a thermostat, a circuit breaker, or another mobile phone. At the outset, Schneider CEO Pascal-Tricoire said in the most basic terms that it was a challenge that had to be faced. "Energy is a fundamental human right," he said. "Connectivity is the foundation for a decent life in the 21st century."
| 
Contact
working hours
