Digitalisation

Industry digitalisation from an energy perspective

Digitalisation offers opportunities for high-skilled employment and innovation, integration of renewable energy, and cuts in operating costs. Digital twins and data analytics continuously optimise manufacturing processes for efficiency and safety, identify savings opportunities, and enable predictive maintenance. The number of connected devices worldwide is projected to grow from 15 billion in 2015 to 75 billion in 2025 (Statista in IRENA, 2019) Digital technologies facilitate other energy efficiency measures, and in turn become even more beneficial once energy efficiency has been improved. There is significant evidence that energy efficiency gains from the application of advanced digital process controls can yield significant savings at little or no no net cost (IEA, 2017) The shift towards smart products and services (automation) is estimated to result in additional energy savings in 2050 of 5% in an "Efficient" scenario and -11% (i.e. Digitalisation in industry can also help maintain grid stability and reliability (ieA,IEA).

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Internet of Things self-powered sensors and devices now possible with new material
Digitalisation

Internet of Things self-powered sensors and devices now possible with new material

A material with thermoelectric properties has been invented by researchers at the Institute of Solid State Physics, Vienna University of Technology. The material converts incidental heat to electricity to generate enough energy to power devices. It is ideal for electronics running without a battery.

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Dubai announces that 25% of its buildings will be 3D printed in 2030
Digitalisation

Dubai announces that 25% of its buildings will be 3D printed in 2030

Dubai recently announced a 3D printing strategy to make it a leading hub for additive manufacturing in construction. The Emirate expects to reduce average building construction costs by 50 to 70%, and labour costs by as much as 80% with 3D-built structures.

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Virtual Power Plants: former sci-fi technology is now a reality
Digitalisation

Virtual Power Plants: former sci-fi technology is now a reality

There are multiple options on how to manage distributed energy resources (DER) A virtual power plant aggregates the capacities of multiple DER of various types. This makes the production of energy more coherent and allows for efficient energy trading on the electricity market.

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H2020-funded project RETROFEED kicks off in Brussels
Digitalisation

H2020-funded project RETROFEED kicks off in Brussels

RETROFEED is a project funded under the European Commissions program Horizon 2020. The project aims at an increase of 22% in resource efficiency and 19% in energy efficiency. Project partners boast years of experience in European projects and the development of innovative.

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Hungary, Portugal and Poland sign up to EU quantum communication infrastructure initiative
Digitalisation

Hungary, Portugal and Poland sign up to EU quantum communication infrastructure initiative

QCI will help Europe to secure its critical infrastructure and encryption systems against cyber threats. It will also enable data centres to store and exchange information safely. Long-term plan is for the QCI infrastructure to become the backbone for Europes Quantum Internet.

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Digitalisation

Energy Management System in glass industry

Steklarna Hrastnik is the leading glass products manufacturer in Slovenia. The company has a strong environmental regulation compliance strategy. To comply with European energy regulation and meet the energy consumption reduction target, the company carried out an energy management project.

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Energy Management System in glass industry

Digitalisation

Energy Management System in steel industry

SIJ Metal Ravne is one of the biggest steel companies in Europe. The company decided to run an energy management project with the following purposes: 1- Monitor and analyze real-time energy consumption, 2- Define and analyze key energy efficiency indicators.

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Energy Management System in steel industry

Digitalisation

Energy Management for telecommunication industry

Telekom Slovenije is a communications service provider in Slovenia. It also operates through its subsidiaries on the markets of South-Eastern Europe. The main objectives of the EM project were: complete digitalization of energy data for energy management system implementation.

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Energy Management for telecommunication industry

Blockchain Technology – a Threat to Distribution Network Operators?
Digitalisation

Blockchain Technology – a Threat to Distribution Network Operators?

distributed network operators in Europe are threatened by a potential application of blockchain technology in the energy sector. The eurelectric report reads like an attempt by the industry to reassure itself that its core business model - asset ownership and operation of the electricity networks - is.

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