Technology Trends Transforming Energy

There are some areas of technology that could make a significant impact in 2022

FREMONT, CA: There are some areas of technology that could make a significant impact in 2022. Many cases are interconnected, and we'll explore them in more detail in the future. For the moment, still, here are the technologies driving energy market transformation in 2022.

Solar

IHS Markit has anticipated that annual solar installations will grow by over 30% in 2022 after volatile demand in 2021. Given recent efficiency breakthroughs, there are high expectations for perovskite, but it may take some time before it is fully commercialized.

Extension in floating solar is one to watch as it supports solar and avoids the land/energy debate. Still, sectoral integration is where the biggest focus is likely to be, especially concerning agrivoltaics.

Wind

Turbine size will grow, and floating wind will open new regions for offshore development (up to 10x current availability), with the first commercial floating capacity auction expected this year. Sustainability will be a major focus as the industry explores how to recycle blades, with the launch of an Orsted-run consortium to look at recycling across the supply chain.

There is an appreciation that offshore wind is a good transition opportunity for the oil and gas industry – Shell has just announced the acquisition of a majority stake in the Emerald floating wind project in the Celtic Sea. According to IHS Markit, offshore wind is set for another bumper year, nearly doubling deployed capacity to 10GW.

Storage

Falling lithium battery prices, sectorial integration ( with solar+storage), growth in green hydrogen and the continued roll-out of gigafactories are expected to drive the market. Chris Holmes, the co-lead investment adviser to the John Laing Environmental Fund, says: "Investment in large-scale battery storage facilities will naturally follow to complement the growth in wind and solar energy output." Storage will be transformational in value-stacking, where storage offers the capacity to deliver multiple energy services simultaneously, from frequency regulation, load balancing and wider grid management services.

Digitization

Developing appropriate infrastructure is key to creating a resilient, flexible, sustainable grid. But to realize the dream of smart, clean cities, we need more effective protection, control, automation and communication systems – to manage the grid and all the connected devices.

Whether it's an increase in the use of digital twins to model energy use and management, there is a lot to play for. Brian Lynch of LG Solar expects growth in solar and energy storage system (ESS) asset aggregation connected via software to provide the right power at the right times in front of and behind the meter.

Regarding technology breakthroughs, it will be quality over minimum cost, vertical integration of the technology stack – ESS, software, Distributed energy resource management systems(DERMs) – which leads to solar being baseload power and dispatchable.

AI

As the grid gets smarter, there will be an increasing demand for AI solutions to handle the complexity of operations. This will allow greener operations in implementing predictive maintenance of solar and wind arrays.

It could also have a considerable role in the corporate energy market, allowing companies to reduce energy use and even supporting a decrease in emissions through managing a dynamic network of energy sources. This could support the smart management of cost and the carbon profile of energy sources.

Within renewable energy itself, Ron Beck, Energy Industry Director at AspenTech, says he expects over the next twelve months to see AI: "compensate for skills shortages, enable safe and dependable operations in the face of higher technical complexity, and learn from the asset data to accelerate new energy technology maturity."

Hydrogen

The hydrogen industry has passed through many cycles of popularity, but many viewers feel that this time is different and expect to see significant change. Whether that is the UK's 10-point hydrogen plan, the recent successes of solar PV, wind, batteries and electric vehicle adoption prove we are ready for the next step.

Green hydrogen is also a renewable energy source to watch in 2022, as the EU and many other states worldwide pump investment in the burgeoning sector. Moreover, it is a crucial way to accelerate decarbonization efforts, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors where electrification is not viable – e.g., for heavy industry, chemicals and transportation.

This will further embed hydrogen as part of the global energy mix, and there is a general sense in the market that the resurgence of interest in hydrogen feels different this time. That said, most hydrogen is fossil-fuelled based today, so, despite the litany of announcements on green hydrogen, we must beware of greenwash.