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Industry and Society Webinar: AI for Sustainable Energy and Heating

FCAI INDUSTRY & SOCIETY WEBINAR

AI for Sustainable Energy and Heating

May 31st 2022, 14:00 – 16:30 (EEST, UTC +3)
Online, Zoom

Europe is working harder than ever towards sustainable and self-sufficient energy systems.

Data based AI methods have already proven their usefulness in forecasting the energy consumption and optimizing the use of renewable energy sources. In this webinar we explore the possibilities of AI for improving the operational efficiency in the energy sector. We will discuss data based AI methods for both electric power systems and district heating – and it is worth noting the ongoing sector coupling that is bringing these fields closer together.

The webinar is interactive, inviting the audience to submit questions for joint discussion.

See the videos and slides of the presentations below and read the summary here!


SPEAKERS AND PANELISTS

PROGRAM

14:00 FCAI Greetings and welcoming words, Heikki Ailisto, FCAI Industry & Society Program lead and Research Professor at VTT [slides] [video]

14:10 Application of analytics and AI within energy transition,  Kari Mäki, Research Professor, Smart Energy Systems at VTT [slides] [video]

Energy transition calls for new solutions for managing more dynamic and complex systems in an interoperable manner. Advanced analytics can serve for better system operation and optimization as well as enhanced planning, maintenance, market interaction and other functions. This presentation seeks to raise certain promising areas within a sector-integrated future.

14:30  Caruna Analytics Platform as an Enabler for the Future Electricity Distribution, Verneri Kohonen, Innovation Manager at Caruna [slides] [video]

The promotion of the energy transition in a cost-efficient way requires new skills.  In the future, it is critical to develop our electricity network in such a way that in addition to weather resistance, it is prepared to respond to changes in the operating environment. In this talk the Caruna Analytics Platform is described and how AI is utilized to support energy transition.

14:50  Renewable energy integration into intelligent systems, Vikas Garg, Professor at Aalto University & FCAI, and Co-Founder at YaiYai [slides] [video]

Renewable sources of energy, such as solar and wind, are becoming especially important owing to growing costs of harnessing conventional sources, environmental awareness, and government directives. However, the intermittent availability of renewable power is a barrier that needs to be overcome. I will describe some of our work (near-optimal online algorithms for storage management and generator scheduling) toward integrating renewable power into intelligent energy systems based on short-term predictions.

15:10  Short break

15:20 Model-based heating control in district heated buildings: case Leanheat, Antti Solonen, Data Analytics Team Lead at Leanheat by Danfoss, Docent at LUT University

Leanheat is currently controlling the heating of some 4000 district heated buildings. Our approach builds upon data-based modeling of the thermodynamics of the individual buildings. In this talk we review the basics of our solution and discuss some remaining challenges.

15:40  Intelligent Building Energy Management and Flexibility Trading, Tuomas Paaso, Research Team Leader, Machine intelligence at VTT [slides] [video]

Green electrification calls for flexibility. Intelligent Building Energy management has potential for providing a significant amount of demand-side load balancing but the individual loads are small. In this presentation we share a vision of Energy Management Agents and a marketplace for automated trading of small-scale demand response.

16:00  Panel discussion: Takeaways for energy related AI research and innovation

Chair: Kari Mäki, Research Professor, Energy Systems, VTT
Panelists:
Verneri Kohonen, Innovation Manager at Caruna
Vikas Garg, Professor at Aalto University & FCAI, and Co-Founder at YaiYai
Antti Solonen, Data Analytics Team Lead at Leanheat by Danfoss, Docent at LUT University
Tuomas Paaso, Research Team Leader, Machine intelligence at VTT
Janne Kerttula, Director, Network & Service at Finnish Energy
Heikki Ailisto, FCAI Industry & Society Program lead and Research Professor at VTT 

Audience is encouraged to send questions to the panel beforehand and during the event.

16:25 Wrap up, Kari Mäki

16:30 End of the event