Early this year there was a symposium titled “AI/IoT-realized Super Smart Society and Energy Network” and was sponsored by the International Research Center of Advanced Energy Systems for Sustainability (AES Center), Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, the symposium dealt with how artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and other advanced information technologies would transform society and the energy world and what business chances and challenges would emerge, as indicated by the title.
The symposium consisted of three parts – Part 1 “National Strategy and Outlook on Super
Smart Society,” Part 2 “Super Smart Society and Energy Technologies Seen from Academia,” and Part 3 “Panel Discussion – Social Implementation Led by the Private Sector.”
What is the “super smart society?” This is an interesting question. In Part 1, it was argued that human society historically transitioned from a hunter society to a farmer society, an industrial society and an information society, or from Society 1.0 to Societies 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0, before a new economic society comes as Society 5.0 or super smart society. The new society was explained as a society in which AI, big data, IoT and other advanced technologies would be fully used to achieve both economic development and the resolution of social challenges facing the world. The super smart society was also described as a society in which AI, big data and dramatically advanced information technologies (electronics, communications and data processing) would be fully used to
integrate cyberspace with physical space to produce new values.
An important challenge in energy and environment areas in our country and the whole Continent at large would be to build a low-carbon society and very efficient energy supply systems using renewable energy, storage batteries, hydrogen,advanced next-generation vehicles, distributed energy systems, demand response systems, virtual power plants and other technologies. AI, big data, IoT and other advanced technologies would be fully used to digitize and expand the energy world in the new economic society. As a matter of course, the super smart society and energy’s expected roles in such a society represent long-term strategic challenges, with any specific path to such society remaining uncertain(we have a tendency of assuming things until they turn out to be a necessity in our day to day lives). There may be numerous problems to be resolved for realizing the new society.
Nevertheless, initiatives to overview social transition and transformation from a broader perspective and depict and pursue the future society we should build are very significant and valuable. We will have to closely watch future initiatives to realize the super smart society and energy’s roles in such society. Based on matters of interest to me and my expertise, I strongly believe the Kenyan super smart society would be digitized and electrified, energy security (particularly, power supply security) would be the key to realizing and managing most of the activities. I have noted three points on new risks that we as Kenyan engineers would have to consider in regard to energy and power supply security while digitization and electrification would make irreversible progress.
The first point is the impact that the substantial expansion of renewable energy including intermittent solar photovoltaics and wind power generation would exert on power supply systems.
Storage batteries, grid enhancement measures, auxiliary fossil power generation and other measures are required to cover the intermittency of solar PV and wind power generation. This means additional costs. While solar PV and wind power generation costs are remarkably declining, the additional costs are required for integrating such intermittent renewable energy into power supply systems and may not necessarily be negligible. As intermittent power sources’ share of the power mix expands further, the costs for integrating these sources into power supply systems will grow. Power supply security and the integration costs could be challenges.
The second point is related to cybersecurity since am a member of KCSFA (kenya Cyber Security and Forensic Association) and i follow closely our own internal debates and discussions. As social and economic systems grow more dependent on stable power supply due to further digitization and electrification, they are likely to become more vulnerable to cyber attacks. As cybersecurity problems are growing more complex in our country, diverse and serious, cybersecurity measures must be updated in response to the fast-changing situation. So far, cyber problems have not become as serious as the oil crises that globally shook energy and power supply. As stable power supply becomes the most important challenge in the digitized society, however, we should recognize
cybersecurity problems as a major potential risk. The third point is a stable power supply problem related to investment in deregulated markets.In Kenya, power and gas system reform will need to be implemented to deregulate markets more and more
through the beginning of the 2020s(Lets stop thinking only politics in 2022). In globally known cases, there are many cases where investment costs in power sources has failed to be recovered in deregulated power markets, leading to the so-called “missing money problem”. The classic “missing money problem” has transitioned to a more complex problem as wholesale power market prices have declined due to the large scale inflow of renewable energy power generation promoted by policy support and cost reduction. In response, the introduction of the capacity mechanism is being considered or implemented. In the digitized and electrified society, how to secure investment and stable power supply in liberalized markets with renewable energy expansion trends may be a key challenge.
While great expectations are placed on the realization of the super smart society, or Society 5.0(as i would love to call it),there are many challenges to tackle in the energy world in our continent. In the new economic society in which advanced technologies are fully used, energy is likely to take an even more important position instead of staying at its present level of importance. Energy security will thus remain an old and new issue.
Complied and written by : Samwel Kariuki
