Why do we’d like knowledge for the Swiss vitality transition?
First, knowledge will increase the understanding of vitality manufacturing and consumption patterns, providing insights for each working and planning vitality system improvement. Actual-time consumption knowledge permits vitality suppliers to know and forecast electrical energy demand and, due to this fact, enhance the effectivity of their operations. Knowledge can be a recreation changer for cantons, municipalities, and utilities by enabling them to make knowledgeable and context-appropriate vitality infrastructure funding choices. For instance, the native vitality supplier in Höfe has real-time sensible meter knowledge from all their customers and makes use of it to determine on infrastructure improvement, taking choices primarily based on noticed tendencies — like using electrical vehicles and warmth pump installations. In response to Arne Kähler, the CEO of EW Höfe, “With out knowledge, we’ll hardly be capable of meet the problem of the longer term within the vitality sector.”
Second, knowledge accessibility fosters competitors and comparability amongst customers, be it households, municipalities, or cantons. As Philipp Schütz, professor at HSLU, factors out, “A giant driver for implementation might be […] social competitors—am I doing higher or worse than my neighbor?” As an illustration, households geared up with sensible meters can simply monitor and evaluate their vitality utilization patterns, which may result in a want to outperform or at the least align with the practices of their neighbors. On a broader scale, municipalities and cantons can leverage the supply of aggregated vitality knowledge to benchmark their efficiency in opposition to neighboring areas. This sort of comparative evaluation offers worthwhile insights into finest practices and areas for enchancment in vitality administration and manufacturing.
Lastly, real-world knowledge helps completely different analysis actions centered on the design of future vitality programs and markets. For instance, one of many matters extremely debated on the Summit is the thought of influencing consumption patterns primarily based on the supply of solar energy, utilizing dynamic electrical energy tariffs. Educational analysis may assist perceive the probabilities and impacts of tariff design choices, however provided that hourly electrical energy consumption knowledge is offered.
In abstract, knowledge reveals tendencies and ensures transparency; each in flip result in information that helps inform choice making and drive innovation.