AI can help operators make quick decisions in the electricity system

Securing the electricity supply is also about thinking smarter about the electricity we already have and increasing transmission capacity. The costs of managing bottlenecks increase as production and consumption patterns change, and in 2023, they totalled almost 25 million EUR.
In the power system, no decision can be made without knowing exactly what the consequences will be. Traditionally, the system has been manageable for experienced operators who ensure nothing goes wrong. As systems change with new energy sources, new and unexpected situations may arise that require further action. For example, new types of energy or starting to transfer power from south to north when there is a solar power surplus on the continent.
AI can simulate many possible scenarios
One way is to use data to make it easier for operators to handle complex and new unforeseen situations, something doctoral student Arvid Rolander is investigating in a research project at KTH.
"For example, AI methods could be used to help with this. ‘The idea is that AI can aid decision-makers as the complexity of energy systems increases," he says.
One advantage of AI methods is that you can simulate many possible scenarios in advance and use them as training data. Once the AI is trained, it can provide fast answers because it can learn complex relationships during training. In this way, calculations that previously had to be done in real-time have effectively been transferred to AI, which can help operators make quick decisions.
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