Predicting peaks in supply and demand for energy is essentially turning the utility into a hedge fund.
I think it's worth considering the overall characteristics of the "improved" algorithm, since the ML optimizations are likely analogous to leveraging based on an overfitted predictive model, and the objective of a power grid is resilience as well as efficiency.
Also, depending on how you define efficiency, it may be considered beneficial to shut down a coal plant and spin up a few hundred windmills, even if the resulting price per kilowatt hour increases by 5%.
I work in the industry and we've been "predicting peaks in supply and demand for energy" for years.
You're 100% correct about the "resilience" and "efficiency" part, and we currently have software for that as well (Google "Real-Time Contingency Analysis"), but the real improvements to be made in this area would be things that generally fall under the "smart grid" buzzword. The ability to automatically switch transmission lines in and out of service during an emergency event, better and/or automatic control frequency and voltage (which we do have currently, but could be further automated), and reaction/recovery/restoration after a relay incident (for example, an automatic "Blackstart" after a voltage collapse) would all fall under the kind of improvements needed to push electric grid technologies to the next level, in my opinion.
Very interesting! Thanks for the clarification. Would you say that the ML/AI aspect is "easy" once the automation is built? Or does the automation offer limited value without fairly sophisticated algorithms?
Well, the grid already has a prediction system, this is just supposedly improving that. Which makes me question whether it can actually reduce overall consumption, because surely that requires some of the consumers to change behaviour?
I think it's worth considering the overall characteristics of the "improved" algorithm, since the ML optimizations are likely analogous to leveraging based on an overfitted predictive model, and the objective of a power grid is resilience as well as efficiency.
Also, depending on how you define efficiency, it may be considered beneficial to shut down a coal plant and spin up a few hundred windmills, even if the resulting price per kilowatt hour increases by 5%.