Technology allows Schneider Electric to support progress and sustainability for all, and the ‘Life is On’ concept refers to accessibility and energy sustainability, but also halving the carbon footprint, said Alexandru Cojocaru, Services Director Romania & Moldova, Schneider Electric, during the ONLINE conference “Green solutions for commerce, industry and buildings”, organized by Energynomics.
The Covid-19 pandemic has not changed the real priorities of the industry. Many associate the pandemic with the combined impact of globalization, urbanization and the rapid growth of digital. “Another expression of these realities is climate change. Therefore, despite Covid, the real priorities have not changed and we know that behind this huge wave generated by Covid, comes another one – climate change, which we will have to address. Schneider’s goal is to enable all people to get the most out of energy and resources. We believe that technology allows us to sustain progress and sustainability for all. At Schneider we have a clear purpose on this – ‘Life is On’: on the one hand we must bring energy to all people who do not have access to it, and on the other hand we have to make sure that the carbon footprint will be halved in the next 20 years, ”he said.
“To achieve this goal, our mission is to become your digital partner for sustainability and efficiency. The main challenge of our generation is climate change. We are probably the first generation that can have an impact in reducing emissions,” he added.
Digitalization and green electricity
Thus, the first challenge is digital. “Digital has changed the way we live, the way we work together. The first episode of digitalization was the Internet – basically, connecting people to people. The next episode will be about the way we live with our environment – connecting car to car, people to cars, basically generalizing the idea of the Internet of Things, which connects everything around us and can aggregate all this data into data centres – what we call Big Data. We can train, with algorithms, machines, to make sense of this data. With digital, they will massively influence what efficiency and sustainability mean”, he added.
A second challenge is green electricity. “This is the only way to decarbonize energy. We need to be prepared for a world focused on electricity, in a large percentage from renewable sources – up to 50% in the next 30 years. Through digital and electrical we are talking about a smarter and more ecological environment ”.
Energy efficiency through digitalization
Schneider Electric has defined four pillars of development that will solve the dichotomy of supplying energy to as many people as possible, simultaneously with reducing the carbon footprint. “The first is to increase efficiency. We want to be much more efficient using digital solutions. We believe that by applying these technologies in smart buildings, in production or smart cities we could be 30% more efficient than we are today. A second action refers to increasing the circularity of the economy, specifically in managing to recover a larger quantity and percentage of materials used in production processes – resulting in up to 70% more circularity. The third action – in the next 20 years the proportion of electricity in everything we do will double; today it represents only 20%, and in the next 20 years it will represent 40%. And the fourth action refers to renewable energy – today it is only 6%, and in 20 years, it will be 40%”, added Alexandru Cojocaru.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
At the same time, the Covid pandemic accelerated digitalization and remote work. “For example, we had customers who faced special situations in sites. We had to work together to make sure customers systems can be monitored remotely. We monitored what was happening, for example through a unified operations center and then we helped the operators on the spot by using augmented reality or through a solution called Remote Expertize, with the help of which we see live the operations performed on-site and we can indicate, on the screen that they are watching, what operations they have to perform.”
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Then, in the market appeared the need for greater resilience – which can be achieved by predictive data analysis. “This way we can understand where the problems might arise before they occur. We can anticipate what can threaten the operation of an installation, replacing the corrective actions with some predictive ones. We have implemented EcoStruxture solutions to provide customers with automation systems and a complete set of analyzes. They are processed by artificial intelligence to anticipate what happens to their installation. Such applications are available for all segments of public buildings, including very old ones, such as schools or hospitals. Everything starts from the measurement, and, depending on the data we receive, we propose solutions to streamline or minimize the risks”, he added.
Automation, Cloud, integration of the entire life cycle and all places of production/consumption
In terms of efficiency, Schneider also has four development guidelines. “The first concerns the integration of energy and automation, addressing two areas of efficiency: on the one hand, energy, on the other – the process. We see a lot of industrial data using IT capabilities, either standard or analytical – so we have new perspectives to optimize not only the industrial process itself, but the entire infrastructure and life cycle – from energy acquisition to plant construction and management energy in the respective industrial equipment. Basically, we are in a unique position to have all these critical elements in a single portfolio: solutions for industrial utility networks, IT, electricity and infrastructure. This way we unify these traditional silos, in order to optimize the whole system. The second equation for optimizing efficiency is what we call End Point to Cloud – everything is connected, from the endpoint of the installation to the Cloud. This was first possible through IoT and the conversion of IoT-Big Data-AI. The third integration concerns the entire life cycle of the installation, from design, construction and maintenance. We started in the operational area, connecting the products to the control centers. Our customers are looking for more efficiency throughout the life of the installation. Once everything is connected in EcoStruxture, everything becomes transparent, from the endpoint to the Cloud. We see a major efficiency in terms of integrating the life cycle of projects. Finally, the last step in order to increase efficiency is related to the way we manage the company. Most companies are managed site-by-site; well, most sites are already connected. Suddenly, we get a much better picture of what we consume in the whole company, we can think of integrated efficiency solutions, we can identify the best suppliers, we are able to have a holistic perspective and not a fragmented one for the company”, he added.
Schneider Electric is connecting over 650,000 partners worldwide, in different environments. “We believe that today’s world is absolutely open, that no company can do everything on its own and that collaborating openly is the key to this common success,” concluded Alexandru Cojocaru.
The ONLINE conference “Green solutions for commerce, industry and buildings” was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners: BCR, Enel X Romania, EnergoBit, Schneider Electric, Simtel, Wiren.
