Information and communications technology (ICT) plays a pivotal role in improving efficiency of energy sector operations.

For example, a smart grid pilot project in Puducherry, India, uses sensor-embedded transformers with ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) technology to monitor real-time energy use, alerting command centers when unusual usage spikes are noted.

Maintenance crews then act upon the alerts in a timely manner to check for possible energy theft and arrest revenue loss, as well as the overall reliability of energy distribution systems.

In the UK, Scotland Yard hopes to automatically analyze spikes in electricity usage that could be caused by production of Class B drugs on housing estates and in industrial areas.

Real-time gathering of data and automated decisions are key features in modern transmission systems to handle tripping problems in smart grids.

An entire ICT ecosystem is deployed to efficiently manage the mixing of different clean energy sources.