The Foundation of the Digital Transformation: Data and IoT

The possibility of having a connected network of systems exchanging almost realtime information over the internet (referred to as the Internet of Things, or IoT for short) is critical for enabling the green energy transition. As you will have read in the previous chapters, our energy system is undergoing a substantial transformation. With respect to conventional energy systems, where only a few powerful generating plants were responsible for meeting the overall energy demand and could easily be controlled by adjusting the amount of fossil fuel to be burned, energy generation today is increasingly incorporating a growing share of intermittent, volatile and decentralised renewable energy sources, further boosted by regulatory changes and governmental decisions, such as the phasing-out of coal and nuclear power.