The field of study that deals with the design, development, and deployment of information systems, technologies and solutions to manage, analyse, and optimise energy systems, resources, and usage is commonly termed Energy Informatics (EI). The main goal of EI is to make energy production, distribution, and consumption more efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly by leveraging data and technology. This is achieved by collecting and analyzing large amounts of data from various energy sources and systems, such as smart grids, renewable energy systems, and energy-efficient buildings. EI involves AI, Cloud Computing, Fog/Edge Computing, Game Theory, Optimisation, Blockchain and other technologies. 

By, for example, collecting, analysing, and utilising data generated by wind turbines, performance and efficiency of wind farms can be enhanced, downtime minimised, and a more reliable and sustainable energy supply can be ensured.  Another application of EI in offshore wind farms is the use of predictive maintenance, which uses data-driven models to predict when a wind turbine component is likely to fail. This allows wind farm operators to schedule maintenance in advance, reducing downtime and ensuring a more stable energy supply. Furthermore, EI also enables the integration of offshore wind farms into the larger energy grid, by enabling real-time monitoring and control of the energy flow from the wind turbines to the grid. This integration enables wind farms to provide a more stable and efficient energy supply, reducing the need for conventional power plants and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

The current power grid is the result of decades of expansions and adaptations. However, society is developing faster than ever, and if the power grid does not manage to keep up with these developments, it will not be able to handle a fully electrified society in the future, where cars, boats and industry run on power produced by “new” green energy sources, such as wind, wave and solar power, instead of fossil fuels.

SDT's joint strategic application area for 2023 is the energy sector, with a special focus on IS development of wind farm applications. The SDT R&D group wants to contribute knowledge to the ongoing green shift, and has correspondingly, set up a special task force, named Energy 2023 and beyond, coordinated by Professor Agus Hasan.  

EI articles

• Predicting annual illuminance and operative temperature in residential buildings using artificial neural networks 
• A Machine Learning-Based Model for Stability Prediction of Decentralized Power Grid Linked with Renewable Energy Resources
• Digital Twins for Lighting Analysis: Literature Review, Challenges, and Research Opportunities
• Heuristic Techniques for Reducing Energy Consumption of Household
• A Study on Diffuser Augmentation of a Tidal Turbine
• Relationship between maximal aerobic power with aerobic fitness as a function of signal-to-noise ratio
• Application-oriented retinal image models for computer vision
• Correction: DEAR-2: An Energy-Aware Routing Protocol with Guaranteed Delivery in Wireless Ad-hoc Networks( Recent Trends and Advances in Wireless and IoT-enabled Networks)
• Dear-2: An energy-aware routing protocol with guaranteed delivery in wireless ad-hoc networks
• Advances in greenhouse automation and controlled environment agriculture: A transition to plant factories and urban agriculture
• Anomaly detection and visualization of school electricity consumption data
• A more energy efficient controller for the greenhouses climate control system