Thomas Jakob is responsible for Bosch Software Innovations – the software division of the Bosch Group, in the Asia Pacific region since 2012.
In this role, Thomas works to leverage the Internet-of-Things (IoT) for intelligent energy management, focusing on solutions that optimize operations within the energy industry, reducing environmental impact and cost, while increasing efficiency. He has been engaged in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) arena since 2010 and was actively involved in the set-up of the IoT-based electric vehicle charging services platform in Singapore as well as various related projects around the region. He has spoken at numerous conferences and has conducted expert workshops on IoT-related topics in Asia and Europe.
Thomas holds a Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Dieburg, Germany as well as an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
1. How has the recent volatility in energy prices impacted policies and considerations about energy options?
Amidst a volatile oil price environment and rapidly increasing industrialization in Asia’s growing economies, the energy space has been buzzing with questions and uncertainty around energy security. From our perspective, these changes drive a need for technological innovation and intelligent solutions in the energy sector. Such improvements can also deliver demand-and-supply optimization based on energy availability.
We have also noticed that countries are increasingly modifying their energy mix to reduce dependency on changing oil prices and to improve the environmental balance; many are shifting away from carbon-based resources to renewable energy options such as solar, geothermal and wind. To date, around 144 countries have renewable energy targets.
2. There is a growing shift to grid decentralisation through distributed energy resources. How can this help achieve higher energy efficiency?
When compared to existing energy technologies, renewables are associated with the lowest risk of technical failures (e.g. blackouts). This is due to the distributed nature of renewable systems that ensures consistent power generation. Decentralized renewable power offers ‘islanding’, in which parts of the grids continue operating during periods of blackout. Decentralized grids are also more energy efficient because less power is lost during energy transmission, when compared to centralized grids. Again, intelligent energy management is the key to this by maximizing local consumption of energy, also with the integration of local energy storage.
3. What are the implications of energy decentralisation for utility companies and how can these be managed?
The implications for energy companies are two-fold: Firstly, renewable integration will require drastic changes to how the grid is managed. Instead of a limited number of centralized generation sources with a high level of predictability, utility companies will now have to deal with a highly unpredictable network of smaller energy sources. Maintaining grid stability will thus be a much more difficult task.
Secondly, service providers would eventually have to transform their business model. The drive for increasing energy efficiency by corporate as well as private customers will eventually contribute to falling revenues while these companies will still be required to maintain existing infrastructure and power generation capabilities. To manage this, we see utility companies – in addition to leveraging the long-term trend towards renewables – entering into new markets for advisory and ancillary services for which demand is expected to grow rapidly.
4. What are some technological advances that can help strengthen the resilience of energy systems?
With distributed plants and renewable energy sources taking on more prominent roles in the energy market, it makes sense to utilize an Internet-of-Things approach – which is ideal for managing a large number of distributed assets – as the basis for intelligent energy management. Such software solutions, designed for distribution network operators, metering point operators, metering service providers, dealers, and suppliers, allow the availability and flexibility profiles of energy sources to optimally match the demand profiles of individual consumers, right down to an appliance level in a Smart Home. Through this, it will be possible to cost-effectively plan, control and monitor energy generation, consumption and storage, creating an energy system that is capable of meeting constantly changing supply and demand efficiently.
5. How can governments and private sector companies, such as Bosch Software Innovations, work together to enhance energy infrastructure and build resiliency in energy systems?
Governments are exploring public-private partnerships with key vendors in the energy industry, in order to create open platforms and to share knowledge. Ultimately, it is through education that conversations and initiatives around intelligent energy solutions can develop. Alliances involving different companies will also be an important driver for enhancing energy infrastructures. In Singapore, the cooperation amongst governing boards and companies, even those in differing industries, is one of the country’s major strengths. A good example of this is the recently launched Singapore Power Centre of Excellence that is supported by the Economic Development Board and which will drive co-development activities with the industry. This is exactly how the government can work together with the private sector to build upon existing energy systems to develop one that is capable of meeting future energy needs.