Peter Warren, Vice-President, Global Industry Lead, Energy & Utilities at CGI, shares how advances in renewable energy, including green hydrogen, require a high degree of energy system flexibility and data-driven technologies that improve decision-making.

We are all looking for new answers to accelerate our sustainability goals. As both end consumers and members of industry—whether we are energy providers, transportation firms, manufacturers or retailers—each of us is seeking solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels. External factors, like the war in Ukraine and new regulations, are intensifying our focus on energy security and self-sufficiency.

A key to achieving net-zero goals is renewable energy, along with energy storage and hydrogen. Greater use of renewable energy requires a high degree of flexibility in our overall energy system, and is driving significant infrastructural changes. Enabling smart solutions also is essential to fulfill our energy needs while controlling costs. All of this requires data-driven technologies that support decision-making at pace and scale.

77% of C-level energy and utilities executives in the CGI Voice of Our Clients research rank sustainability’s impact on future value creation as high.

Optimizing hydrogen production for industrial use 

Green hydrogen is one of the building blocks of a carbon-neutral future.

There is industry consensus that scaling plant production can reduce the levelized cost of hydrogen. The more electricity a renewable power plant produces, the lower the cost per kilogram. This is driving a trend of combined renewable electricity and hydrogen generation in areas where power plant capacity can be maximized.

A global green energy leader has implemented an innovative solution that controls and monitors the entire hydrogen production process of one of the largest green hydrogen generation plants in Europe for industrial use. The solution provides operators with the tools, indicators and alarms needed to guarantee the manufacturing process from start to finish. It integrates with systems that control energy production of the photovoltaic (PV) plant and the production and supply of hydrogen to the plant.

The solution delivers multiple benefits, including: advancing the company’s energy transformation and compliance with decarbonization plans, increased availability through real-time monitoring, lower costs through faster response to production alarms, higher efficiency and revenue from avoiding energy losses and asset downtime, balanced consumption needs, and better strategic and operational decision-making.

Supporting a sustainable hydrogen market model

A mature and sustainable hydrogen economy requires three elements: well-functioning market mechanisms, reliable infrastructure and diversified use of data.

New hydrogen ecosystems will require agile data platforms. This is why we developed the CGI AgileDX-Hydrogen data exchange platform to support effective collaboration within hydrogen ecosystems. It is a proven platform as existing central markets already use its underlying data hub engine. The platform provides a centralized view of data and processes, promotes full transparency and auditability, and enables seamless internal and external communications to help make insights-led business decisions.

Across the world, pilot projects are underway to accelerate the transition to a hydrogen-driven economy. For example, a major European gas transmission operator wanted to integrate hydrogen into their current value chain. Establishing a commercial operations data exchange platform was too complex to manage by spreadsheet, and too costly to integrate directly into their legacy IT landscape. Using our CGI AgileDX-Hydrogen platform, we jointly developed a proof of concept, with power to scale, in just five weeks.

Monitoring the progress of these projects is vital for key stakeholders—particularly the funding entities. Our solution brings all relevant stakeholders together onto one platform to monitor, collaborate and communicate. It provides invaluable data insights that can support new funding, launch new initiatives and help introduce progressive legislation.

Learn more about how CGI helps clients accelerate the energy transition based on our deep expertise in energy market liberalization, renewables management, asset data management and license to operate.