Big data and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies enable CLP to collect and analyse large volumes of real time information, as well as automate and optimise the response, thereby improving operational efficiency across the value chain. On the other hand, increasing application of robotics helps reduces the need for manual and high risk work processes, allowing the Company to digitalise its operations.

Drawing on the experience and capabilities from the use of aerial drones for plant inspection in Hong Kong, CLP rolled out the technology in renewable energy plants in Mainland China and India to improve their operational performance and efficiency, and to strengthen workplace safety. In Mainland China, drones with thermal cameras were deployed for the inspection of photovoltaic panels at Sihong Solar Power Station in Jiangsu and Meizhou Solar Power Station in Guangdong. The technology enables faster and more accurate identification of damaged and underperforming solar panels. Further trials have been conducted to automate the drones’ flight paths, further reducing the time required to carry out plant inspections. Aerial drones with high resolution binoculars have also been trialled for wind turbine blade inspections in India to achieve savings in time and labour requirements.

CLP has built a set of machine learning algorithms to enhance the efficiency of generation assets. As more renewable sources are integrated into the system, technology solutions that reduce uncertainty to the demand and supply of electricity are required to maintain system stability. For renewable assets CLP is using data analytics and artificial intelligence to optimise the performance of the Group’s renewable generation portfolio. In 2019, CLP began the roll-out of a Centralised Analytics Platform (CAP) across all its wholly owned renewable assets, totalling 1,916MW installed capacity. CLP has set-up big-data clouds in India and China to capture all the operational data from the renewable portfolio. The CAP can then access this data and perform real-time monitoring, data analytics, equipment performance optimisation and automated reporting. Currently there are seven wind farms and solar parks in India feeding data into the CAP and the remaining assets will be included in 2020.

For the Castle Peak B Power Station, a trial of data science and machine learning helps to predict SO₂ and NO_x emissions based on the physical properties of the coal used and the loading demand of the power station. The model delivers reference data for the coal supply which will help reduce emissions and improve air quality for the community.

Smart grids integrate information and communication systems into the traditional power grid, creating new opportunities to engage customers in energy saving and demand side management. In one example, weather prediction at high resolution coupled with automated smart meter monitoring helps predict customer energy demand and forecast power generation, allowing energy supply to be optimised ahead of demand changes. The model can be fine-tuned for special events, allowing for better plant operation and maintenance scheduling. In addition, algorithms for cable monitoring allow early fault detection and make predictive maintenance possible, further enhancing supply reliability. In 2019, four faults were identified before they disrupted supply and this resulted in around 10,000 Customer Minutes Lost (CML) being saved and 2,000 customers retaining continuous power supply.

The SEC platform provides a comprehensive portfolio of integrated, high-end and low-cost solutions for customers.

Increasingly, customers want more control over their energy consumption to maximise efficiency and minimise costs. Energy management solutions (EMS) is one of the opportunities that has arisen from such demand. It allows customers and facility managers to visualise the status of energy use, and offer greater control over how energy is stored, distributed and used. This reduces energy waste without adversely affecting operations.

CLP Smart Energy Connect (SEC) commenced operations in early 2019 and is one of the newest offerings to customers. It combines a set of energy management solutions, a data platform, and a commercial channel that accelerates the adoption of EMS, and provides a one-stop shop for digital energy innovations.

The SEC platform provides a comprehensive portfolio of integrated, high-end and low-cost solutions for customers. CLP adopted a customer-centric approach during the product development process, and paid special attention to the needs of different customers, be it reducing their carbon footprint, enhancing productivity or brand-building. It is encouraging to see the number of customers steadily growing since the platform’s launch.

With buildings in Hong Kong consuming 90% of the electricity, it is quite important to focus on the building space. There are many types of solutions including smart office, lighting and HVAC optimisation, which all help building owners, tenants, and sustainability managers take a data driven approach to achieve energy savings.

By the end of February 2020, SEC introduced more than 25 products through in-house developed solutions and partnerships. Leveraging on CLP's deep energy domain expertise, the Company assists with the design, build, deployment and ongoing support of the featured technology solutions on the platform. In addition, SEC has developed a cloud-based digital energy platform to manage IoT solutions.

CLP's products in this area received initial traction in 2019 with Building Scope winning the Hanson I&T Outstanding Award from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD), Government of Hong Kong. This was an important award as this was through the deployment of the smart building solutions in one of CLP’s own properties where an energy savings of 7% were realised along with a reduction of 86 t of CO₂ emissions. Building Scope, an AI software to identify inefficiencies within a building, was established through a partnership with R&B Technology Holding Co. Ltd. CLP Innovation Ventures Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CLP Holdings Limited, completed a US$2 million investment in R&B Technology Holding Co. Ltd. in January 2020 to deepen the collaboration between the two companies.

Another important milestone was the partnership with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) to establish CLP’s Innovation Hub at Hong Kong Science Park. As a living laboratory, HKSTP supported and piloted the energy management application from CLP. SEC enabled HKSTP to visualise their sustainability impact through SEC’s in-house product, Solar Canvas, which helps to communicate to the Park community with over ten thousands of I&T workforce and visitors about Science Park’s green energy generation. Solar Canvas connects the data from solar panels installed on six buildings in the Park and displays the energy produced in terms of carbon dioxide emissions avoided.

The impact of the success of SEC goes beyond the platform, as it also provides vital insight on how to manoeuvre the digital energy service landscape. CLP has developed a scalable organisation to support future growth by codifying product sourcing and trial processes, and completed a tailored technology stack to enable greater speed-to-market. There are plans to expand the service area to CLP supply areas outside of Hong Kong in the near future.

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Start-up companies showcase their innovations in smart energy technologies.

Microgrids present one of the focus areas for new business opportunities. A microgrid connects distributed energy resources (DERs) – which can be a power source, load and/or storage facility – and monitors, controls and optimises the DERs to reduce cost, GHG emissions, or maintain reliability. In 2019, working with numerous partner solutions, CLP established a microgrid pilot project at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. Outside Hong Kong, CLP is working with Business Units to develop smart microgrid solutions for industrial estates, developments; and commercial and industrial customers. While still at an early stage, with increasing adoption of renewables and decentralised technology, the expectation is that the microgrid market will have strong growth going forward.

The data centre market is also growing throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including in India and Hong Kong. Data centres are intensive energy users and reliant upon reliable power. This sector ties in with provision of sustainable solutions such as green power and energy efficiency, areas in which CLP has a strong edge and is actively pursuing.

As CLP leverages its history as a utility going back a century and moves towards a data-driven organisation, the Company understands the need to connect with emerging technologies and capabilities being developed at a rapid pace in the global marketplace. CLP is systematically scouting for and assessing new technologies for investment and co-development opportunities that are strategically important to the Group, as well as selectively investing in venture capital funds that provide key market insights and deal flow relevant to the energy sector.

CLP’s investments and venture portfolio consists of venture capital funds in innovation hubs such as Silicon Valley, a joint venture with Other Sources Energy Group, which has a proven investment track record in clean energy technologies in Israel, and direct equity investments in companies that bolster CLP capabilities for a digital energy future. Another example in the start-up space is an additional investment of approximately HK$100 million (US$12.7 million) in California-based energy management software developer AutoGrid Systems, Inc.

In 2019 CLP strengthened its global ecosystem of strategic partners with more activities in Hong Kong, China, Israel and Australia. As a Group, CLP is now covering the major innovation hubs (USA, China, Israel and Europe) and has established a strong network to engage with startups, strategic partners and strategic customers to source new opportunities.

CLP chooses to invest in promising entrepreneurs and start-ups not only to harness their cutting-edge technology, agility and digital capabilities, but also to co-develop new products and services that can be scaled through the company's presence in various geographies. Through collaborations with startups CLP can act faster and get access to new skills, while in return piloting new products in real situations.

In November 2019, EnergyAustralia launched a new customer innovation platform called On by EnergyAustralia. The purpose of On is to give the Company the capability to trial new solutions with customers, starting with those in New South Wales. EnergyAustralia will use expert insight from customers to learn and iterate its products and services based on their feedback before they become widely available. As part of its commitment through the Energy Charter to use customer needs and preferences to drive innovation, and to make energy simpler and fairer, the first products to be trialled on the new platform are subscription-style energy plans.

For the second year CLP has participated in Free Electrons – the global accelerator that is run by ten world class global utilities – and in June the Company hosted the programme in Hong Kong. This unique opportunity offered the chance to have ecosystem partners engage together.

Free Electrons provides a platform for utility companies to go into partnership with start-up companies and fast-track the development of new energy technologies and solutions. Through the programme, CLP has partnered with four startups including a Portuguese company which developed solutions for asset condition monitoring. Two of those projects are currently in the pilot stage.

In 2019 CLP also entered into an extended pilot with one startup from the 2018 cohort, a company which helps to predict the impact of solar integration on grid reliability. As part of the development of adjacent smart home services CLP also continued a trial in the area of health monitoring. The work with these startups was presented during the Connected Cities Conference co-organised by CLP. Together with a workshop on the “future use of buildings”, this was a good opportunity to showcase CLP’s innovation work to customers.

In Hong Kong, CLP Power continued its collaboration with the Hong Kong Startup Council of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI). CLP helps up-and-coming start-ups develop operational skills and practical experience to support business growth, and build connections with traditional enterprises and investors. In 2019, CLP invited startups with high potential to join Free Electrons, and has partnered with one of them to run a customer pilot in the Hong Kong residential market to manage energy demand of air conditioners in the summer of 2019. CLP has successfully tested the operation and collected insightful customer responses for future planning.

Collaboration between CLP Holdings and EnergyAustralia led the Company to support the Australian Technologies Competition, which opened a new network for both companies.

EnergyAustralia continued the partnership with Startupbootcamp, an international accelerator programme for start ups working on innovative energy solutions. The 2019 focus areas were grid transformation, customer empowerment, data monetisation and electric mobility and robotics. The Company continued to work with three startups from this programme.

In support of the business community, EnergyAustralia was the sponsor and host of three 2019 COSBOA Innovation Games events. The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) teamed up with Paddl Co on a series of events that allowed EnergyAustralia team members to work with small businesses to find innovative solutions to their energy problems.

In 2019 EnergyAustralia also participated in a Kidpreneur competition run by KPMG and Entropolis. Mentors from the Company benefited from a new perspective on the future generation's thoughts on issues facing the energy industry.

Officiating guests and representatives from member utilities unveil the CLP and Free Electrons Ecosystem Immersion Day.