Artificial Intelligence on Energy 4.0

Dear Colleagues,

The digitalization of energy is breaking the traditional boundaries between supply and demand. The energy sector, based on data and artificial intelligence, is increasingly decentralized—redefining the generation, transport, distribution, and consumption models of so-called Energy 4.0. Energy 4.0 is, then, a matter of the integration of energy sources and energy demand, particularly considering the manufacturing sector as one of the main players in the paradigm. Effective deployment of the fourth industrial revolution entails energy management as a main driver of the factories of the future. Thus, in classical automation, energy is considered an input vector but is not integrated into the factory operation strategy. Current digitization, connectivity, and processing technologies allow energy to become a production variable of the companies, while the factory is an active element of the smart grid distribution system. In this regard, the energy sector has embraced emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, data science, machine/deep learning, and cloud computing. It has mainly focused on the deployment of cyberphysical-based solutions towards sustainable and operationally efficient strategies for producing and delivering energy, and taken advantage of the digital transformation of process automation in plants.

This Special Issue considers the digitalization of the energy and utilities sector towards Energy 4.0, and how these transformations, supported by artificial intelligence technology, will impact the factories of the future. Papers considering the following areas of research are invited:

• Cyberphysical systems applied to energy sector;
• Optimization and control of power generation plants;
• Artificial intelligence-based demand response;
• Predictive maintenance and machine learning applied to the energy and utilities sector;
• Industrial Internet of Things in energy management;
• Industrial smart grids: transportation, distribution and energy storage.

Prof. Dr. Miguel Delgado-Prieto
Prof. Dr. Luis Romeral
Guest Editors

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