AI’s Role in Advancing the Energy Transition to Renewable Sources in the GCC

AI Can Aid in the Transition to Renewable Energy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to play a vital role in facilitating and optimizing the energy transition in Bahrain and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries towards renewable energy sources, according to Professor Kumar Venayagamoorthy, an expert in AI and engineering. During his recent visit to Bahrain, he discussed various ways that AI can transform energy management and support the shift to renewables.

In an interview following his presentation at the Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat), titled “Smart Grid, Energy Transition and What’s Next?”, Prof. Venayagamoorthy addressed the challenges associated with renewable energy, particularly the variability and intermittency of sources like solar and wind.

He explained, “With solar and wind energy, there are concerns about availability—questions such as, ‘Will there be enough sunshine? Will it be cloudy? What happens on a day with little wind?’ For instance, a cloudy day can lead to shortfalls in solar power generation, and a still day means no wind power. Conversely, a windy day might produce excess energy. The challenge is to meet demand while ensuring 100% reliability for customers.”

According to Prof. Venayagamoorthy, AI can enhance the integration of renewable energy sources by making operations more reliable and efficient. He emphasized that AI excels in forecasting, reducing uncertainty in decision-making, and maximizing the utilization of available renewable resources. Additionally, AI can tackle complex, multidimensional problems, making renewable energy integration more dependable and efficient.

Prof. Venayagamoorthy holds the title of Duke Energy Distinguished Professor of Power Engineering at Clemson University in the United States. He is the founder and director of the Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems Laboratory and has published approximately 600 academic and technical papers. He is also an inventor of technologies aimed at scalable computational intelligence for complex systems like Smart Grids.

He believes that AI-powered power grids represent the future of the energy industry, enabling companies to automate optimization processes across their networks. However, he identifies awareness as the key obstacle to AI adoption in the GCC region. “AI is a new technology often perceived as a black box. Raising awareness, building trust, and ensuring that AI is transparent and explainable will promote greater acceptance of AI both locally and globally,” he noted.

When asked about the potential for increased cyber attacks resulting from the connection of Smart Grids to AI, Prof. Venayagamoorthy highlighted AI’s ability to learn continuously, which can help enhance its self-defense capabilities. He also suggested using offline AI models that can be updated and trained with data before connecting to the grid, thus maintaining a secure operational environment.

“The advantage of continuous learning is that it constantly improves performance. To prevent security and stability issues, AI systems can continue their learning as copies of the original AI engine, which remains in a secure environment,” he explained. “These training copies can periodically be updated in live operations, allowing for improved models to be implemented without compromising security.”

Furthermore, Prof. Venayagamoorthy remarked that AI will change how aspiring engineers approach their studies, but he cautioned against over-reliance on AI systems. While acknowledging that AI allows students to learn at their own pace and efficiently access vast research databases, he stressed the importance of maintaining one’s own intelligence as a fallback. “If this technology were to fail, you must rely on your own skills. AI should be a tool to enhance your intelligence, not a replacement for it.”