Application of Emerging Information Technologies in Modern Energy Strategy Planning

The emerging information technologies provides an opportunity for supporting the planning of energy industry development. This paper presents an overview on the application of the novel information technologies including big data, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and virtual reality (VR) in the modern energy strategy planning (ESP). Firstly, the concept and current challenges of ESP is briefly reviewed and some typical information technologies which might be suitable for modern ESP are summarized. Secondly, the major technical needs of modern ESP are investigated. On this basis, the application scenarios of these emerging information technologies in modern ESP are extensively discussed. It can be foreseen that an efficient and economic ESP can be achieved by implementing these new technologies for the benefit of both policy makers and system planners.