Novosibirsk State University and Siberian Generating Company Sign Agreement

Novosibirsk State University (NSU) and the Siberian Generating Company (SGC) signed a cooperative agreement on November 2 at the Golden Valley Research and Production Forum. They will work together on projects in the field of digital energy, including digitalization of thermal infrastructure and electric transport. SGC is also ready to participate as an NSU industrial partner in the Artificial Intelligence Center being created at the University.

For many years, the prevailing trend in the energy industry (as in other industries) was to purchase ready-made solutions abroad as a cheaper and faster alternative to investing in in-house developments. Sanctions and the withdrawal of Western companies from the Russian market have led many companies to encounter problems updating their software and technical support for equipment. As a result, there is an increase in industry interest in Russian developers and scientists.

Simultaneously, the government proposed a public-private partnership mechanism that allows for partial budgetary financing for the work of scientific teams based on the interests of economic entities. Participants in these programs are selected on a competitive basis and the NSU/SGC agreement is aimed at participating in one of these competitions.

Pavel Barilo, SGC Executive Director, talked about the value of this aggreement,

We see great potential in digitalization and intellectualization of production. Our company is already engaged in these types of projects. We expect that cooperation with NSU and other partners will allow us to develop this work on a larger scale, help increase economic efficiency, and improve the quality of heat supply to our consumers. It will also make the work of the team safer and more efficient. If you look at it more broadly, the basis of our cooperation with science is our desire to ensure people greater comfort and to participate in the development of our industry.

The next step after signing the agreement will be the preparation of a package of documents (agreement, technical specifications, etc.), that must be attached to the application for participation in the government competition. This work should be completed by the end of November, and, if successful, the project in the field of digitalization of the energy infrastructure of Novosibirsk using artificial intelligence technologies will receive government support that will cover more than half of the costs. It is important to note that NSU is the lead organization of the consortium in this project, which will also include a number of scientific institutes and high-tech enterprises.

This project involves developing and installing solutions that will increase the efficiency of the thermal power facilities included in the SGC structure and reduce heat losses and costs in the system. Specifically, to ensure the possibility of connecting new housing to the heat supply without the need to build new generation sources.

As the authors of the project note, solutions that prove effective in practice can be implemented in other cities in the future. For NSU, this work will be more than just conducting a custom R&D package. Mikhail Fedoruk, Rector of Novosibirsk State University, explained,

Research and development in the field of artificial intelligence is a priority research area for the University. There are already significant achievements here. We see that this area is actively developing and there is a demand for cooperation in this field from industrial partners. The digital transformation of the energy infrastructure is designated as one of the priority areas of development for the Government and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. Fuel and energy companies are actively involved in projects aimed at introducing digital technologies and platform solutions that help improve the efficiency and safety of the energy industry. This is important for us as a University since we not only provide additional opportunities for training our students in promising areas, but also take an active part in solving the strategic problems in our country’s economic development.