Russian and foreign experience of using digital twins in the energy sector

The article studies the practice of implementing the technology of creating digital twins in the energy system of foreign countries and that of the Russian Federation. The purpose of the study is to identify the key areas of application of the technology as well as the best Russian and international practices. The tasks include analyzing the factors of the internal and external environment that affect the pace of digitalization of the entire industry and implementation of the digital twin technology in particular. The study focuses on analyzing the problems and benefits of using the technology in solving regional energy problems as well as on evaluation of the impact of digitalization process on financial indicators of energy companies and the prospects for further expanded use of digital twin technology in Russia’s energy industry. The practice of implementation of digital twins by energy companies of Finland, Slovakia and Russia studied within the research carried out prove high effectiveness of their application in solving regional tasks of power industry by increasing their productivity and reliability of the distribution networks’ performance. Moreover, the projects of digitalization involving digital twins ensure the growth of the companies’ profits and profitability increasing their further potential for the implementation of innovation technologies.