Baidu has signed an MoU with electricity generator Huaneng Group to drive the intelligent transformation of the energy industry.

As an AI company with a strong internet foundation, Beijing-based Baidu will leverage its capabilities in AI-powered infrastructure to help Huaneng integrate the digital economy with the energy and power industry to enhance efficiencies and users’ experience.

Under the terms of the MoU, Baidu and state-owned Huaneng will pursue a multi-faceted partnership encompassing information technology, digital technology and other related areas. The two companies will jointly develop automated and intelligent financial shared services platform, as well as cooperate to apply AI and big data technologies to the energy and power field.

Additionally, the partnership will strive to provide society with energy-related data services that are more digitised, intelligent and connected to the internet, which should drive the intelligent upgrading of China’s energy industry.

The partnership aligns with Baidu’s long-standing investments in AI technologies, cloud computing and big data capabilities, which aim to help various industries – including energy, transportation, education and finance – undergo intelligent transformations that will culminate in a fully intelligent economy and society.

China’s economy is turning to the direction of high-quality development, and AI is a new kinetic energy and engine that could drive this high-quality development, according to Haifeng Wang, chief technology officer of Baidu.

“Since the energy industry is such an important part of the national economy, the degree of its intelligent construction is directly related to the state of the economy and the level of intelligent transformation of society,” said Wang. “It is hoped that Huaneng will give fully play to its leading position in the energy industry and its advantages in a wide range of industry scenarios, and Baidu will make full use of its technological advantages in AI, big data and cloud computing to strengthen all-round cooperation and support the digital and intelligent upgrading of the energy industry.”

Since its establishment, Baidu has been committed to environmental protection through technological innovation, as well as by using efficient and clean energy sources for the company’s operations. For example, the Baidu Yangquan cloud computing centre uses AI to reduce its environmental impact, such as through intelligent power supply and cooling systems, thus saving energy while maintaining high-performance operations.

Baidu’s AI cloud also delivers intelligent energy to the energy industry. At present, it has reached strategic cooperation agreements with energy companies such as State Grid. Baidu is working with these partners to digitise and intelligently transform processes such as energy production and electricity dispatching management to provide users with more efficient, cleaner and lower-carbon energy services.

In the future, Baidu plans to support Huaneng as it builds a financial shared services centre by developing an automated and intelligent financial shared services platform, with the aim of creating an integrated digital system for finance. Additionally, Baidu will help develop a platform for independent and free exchanges of energy data, a professional-level database for the industry, and a modern energy SaaS (software-as-a-service) system to serve society better.

Baidu’s AI cloud integrates cloud computing and AI technologies, allowing Baidu to bring the power of AI to companies from a wide range of industries. Baidu hopes to join hands with more energy industry partners to accelerate the construction of smart energy systems and rapidly deploy infrastructure to a cleaner and more intelligent energy future.