Feeling the burn—How power and utilities are decarbonizing faster with digitalization

Posted: March 15, 2024

Power companies need new tools to manage the increasingly diverse energy-generating assets they’re using to deliver sustainable power. The world simply cannot reach the Paris climate goals without more sustainable power sources. But, as experts like David Bartolo from AGL Energy emphasized on a recent episode of the podcast Our Industrial Life, companies can’t add those power sources without more efficient transmission and distribution.

Optimizing efficiency

The good news is that the big technology trends we all know about are helping companies meet their sustainability goals more quickly. The industrial internet of things (IIoT), founded on digitalization, enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), machine learning and the cloud, is driving newfound levels of connectivity, transparency, and collaboration. These technologies are also helping companies predict and optimize process efficiency across lifecycles and value chains.

Dominion Energy, in the U.S., is using cloud-based CONNECT data services (AVEVA Data Hub) to aggregate data from its diverse and widely distributed renewable energy sources. This data increasingly interests utilities and commercial/industrial consumers who want or need to validate their own net-zero commitments by proving they are using power from low-carbon sources. Dominion is building customer loyalty and competitively differentiating itself by offering this real-time energy data.

EDP Renewables, in Europe, is a leading global energy provider and a leader in the energy transition. To optimize the energy production of its wind farms, EDP deployed a hybrid data infrastructure using AVEVA™ PI System™ and CONNECT data services to collect data from two million data streams and perform calculations for more than 10,000 wind turbines. That data lets EDP monitor turbine performance, anticipate the need for maintenance and extend asset life.

Competitive advantage

Both Dominion and EDP are great examples of businesses giving themselves a competitive advantage by using digitalization to create innovative sustainable solutions.

Companies that are already using AVEVA solutions can realize even more savings by optimizing their current energy systems and processes—implementing energy-efficient technologies, improving maintenance practices, and enhancing operational efficiency. AVEVA is standing ready with both the expertise gained from other partners and with its own specialist products and solutions to help you start implementing new technology today.

Sustainable energy and connected industrial ecosystems

Power industry leaders are speeding up their investments in distributed energy resources (DERs). That investment in DERs requires companies to collaborate more deeply and extensively with connected ecosystems of customers, suppliers, business partners and others. To make sure those collaborations run smoothly, power companies need a robust hybrid data information architecture with edge-to-cloud data collection and visualization capabilities.

With flexible and solid data infrastructure that supports secure, efficient data sharing, everyone from energy generators to grid operators to utilities and service providers can ensure supply meets demand. Integrating information from an increasingly diverse group of data sources is key to breaking down silos and building a holistic view of the grid so power companies keep it reliable and resilient.

Learn more about how AVEVA renewable energy software can give you a competitive advantage.