There are very few topics getting as much attention today as renewable energy. From expanding wind farms and solar operations to green hydrogen technology, to electric vehicles and their impact on the grid and infrastructure, the face of how we generate and use power is changing rapidly. One key change this shift has brought about is a need to rethink power operations. Green energy organizations cannot operate the same way traditional fossil producers did. These modern operations are rarely focused on a single plant or critical asset. Often, green power companies operate hundreds or thousands of assets across a city, state, continent, or even around the globe.
As power production becomes more distributed, producers are embracing a Boundless Automation™ vision of operations, where their data moves seamlessly from the field to the edge, and into the cloud. This democratization of data is essential, as it helps organizations centralize control and support to help manage the dynamic nature of green energy operations.
In his recent article in Energy Tech magazine, Emerson’s James Fraser explores a key trend to democratize green energy data: green energy asset management platforms. Fit-for-purpose green energy SCADA software leverages the Boundless Automation vision to give green energy asset operators intuitive visibility across all their assets from a single pane of glass.
So many systems
One of the key problems with managing green energy operations is that most assets—wind turbines, solar arrays, battery storage, and more—each run on their own OEM control systems. That means operators often spend their time running from one asset to the next, trying to make adjustments to the individual assets. It also means operators must be well-versed in a wide array of different software platforms, which slows operation and complicates training and upskilling of personnel.
What is even more frustrating, however, is that renewable assets typically have hundreds of parameters that operations teams can use to improve their performance, but most of these parameters are locked away behind proprietary OEM control systems. Teams that want to recalibrate or maximize performance struggle when the data they need is trapped in a black box.
Green energy asset management platforms like Emerson’s Ovation Green SCADA eliminate this problem, providing users with granular control over their assets. James explains,
“The best asset management solutions solve this problem by connecting to nearly any renewable energy asset on the market directly out of the box, expanding dozens of available parameters to hundreds. Not only is this data useful for driving better performance from on-site assets, it also provides a wealth of condition monitoring data, helping maintenance teams keep track of the health of assets, and allowing them to intervene before pending problems become failures.”
Relying on expertise
Not all asset management platforms are created equal, however. James shares in his article that operations teams evaluating green energy software should look carefully to ensure their automation vendor is backed by decades of expertise in the energy sector. Green energy asset management platforms not only need to work well with the assets they control, but also with the grid, and that requires a foundation in deep knowledge of power generation and distribution. James explains,
“The most robust solutions connect seamlessly to nearly every type of available asset, and they can be used to interconnect a wide range of the software solutions and technology products needed to manage a power generator’s entire portfolio. An integrated ecosystem of solutions built on energy industry expertise offers a more secure and intuitive architecture, while providing peace of mind because the asset management solution will be supported well into the future by an established network of partners.”
The future of power is coming, and it is greener, more distributed, and will need to be much more scalable. Emerson’s Ovation Green SCADA can help operations teams navigate those complexities with intuitive software designed specifically to fit their needs. Read more about it over at Energy Tech.
