Utilities around the globe are reacting to a public call to address climate change. The future of generation will call for new technologies that reduce emissions and provide more sustainable power.
However, as James Fraser points out in his recent article in enerG magazine, power companies have avoided reacting to this change by a complete rip and replace of technologies. Utilities still need to provide reliable power, so a more pragmatic approach is not only obvious, but also essential. This lesson, James argues, can also be applied to the digital transformation of power industry operations. James explains,
“Just as generation sources must gradually evolve, so, too, must the technologies to support them. As producers consider new technology, focusing on fit-for-purpose solutions supported by a deep history of power industry experience and application expertise helps ensure safer, more reliable, and more efficient operations throughout their gradual evolution.”
Uniting the mix of technologies
One of the risks of moving to new technologies without a plan is the potential to build a web of interconnected technologies that is so complex that it ultimately reduces efficiency. New renewable generation assets are available from a wide variety of manufacturers, each providing their own OEM controls. If a company installs many of these different systems without concern for unification of operation, complexity can quickly spiral out of control. For example,
“A utility’s operations and engineering staff forced to log into many different systems and manually gather data often struggles to maintain consistent, optimized operations, instead wasting time on repetitive information gathering and siloed data analysis.”
Fortunately, interoperable software like Emerson’s Ovation™ Green can help utilities eliminate this complexity. Ovation Green collects and contextualizes data from a wide array of assets across a site, farm, or even fleet. All critical data is brought into a single dashboard to unify control and simplify operations. Personnel only need to be trained on a single system, and a wide range of assets can be collated into a single central location so companies can make better use of their most experienced staff.
Simulating solutions
As utilities bring the data from their varied assets together, they can leverage that data in powerful digital twin simulation solutions. Digital twin software can create replicas of a plant, fleet, or grid to help operators better plan for the unexpected. They can test responses to power fluctuations and quickly see how the results cascade across operations without risk to the active control network.
James identifies a few other technologies power providers are using to improve sustainability while simultaneously navigating personnel shortages in his full article at enerG. Head over to read more about how data aggregation and increased adaptability are helping utilities navigate the electrification of modern life around the globe.
