THE COMPANION
WHITE PAPER
As climate change is global in nature, the inherent task is to remake fossil fuel intensive industries, such as the utility industry, to become more sustainable. Sustainability goals are challenged by the growth of global population and industrialization demanding more energy. Global energy generation is expected to triple from 2020 to 2050 to 83,000 TWh (for comparison the city of Houston, Texas consumes ~1TWh per year). To support this growth, the global electric grid will double by 2040, adding to and refurbishing over 80,000 km2. In addition to these challenges, the Power & Utility industry faces an aging grid infrastructure, evolving regulations, growing concern of cyber threats, and extreme weather events – all urgently requiring multi-faceted, intelligent solutions.
Recently, as COP 28 came to a close, more than 200 nations signed an agreement calling for an accelerated energy transition that includes tripling global renewable capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030. Significant investment and transformation of both physical grid assets as well as digital grid technology is mission-critical for utilities and industrial companies to reach carbon reduction goals while maintaining a safe and reliable electric network.
An electrifying force
The expansion and modernization of electrical generation, transmission and distribution networks are imperative to meet the burgeoning electrification demand and integrate renewable energy sources effectively.
Digital Grid Management solutions, including Generation Management Systems (GMS), Energy Management Systems (EMS) for Transmission Operators, Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) for Distribution Operators and Distributed Energy Resources Management Systems (DERMS), are pivotal in addressing the complexities brought by the energy transition. By providing enhanced visibility and control over the grid, these digital systems enable utilities to produce, transmit and distribute power while maintaining grid stability and reliability in the face of increasing demand and the variable nature of renewable energy sources.
For commercial and industrial companies, microgrids can optimize and reduce the carbon footprint of the asset owner by integrating renewables into daily operations while ensuring that vital assets do not suffer sudden electric supply loss.
Reliable power supply to 3 Million customers in Mumbai
Recently, AspenTech announced the implementation of its digital grid management solutions by Adani Electricity, which supplies power to more than three million customers throughout Mumbai. AspenTech’s next generation SCADA and ADMS systems were incorporated into Adani Electricity’s new network operation center, allowing the utility to monitor and control the electric distribution grid in real-time, ensuring reliable, safe and secure service to customers. With this implementation, Adani Electricity positions itself as among the most advanced utilities in the region.
Electrical grids around the world are at a crucial juncture. Increased consumer expectations, acceleration of the clean energy transition, evolving regulations and expanding cyber- and extreme weather-related challenges are introducing new levels of complexity and unpredictability. Adani Electricity noted that the launch of the company’s Powai Network Operation Center with India’s first ADMS is a watershed moment for both the company and the region’s power landscape. This collaboration is part of the company’s aim to provide 60 percent renewable electricity to Mumbai by 2027. Adani Electricity’s service area covers 85 percent of Mumbai’s geography, serving almost 70 percent of its population.
Grid Management Solutions
Digital technologies offer a beacon of hope in navigating the challenges of the energy transition. By leveraging real-time control and automation, forecasting and scheduling, as well as advanced analytics and historian technology, digital solutions can optimize the planning and management of the grid. These technologies enable more accurate demand forecasting, supply and load balancing, and renewable integration, thereby mitigating some of the operational challenges with the accelerated energy transition of the grid.
Generation Management Systems are used to manage extremely large-scale power, from hundreds of megawatts to gigawatts of power produced by conventional, rotating power plants as well as large-scale renewable plants such as solar and wind farms. Digital control solutions optimally manage the diversity of generation resources and complexity in planning and dispatch for both regulated and deregulated markets. In deregulated markets, market awards and transactions including system operator interfaces are managed in addition to capabilities such as automatic voltage regulation, fleet performance, energy accounting and evaluation.
Transmission System Operators face the key challenge of balancing the bulk electric grid by safely transporting increasing amounts of power, including intermittent renewables which cause inertia and congestion issues, as well as complexity in hourly, daily, and monthly planning activities with neighboring operators. Increased grid assets including renewable energy sources, battery storage, grid sensors and new technology such as Electrolysers are changing how utilities model, visualize and intelligently manage the high-voltage transmission grid.
Distribution System Operators are tasked with balancing the medium and low voltage distribution grid from the transmission grid delivering to residential homes and businesses. Similarly, the tremendous growth of end-user load demand, mixed with the increasing amount of Distributed Energy Resources at the grid edge, is driving increased complexity in grid management and is requiring new digital solutions to monitor, manage and optimize daily grid operations.
Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) will model the distribution grid for utilities and enable operators to monitor real-time power flow between the high-voltage transmission grid and end consumers. ADMS systems include a wide range of automation to optimally manage voltage, switching, and fault management, as well as comprehensive Outage Management (OMS) to ensure a safe, reliable, and intelligent electric grid.
Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS) ensure the integration of small, grid-edge Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) like rooftop solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and smart home devices, into the grid, allowing for seamless coordination and efficient utilization for both Transmission and Distribution utilities.
SCADA provides real-time communication, monitoring, and control of all assets on the grid for electric, gas, and water utilities. In conjunction with a purpose-built historian to handle data collection, archiving, and queries of massive real-time data sets, this becomes a powerful solution to support many applications ranging from small municipalities to large-scale renewable power plants.
Towards net-zero emission goals
With the acceleration of the energy transition, the transformation of the grid infrastructure to support load growth, increases in severe weather events and cyber security threats, utilities must significantly invest in digital grid management solutions that react faster, process more data, automate intelligence, and add net new capabilities to address the complexity of conditions across the grid as they change dynamically. Utilities need to find new ways to keep the power on for customers and manage thousands or even millions of devices – each of which, has a different and specific impact on the health of the electrical grid, while planning for a more distributed, diverse future. Digital grid management software offers a pathway to create significant new value for utilities through operational improvements, more efficient utilization of existing assets and harnessing of renewables to enable non-carbon emitting grid resources.
