Ovation Blog

How Microgrids Help Refineries Stay Powered in an Electrified World

Jim Cahill — Thu, 07 May 2026 12:29:35 GMT

Why this matters now Refining depends on a continuous, reliable source of power. The sites operate 24x7x365, and if a utility is unable to supply adequate power, the facility might be down for weeks as they deal with equipment damage and safely bringing systems back online. However, reliable power has become more challenging to come […]

Securing the Next Era of Renewable Power: How Utilities Protect Distributed, Remote Assets

Jim Cahill — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 12:29:18 GMT

Why this matters now Renewable generation has moved from pilot projects to core capacity, and the shift to widely dispersed, remotely managed assets expands the cyber-attack surface for utilities. A resilient posture now hinges on redundant connectivity, secure-by-design control software, and practices that respect the realities of operational technology (OT) as it converges with information […]

Turning Renewable Data into Actionable Grid Intelligence

Jim Cahill — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:05:10 GMT

Managing power generation is complex even in the best of times, but with an emerging new energy economy, operations have become significantly more difficult. Today, organizations are not just trying to manage many different OEM versions of a single type of generation asset. Instead, they are combining multiple types of generation—solar, wind, battery storage, hydrogen, […]

Mastering Hybrid Generation with Integrated Control

Jim Cahill — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 13:51:37 GMT

Modern society is facing two complex challenges emerging in parallel. On one hand, electrification around the globe is expanding at a mind-blowing rate. AI, personal electronics, electric vehicles, and more have dramatically increased energy consumption, and there seems to be no end in sight. At the same time, calls for a higher percentage of renewable […]

Bringing Order to Distributed Energy Complexity

Jim Cahill — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:05:28 GMT

There is more pressure than ever on power generation companies to increase output, and many organizations are finding that the best way to do so is to find new, nontraditional ways to accomplish increased throughput. As a result, the world is seeing a major shift in the way power is being delivered. The modern power […]

The Shift Reshaping Power Generation and Grid Operations

Jim Cahill — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 13:27:10 GMT

In his recent article in Power magazine, Emerson’s Mike Ames shared that the power industry, historically, hasn’t typically been a source of sweeping changes. However, recent events have changed that trend: “As the steady state behavior in power grid’s generation, transmission and distribution begins to change more rapidly, the next few years are shaping up […]

Harness Existing Wind Assets with Smarter Software

Jim Cahill — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 13:26:44 GMT

Wind power is an incredibly efficient, clean source of energy—and it’s one that has been in use for a very long time. As a result, nearly everywhere around the globe it is possible to see wide open spaces dotted with wind turbines providing electricity to the grid. As more and more power generation companies around […]

Advancing Hydro Operations Through Next-Generation Automation

Jim Cahill — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 13:49:11 GMT

For as little attention as it gets, hydro generation is a surprisingly important part of global power infrastructure. Many of the most critical sites around the world have been in operation for decades, reliably generating energy and supplying water management for communities. In his recent article in Power magazine, Emerson’s Matthew Roberts explores the modern […]

Addressing AI-Driven Power Generation Demand Surge

Jim Cahill — Mon, 15 Dec 2025 14:00:38 GMT

In a POWER Magazine article and podcast, Emerson Addresses Power Industry’s AI-Driven Demand Surge, Emerson’s Seth Harris joins Executive Editor Aaron Larson to discuss these challenges and the role of automation and AI-enabled technologies to help address these challenges.

Successfully Planning and Executing Power Projects

Jim Cahill — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 13:00:22 GMT

Combined cycle plants will play a crucial role in this growth in electricity production. Emerson’s Ovation distributed control system automates 18 of the 20 largest combined cycle plants here in the U.S. Ovation Green automates many other forms of non-hydrocarbon energy sources, including nuclear, wind, solar, hydroelectric, battery, and green hydrogen.

The Sun Rises on New Cybersecurity Demands

Jim Cahill — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 12:07:56 GMT

Solar generation has been around for a very long time. However, until recently, it always made up a very small percentage of global power generation. As a result, solar generation was never really considered critical infrastructure. Today, however, that dynamic is changing, and as Emily Affare explores in her recent article in North American Clean […]

Electric Actuator Smart Field Device Connectivity

Jim Cahill — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 13:00:04 GMT

At the 2025 Ovation Users’ Group Conference, Emerson’s Tom Mullins and Andy Le presented Smart Field Device Connectivity – Electric Actuation.

From Cloud to Control Layer: Making GenAI Work for Power

Jim Cahill — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 12:42:55 GMT

Look around and you’ll very quickly discover just how rapidly the world is changing. Electric vehicles—including those used for mass transportation—seem to be around every corner. People communicate and entertain themselves using a wide array of electronic mobile devices. Data centers are popping up around the globe to power AI engines that are reshaping our […]

Powerful Adaptive Model Predictive Control for Power Plant Efficiency and Reliability

Jim Cahill — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:00:47 GMT

Emerson’s Nikolaos Pratikakis and Michael Painter presented Modernizing Power Plant Control with Aspen DMC3: AI-Enhanced MPC for Efficiency and Reliability at the 2025 Ovation Users’ Group Conference.

Four Foundations for Data-Driven AI

Jim Cahill — Wed, 08 Oct 2025 13:00:28 GMT

Emerson’s Chief Technology Officer Peter Zornio outlines four foundations for advancing industrial automation in the data-driven AI era amid supply chain disruptions and tech evolution.