Managing the Changing Energy Mix

 The power industry has been in a state of transition for many years as more and more intermittent, renewable sources of energy come onto the grid. In a LinkedIn article, The Future of Power: How We Evolve “Current-Gen” Technology, Emerson’s Power & Water business president Bob Yeager describes how to manage through this transition. Bob opens:

The power industry is certainly at a transition point, most notably driven by the urgent call to stop climate change. It’s also facing a number of challenges that are disrupting business as usual – and creating new opportunities. Figuring out the path forward is complex. While some companies are looking at bright and shiny “next generation” technologies to transform their business, others are taking a more pragmatic approach that relies on expert, built-for-purpose solutions that leverage decades of operational technology and embedded process knowledge and foundational investments.

He shares how to evolve through this transition.

Just as the power industry must balance renewables with traditional energy sources to maintain a stable grid, it also must balance the push for decarbonization and other changes with field-proven technologies that are flexible and adaptive to allow for incremental updates. These technologies are more than lines of code; they are built-for-purpose software programs that include embedded industry and process knowledge.

A good example is interoperable software that collects and contextualizes massive amounts of data generated by a variety of assets and provides actionable insights on what equipment needs to be fixed or how to optimize the operation – again, based on decades of power industry knowledge. Providing clear operational visibility across the full power value chain is what will give customers a sustainable competitive advantage during this complicated transition.

He cites technologies that will play a role in this transition including cyber analytics for enhanced cybersecurity, multi-asset & multi-vendor SCADA & enterprise software, a single control & automation platform such as the Ovation software & automation platform, software for complex operations—energy trading, load shedding, virtual plant management, cloud computing based asset management, remote operations & maintenance for fleet-wide management, and advanced simulation & control for predictive & AI-driven operational decision making.

Read the article for more on these technologies and ways to successfully navigate through this energy transition. Visit the Ovation platform section on Emerson.com for more on the technologies and solutions to drive safe, reliable and efficient operations.

The post Managing the Changing Energy Mix appeared first on the Emerson Automation Experts blog.