POWER and RE+ Tech Supp September 2022 - 30

RENEWING THE PROMISE OF CLEAN ENERGY
GRID MODERNIZATION
Innovating Grid Resilience from the
Outside In
Operational innovation-creating new ways of performing core business functions
like grid asset management-can provide reliable, relatively low-cost
transformation for electric utilities. One area for utilities that is in dire need of
rapid operational innovation is grid resiliency, and some are seeking innovative
grid hardening help from the outside in.
A
s the growing number and
severity of extreme weather
events make headlines worldwide,
utilities are wisely focused on
grid resiliency. Power outages triggered
by major storms have doubled
in the past 20 years (Figure 1). Experts
at Colorado State University predict
an above average 2022 storm season
with 19 hurricanes, including at least
four with maximum sustained winds
greater than 110 mph.
Ensuring grid resiliency is a societal
and business imperative that includes
hardening transmission and distribution
(T&D) structures, mitigating potential
damage, and helping affected
residents recover quickly. At the same
time, many utilities face shrinking operations
and maintenance budgets,
and see the investment in resiliency as
prohibitive. The industry needs a new
model for achieving and sustaining
structural resiliency that gets results
more quickly, effectively, and affordably.
Smart Asset Management
As a leading operational services provider
for utilities, Osmose has a history
of introducing innovative products,
services, and analytics to harden T&D
structures
for
long-term
resilience.
Osmose recently combined several of
its recent innovations to create Structural
Resiliency as a Service. The new
offering incorporates data collection
methods, predictive analytics, and
advanced hardening methods to help
utilities prioritize, reinforce, or strategically
replace
vulnerable structures
faster and at a lower cost.
Advanced Data Collection. For
deeper risk identification and validation,
OsmoVision is a turnkey data
acquisition and processing solution
that leverages state-of-the-art data
capture and visualization technology
(Figure 2) to improve the accuracy,
consistency, and efficiency of resilience
analysis and modeling, while lowering
cost. Data captured is used to create
and evaluate digital twins of structural
assets to support various engineering
use cases.
Predictive Analytics. Osmolytics is
a unique analytics solution fueled by
the largest repository of utility structure
asset data used to examine the
distribution of a utility's grid structures
by age and risk scenarios, and geospatial
asset views, too. O-Calc Pro is
a structural calculation engine (Figure
3) used to simulate extreme weather
events and to demonstrate which of a
utility's assets may be most at risk. This
is done using asset data and informa1.
On average, U.S. electricity customers experienced just more than eight hours of electric
power interruptions in 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The duration was the most since the EIA began collecting electricity reliability data in 2013.
Courtesy: Osmose
30 Supplement to POWER & RE+ 2022
2. OsmoVision collection incorporates vehicle
or backpack data acquisition and photogrammetry.
Eliminating the need to collect
physical measurements in a field like angles,
span lengths, and heights reduces the
chance for human error and inconsistencies
in pole attribute data. Courtesy: Osmose

POWER and RE+ Tech Supp September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER and RE+ Tech Supp September 2022