pwr_february-2024 - 17

DATA UTILIZATION
" Data is key for predicting the availability
of variable renewable energy
sources such as solar and wind, which
in turn allows for better planning of energy
production, " said McConnell. " Data
is critical when assessing weather patterns
for example; renewable energy
operators want to understand if there's
going to be a significant amount of wind
or what cloud coverage looks like in regard
to forecasted solar production. Data
also helps guide the optimal use of batteries
and other energy storage systems
to ensure that renewable energy is used
more effectively. "
McConnell noted the use of machine
learning (ML) and AI also is expected to
grow in the electric power sector. " Machine
learning and artificial intelligence
systems can also be leveraged to increase
the precision and effectiveness of
forecasted renewable energy resource
availability outlooks, and these complex
systems require data to generate predictive
output results, " he said.
McConnell told POWER, " A decentralized
approach allows distribution network
participants to both use energy and
produce it themselves to feed it back
into the grid, or to, in some cases, even
operate their own small microgrids. This
approach contributes to an overall more
flexible bulk electric system and also
helps reduce reliance on large, centralized
power plants. For example, when
considering power plant outage scenarios,
it can be advantageous to have
distributed energy resources that can
quickly and efficiently ramp up if a large
power plant goes offline, supporting the
load that would normally be served by
the large power plant. "
Regulatory Environment
McConnell said data's value also is enhanced
as energy systems come under
more federal, state, and local regulation.
" Data is essential for regulatory compliance
purposes, " he said. " Examples of
this could be records an owner or operator
is required to keep in order to prove
they meet the NERC-CIP [North American
Electric Reliability Corp.-Critical Infrastructure
Protection] standards that
are applicable to their facility type and
impact level, or ongoing data recording
required to meet specific jurisdictional
ISO [International Organization for Standardization]
requirements. Compliance
data requirements vary depending on a
variety of different factors and it's important
for power generation asset owners
and operators to remain up to date with
February 2024 | POWER
the latest requirements, making sure
they are keeping the appropriate data to
support regulatory compliance efforts in
their organization. "
Beauchamp, whose company supports
the power generation industry
worldwide, said maintenance of the
power grid will rely even more on data
collection due to the impacts of extreme
weather. " In North America, because of
ergy systems is imperative if we are to
achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement
and progress towards 'Net Zero.' Currently,
only a minority of our electricity
is supplied by renewables, but demand
in the European Union is set to increase
by 50% by 2050. Geopolitical crises such
as the war in Ukraine have heightened
the urgency of the energy transition,
pushing investors and governments to
" Machine learning and artificial intelligence
systems can also be leveraged to
increase the precision and effectiveness of
forecasted renewable energy resource availability
outlooks, and these complex systems
require data to generate predictive output
results. "
-Julian McConnell, Director of Owner's
Engineering at Bureau Veritas
the wide diversity of its geography with
large, less densely populated territories,
most of the distribution grid is overhead
and exposed to extreme weather
events, " said Beauchamp. " As these extreme
weather events become more frequent,
it is especially important to fortify
the electric grid. In fact, the White House
recently announced the largest-ever investment
in America's electric grid to
help U.S. utilities accelerate these types
of weather-hardening projects. "
Beauchamp said that advanced selfhealing
smart grid technologies utilize
real-time data to help utilities reduce the
duration and impact of sustained power
outages. " These types of data-driven enhancements
provide utilities the world
over with the valuable insights, reviewable
event data, and the automation
needed to enable more efficient operations,
prevent costly failures, and reduce
downtime. For example, feeder automation
software precisely monitors fault
location data to perform isolation and
service restoration, " said Beauchamp.
" This technology helps utilities automatically
reconfigure or 'heal' the grid
by detecting, isolating, and rerouting
power-turning sustained outages into
momentary ones. "
Mathias Burghardt, member of the
executive committee and head of Infrastructure
for Ardian, a France-based global
investment group that works in the
energy industry, in a recent report said,
" Harnessing the data potential of our enwww.powermag.com
seek
solutions to provide citizens and
businesses with clean, affordable, and
secure energy. "
Burghardt explained, " Only by adopting
a digital strategy and harnessing the
potential of data can energy systems
overcome the challenges between production,
transmission, distribution, and
consumption, "
and
said
" digitization
should be at the heart " of any discussions
about investments in clean energy.
" To enable such investments, regulatory
changes will also need to be encouraged
to promote innovation, " Burghardt said.
Schurr agreed, and said data collection
is key for power generators as they
navigate the energy transition. " The
growing challenge for electric utilities
is to manage three objectives concurrently:
reliable power, affordable prices,
and decarbonized energy supply, " he
said. " Decentralized power generation
must be better integrated into distribution
planning and operations so that the
advantages of dispatchable local supply,
including bringing more renewables online
and providing power closer to the
point of use, can be exploited by utilities
for the benefit of all customers. To
achieve this integration, real-time communications
are needed, but data about
these distributed assets' current state
and potential operation can feed supply
and delivery planning models and reduce
the cost to meet reliability standards. " ■
-Darrell Proctor is a senior associate
editor for POWER.
17
http://www.powermag.com
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