pwr_february-2025 - 37

OUTAGE MANAGEMENT
able to pre-emptively do so to avoid an
outage altogether. "
Eyford noted, though, that " Sensors
and communications are now standard
on most modern grid equipment,
but traditional utility systems were designed
well before these technologies
were envisioned. Software upgrades
are needed to model, monitor, and manage
them effectively. "
Eyford told POWER: " There is a great
deal of data available to help determine
outage locations, both from utility systems
as well as from external sources.
For larger outages, the utility's SCADA
system and other telemetered devices
will immediately inform grid operators
that a problem has occurred, but for
outages affecting a smaller area, technologies
such as advanced metering
infrastructure can provide near-real-time
notifications that customers have experienced
a power outage.
" Where utilities haven't yet deAMI
[advanced metering
ployed
infrastructure], or in cases where communications
to those meters is not fully
reliable, they are still largely dependent
on affected customers reporting their
outage themselves, typically by calling
the utility's outage reporting hotline or
submitting their information via the utility's
website or smartphone app. They
may also receive information directly
from 911 dispatchers or emergency
service personnel, especially if public
safety concerns are present such
as a car-hit pole or a downed power
line. As artificial intelligence and largelanguage
models such as ChatGPT become
more widely available, utilities
are increasingly looking to AI to analyze
social media data to help identify affected
customers and safety issues as
well as non-customer locations such as
streetlights and traffic signals. "
Matt Smith, who leads the global business
and product strategy for the grid
management business at Itron, a global
group helping utilities develop innovative
solutions for their operations, told POWER:
" A structured DI [distributed intelligence]
system continuously monitors the
performance of both hardware and software,
enhancing grid reliability by identifying
potential weaknesses or components
under strain due to increased demand
or environmental factors. By leveraging
predictive analytics, utilities can anticipate
when equipment is likely to fail and
schedule timely updates or replacements
before failures occur, preventing costly
downtime and ensuring grid reliability.
The approach not only maintains system
stability but also supports long-term resilience
as the grid evolves. "
Smith said model predictive control, or
MPC, " can impact grid reliability by predicting
energy demand and leveraging the
use of EV energy storage to prevent potential
overloads. Additionally, by integrating
advanced weather forecasts, MPC
can also prepare the grid for incoming
extreme weather events. MPC can also
isolate potential faults and reroute power
before disasters strike, thus minimizing
outages and maintaining grid stability.
This combination of demand prediction
and weather integration preparation helps
ensure that the grid remains resilient during
high-stress periods. "
Terry Saunders, Worldwide Utilities
and Industry leader at IBM, said: " Model
predictive control can optimize asset
health and predict failures while extending
the useful life of assets through
a strategy that
prioritizes repairs and
6. Smart meters are being used by more
utilities as a way to gather data, with a goal to
improve power delivery and efficiency-along
with automating collection of outage information.
Courtesy: PxHere
February 2025 | POWER
replacements. Conditional-based predictive
maintenance based on health
insights from operational data and analytics
helps you put your asset data to
work. One example of this could be software
that helps you understand the status
of critical equipment and assets with
insights from data and analytics to help
make smarter decisions. "
Saunders noted, " Utilities rely on inspections
to understand current asset
condition and need for maintenance.
Many assets are geographically disbursed
throughout the service territory
making physical inspections time-consuming
and expensive. With aging critical
assets, more frequent inspections
are warranted ... however, there are
fewer people available to conduct these
inspections with ongoing retirements
and a transitioning workforce. "
Saunders said IBM's Maximo Application
Suite, or MAS, " helps support condition
monitoring to trigger warnings or
www.powermag.com
7. Mapping technology that enables data collection
from transmission assets is important
to help utilities and grid operators take steps
to mitigate or avoid power disruptions. Courtesy:
Neara
immediate actions. Capabilities such as
Monitor, Health, and Predict provide an
enterprise view of asset health, helping organizations
identify anomalies and justified
maintenance, " which can help prevent outages
and enhance power reliability.
Resource Management During
Outages
Torus is building technology that Walkingshaw
said takes
" a multi-layered
approach to resource management during
outages. Our hybrid energy storage
systems, combining flywheel technology
with traditional batteries, provide us
unique flexibility in responding to outages
of varying sizes and durations. For
shorter-duration events, our Nova Spin
flywheel system can respond within milliseconds
to maintain frequency stability,
while our chemical battery systems handle
longer-duration support needs. Our
resource allocation is driven by real-time
data analytics that help optimize deployment
of both technological and human
resources based on the specific characteristics
of each event. "
Walkingshaw said his company has
developed " an integrated approach to
outage management that combines realtime
monitoring with predictive analytics.
Our outage management system, built
in-house, excels at managing distributed
energy resources and hybrid storage
solutions. This approach has proven especially
valuable in coordinating nearly 1
GWh of facility-managed power across
60-plus projects in 2024 alone, while
responding to more than 120 unplanned
demand response events. The system's
architecture emphasizes cybersecurity
and integration with existing SCADA infrastructure,
enabling rapid response to
potential outages before they cascade
through the network. "
Utility executives for years have said
customers want a better understanding
of how long their power will be out, along
37
http://www.powermag.com
pwr_february-2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of pwr_february-2025
