Logical Data Management for the Energy and Utility Industries
By now, with the most devastating effects of the pandemic behind us, it’s important to remember the key takeaway—there’s no such thing as “business as usual.” As a result, companies have learned that to be able to thrive are those that quickly adapt to sudden, unforeseen changes is essential.
This is especially true for energy and utility companies, as they need to manage the transition to renewable energy sources as well as the political and regulatory effects of this transition. It requires the resilience to shape-shift, while also maintaining productivity and efficiency, and this will challenge the business and operational models of energy and utility companies and shape their technology investments. Compounding these challenges, energy and utility companies are caught between the triple-squeeze of economic pressure, scarce expensive talent, and lingering supply-chain challenges.
COMMENTARY
The Unexpected Lack: Data
The lack of data, or more specifically, the lack of data in a readily accessible format, exactly when it is needed, is one of the fiercest enemies of agility and resilience. This is because formatting or otherwise transforming data takes time. How much time depends on many factors, but if the job becomes a multiple-day project, it probably won’t be fast enough for many business processes, and certainly not for any real-time-data use cases. Most energy and utility companies maintain cloud data platforms that can store high volumes of data in multiple formats, but often struggle to deliver actionable data into the hands of business users, when they need it.
The Missing Link: Logical Data Management
Logical data management platforms offer a way forward, allowing energy and utility companies to access data from any existing data infrastructure, no matter how complex, in real-time, and in the format required by the data consumer.
Logical data management platforms are deployed as a companywide layer, abstracting data consumers from the complexities of accessing individual data sources or performing manual operations. This architecture enables companies to implement powerful, flexible semantic layers above their data sources, without affecting the underlying data. This means companies can provide continuous access to data, even if the underlying data sources are being moved, migrated, or modernized.
As such, these platforms can provide the critical underpinning for the development of virtual power plants (VPPs), which need to continually balance and orchestrate a variety of distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar panels, in-home batteries, and electric vehicles. They can support VPPs with intelligent operations.
Seamless Integration
Logical data management platforms can seamlessly integrate data from smart grids, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and environmental sensors. This enables a unified view of the VPP, including real-time information on energy production, consumption, and storage across the different assets, along with their environmental impacts. They also facilitate the integration of VPP data with that of market platforms, for accurate, timely participation in energy markets.
Logical data management platforms also offer a centralized way to manage and orchestrate distributed energy resources. Supported by such a platform, VPP operators can coordinate the operation of diverse assets, ensuring optimal performance and responsiveness to grid conditions with enhanced visibility. Real-time access to data from distributed energy resources also enables continuous monitoring and control, in turn enabling quick, informed decisions in response to changes in energy demand, pricing, and the environment, including extreme weather events.
Modern Analytics
Similarly, by establishing unified, up-to-date datasets, logical data management platforms support advanced analytics and optimization algorithms, enabling VPP operators to optimize the dispatch of energy resources, balance supply and demand, respond dynamically to market conditions, and gain a granular understanding of energy usage patterns. This information can be used to identify and address inefficiencies, optimize energy distribution, and implement energy-saving measures. By seamlessly consolidating historical and real-time data, they also support predictive analytics, such as the prediction of maintenance activities. This helps to minimize disruptions, ensure the reliability of VPP operations, and plan for sustainable energy production and distribution.
Streamlined Compliance
These platforms aid in regulatory compliance by providing access to transparent, auditable data. With enhanced collaboration via a shared platform with stakeholders, including energy providers, regulatory bodies, and environmental agencies, organizations can promote transparency and encourage further collaboration toward common sustainability goals. They simplify compliance monitoring by aggregating data relevant to environmental regulations. This facilitates accurate reporting, ensuring that the energy and utilities sector adheres to sustainability standards and goals.
The Energy and Utility Companies of the Future Must Employ Best Practices Now
To maintain a leadership position in the energy and utility industry, companies need extreme agility, and logical data management platforms deliver that agility. By enabling real-time access to diverse data sources in the language of the data consumer, these platforms remove a fundamental impediment to innovation and competitive advantage.
—Angel Viña is CEO and founder of Denodo Technologies.