Southern California Edison, NVIDIA launching ‘intelligent grid collaboration’

Southern California Edison (SCE) and NVIDIA have started collaborating on AI-based solutions to address evolving grid challenges.

The ‘intelligent grid collaboration’ is aimed to develop smarter and more affordable solutions for the increasingly complex grid planning and management resulting with the integration of more and more decentralised resources.

Issues on which the two companies have started collaborating include enhancing the interconnection of customer loads, advancing asset and vegetation inspections and maintenance and improving incident management before, during and after major power disruptions, according to the announcement in Edison’s ‘Energised’ publication.

“Our customers are quickly adopting more products that depend on the electric grid,” Shinjini Menon, SCE’s senior vice president of System Planning and Engineering, is quoted as saying.

“They are counting on us to see that the grid is ready to meet their growing energy needs and be reliable, resilient and affordable.”

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Edison’s ‘Reaching net zero’ analysis released in September reports that electricity demand in SCE’s service area is projected to grow 35% faster over the next decade than estimated just two years ago.

Edison, which is committed to reaching net zero by 2045, highlights a key element as effective collaboration among utilities, local, state and federal governments and other stakeholders to meet timely infrastructure deployment to meet the increasing loads.

A second key element is the availability of sufficient affordable carbon-free resources, including both renewables paired with storage and emerging clean firm generation resources, such as next-generation geothermal, that can supply power 24/7 in any weather.

NVIDIA is a long-time collaborator with utilities with technologies such as its Jetson edge AI platform and the Omniverse platform for digital twins.

“We are entering a new era in the energy sector, with AI enabling utilities to transform their operations at all levels, from microsecond-level grid optimisations to macro-scale network planning and modernisation,” Marc Spieler, NVIDIA senior managing director for the energy industry is quoted.

“The convergence of NVIDIA technologies with SCE is paving the way for enhanced efficiency, reliability and sustainability in power grid distribution, helping benefit millions of consumers and accelerating the global transition to smart, resilient energy systems.”

The report suggests that the ‘intelligent grid collaboration’ may serve as a blueprint for other electric utilities as incorporating digitalisation and AI into data management, planning, operations and customer engagement is set to accelerate affordable decarbonisation and electrification.

Pilot project demonstrations are expected within the year.