Utilities to advise on AI and advanced computing for the smart grid
Energy software provider Utilidata has launched an industry advisory board to guide the development and deployment of grid edge software solutions.
Founding members of the advisory board include executives from American Electric Power, Duquesne Light Company, Holy Cross Energy, PPL and Silicon Valley Clean Energy as well as solar PV supplier Sunrun.
A key focus of the board, which was formed with the technology company Nvidia, is the development of the companies’ smart grid chip currently under way.
“The electric grid is the backbone of our economy and we are placing increasing demands upon it as we work to electrify everything and combat climate change,” said Josh Brumberger, CEO of Utilidata.
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“The grid needs and deserves the world’s best technologies and the adoption of business models and regulatory processes that accelerate the pace of change. We look forward to working together to explore how our technologies can cost-effectively decarbonise the grid, deliver exponential value and give customers more choice.”
The smart grid chip combines Utilidata’s machine learning software for grid operations with the NVIDIA Jetson edge AI platform and AI Enterprise software suite. Its aim is to leverage real time data from smart meters and other grid devices to detect anomalies that are precursors to system failures, optimise grid operations and integrate more distributed energy resources onto the system.
It will also serve as a platform for other technology companies to deploy their own grid edge applications.
Manuvir Das, Vice President of Enterprise Computing at NVIDIA, adds that edge computing and AI will accelerate the ability for the traditional electric grid to handle distributed and modern renewable energy resources.
“We’re working to create an AI-powered platform that utilities, solar providers and electric vehicle companies can use to make the energy grid more resilient, reliable and secure.”
Members will continue to be added to the advisory board, which will explore how best to leverage data and advanced grid edge processing across a variety of use cases, including distributed resource integration, climate resiliency and open data.
Participating utilities have committed to pilot the smart grid chip and potentially incorporate the technology into AMI and grid edge hardware business cases.
