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The huge Chicago-based energy company Exelon generates enough electricity to supply millions of customers in 48 states and parts of Canada. Its wind and solar farms, hydroelectric plants and nuclear power stations also pump out a lot of valuable data. In 2015, the company started gathering information about wind speeds, swings in consumer demand, the purpose and frequency of repair crew trips, and other valuable details. It pooled this data in the cloud and started trawling it for insights to make its power plants smarter.
Exelon is now getting a bigger net. The power company’s utilities division just signed a deal with GE Power to sift the data with Predix, GE’s software platform for the Industrial Internet. “Predix is going to dip into the data lake and make the most use of it by pulling out the most helpful data,” says Andy Gay, the Exelon program manager for GE Power.
A good place to start is with reducing the cost of maintenance throughout the power grid. Predix can evaluate historical information and current performance to recommend when parts need to be fixed or replaced. By only taking equipment out of commission when it needs work, instead of on a regular maintenance schedule, Exelon can avoid costly downtime and reduce maintenance costs. Starting in 2019, the Predix system will be able to make recommendations about the millions of devices — transformers and circuit breakers, for example — throughout the grid.
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Chicago-based energy company Exelon generates enough electricity to supply millions of customers in 48 states and parts of Canada. Its assets also pump out tons of valuable data. The company just signed a deal with GE Power to use GE’s Predix software solutions to crunch that data, helping it reduce downtime due to maintenance, better prepare for storms, and keep the grid humming when renewable energy sources like solar and wind power waver. Above image credit: Getty Images.
Using proprietary algorithms, Predix also will allow Exelon to better prepare for storms and other natural disasters that lead to power outages. Using data from previous storms, such as wind speeds, information about trees and other vegetation in the area, and maintenance records, Predix can identify probable trouble spots and what will be needed to bring those areas online again. The idea is that customers will get their electricity back faster. “Instead of waiting to see where the outages are, they’ll be able to get crews and equipment in place before a storm hits,” Gay says.
Predix also will help sustain optimal output as more renewable energy is added to the grid. Energy grids need to maintain a delicate balance of supply and demand or risk shutting down. Renewables make it especially hard to keep that balance because the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, making supply uncertain. The system will help the utility to predict demand and also run in the most optimal way the gas-fired power plants that must pick up the slack when renewables falter.
The seven-year program will start by looking at five major categories: network connectivity, asset health, outage prediction, storm response and outage history. Exelon has the opportunity to add 13 other electricity grid analytics over time. “At the beginning, there’s going to be a massive training push,” Gay says. “But once they get used to the system, they’re going to be able to develop their own (algorithms) to perform tasks that haven’t been thought of yet.”
