Smart Grid Optimization: The Next Wave?

Over on our Smart Grid Optimization Channel, we define optimization as “making a system as good as possible.” Though the concept is dead simple, the practice is complex because it involves multiple variables and tradeoffs.

Here are four things helping to make optimization more realistic today than even two years ago:

1.     In the last few years, multi-core processors have given computers the raw power to crunch extremely complex models in near real time.

2.     Most utility professionals think smart grid optimization is more important than smart meters or consumer empowerment.

3.     Now that money from the smart grid grants is starting to flow, more and more utilities will have a communications infrastructure in place, onto which they can graft distribution automation applications.

4.     All those new smart meters are starting to flood utilities with data -- data that can be analyzed intelligently to improve the system.

5.     A number of companies are starting to offer interesting new Smart Grid optimization applications.

GRIDiant Want to Be the Brains of the Smart Grid

One of the most intriguing young companies is GRIDiant, which is relaunching itself at this week's DistribuTECH conference. Formerly known as Optimal Technologies, it has a new name, a new CEO and a new war chest. It is also putting together a collection of Smart Grid management tools and optimization applications.

At DistribuTECH the company will launch three new or updated products, and give a sneak preview of a half-dozen more. Here now are:

·         GRIDRecords, a data warehouse for combining information from GIS, SCADA, AMI and other sources

·         GRIDView, a multipurpose dashboard for real-time operations, load analysis and planning

·         GRIDFast, a unique optimization engine that contains GRIDiant’s secret sauce

On the way are additional applications in planning, analysis and situational awareness.

GRIDiant’s Secret Sauce

Other companies offer similar management applications (though few roadmaps are as comprehensive and ambitious). But GRIDiant claims its proprietary engine is many times faster than other methods, allowing them to get answers in near real time.

For those of you with engineering degrees, the firm describes its technique as "non-linear optimization." Traditional tools optimize for only one goal at a time, but the GRIDfast engine can handle multiple objectives at once. I’ve been tracking this company for at least six years, and I know that it has achieved some remarkable results in pilots and demonstrations. If you want to drill down, visit the GRIDiant Technical Differentiators page.

Other Optimization Contenders

Several other companies bear watching, even though not all of them use the “optimization” moniker. (Use the Comment form below to nominate others.)

·         Ambient, BPL Global and Current are amassing interesting collections of Smart Grid applications. (Ironically, all three began life as vendors of broadband over powerline.)

·         Advanced Control Systems is in the mix.

·         S&C Electric has been doing interesting stuff for years, including some terrific "self-healing" technology.

·         Oracle talks about optimization.

·         At the control center level, Lockheed Martin is breaking some new ground in integrated dashboards.

If you are trying to pick winners, be sure to look at each company’s go-to-market strategy. As the grid optimization wars heat up, victories will come not just from what companies sell, but how they sell it and who helps them. GRIDiant has teamed with IBM for systems integration, KEMA for power system engineering and Teradata for data warehousing.

I believe we are in the early days of an “optimization explosion” that will revolutionize how electric power networks are planned and operated. We’ve just begun to understand how computers can help manage and automate extremely complex systems in real time.

Use the Comment form below to tell us your prediction for this emerging category.

You might also be interested in …

Smart Grid market growth:
Gaps Remain Say Utility Professionals

Smart Grid grants:
IRS Says It Won't  Tax Smart Grid Stimulus Grants

Smart Grid command and control:
Sophisticated Command and Control Comes to Smart Grid

Smart Grid data management:
High Performance in Data Management Webinar Videos and Presentations

Smart Grid optimization:
GRIDiant Technical Differentiators

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