Tech giant Microsoft has joined with Norwegian companies Adger Energi and Powel for the development of a pilot grid project.
The project will equip the grid for greater renewable integration with a smart grid solution developed by leveraging intelligent technology.
Microsoft’s technologies including Azure intelligent cloud, Power BI and Azure IoT Hub will be combined with Powel’s expertise to develop tools for Adge Energi.
The tools will enable the Norway-based power company to enhance the dispatch of new energy resources and device controls and predictive forecasting for near-future preparedness.
Agder Energi CEO Tom Nysted said “At Agder Energi we want to use new technology to make the power grid more efficient, more predictable and more flexible. We will go from being energy generators to energy partners, with a more active role for our customers.
“Together with our partners at Microsoft and Powel, we will use innovation to solve the challenges facing the grid.”
With this pilot project, the collaboration claims to demonstrate how transmission companies can implement intelligent cloud-based smart grid solutions to realise a range of energy and sustainability benefits.
Powel CEO Bård Benum said: “We are applying our strong domain expertise and acting as the integration and forecasting partner in this project to seamlessly integrate Agder’s SCADA to the Azure IoT Hub, provide demand forecasts, and production forecasts for wind and solar in the region.”
The pilot project will be operated at one of Adger Energi’s substation which operates at 120% of its capacity for a number of times throughout a year.
The cloud-based technology supporting the grid can help the operators at the plant in predicting peak hour demand and bring in distributed resources to reduce the demand on the substation.
Based on the pilot project results, the collaboration expect to enable automatic balancing of renewable energy and peak load control in near real time. .
Microsoft Corporate IoT business development vice president Kevin Dallas said: “Renewable energy resources and advancements in intelligent cloud technology are driving a digital transformation of grid operations to explore new business models.
“Enabling solutions like Agder’s will accelerate widespread renewable and distributed power generation. It’s a bright future for the utility industry and for a sustainable world.”
