The Energy Transition is the Grid’s Greatest Challenge

Here’s how AEMS provides a foundation for change.  

Renewable energy production looks set to accelerate this year. Emerging technologies, public concern around climate change, and new sustainability incentives are all driving the push towards a clean energy future.

At the heart of this transition, grid operators are bracing for both opportunity and disruption. The switch to renewables will open up new revenue streams, but it will also create an energy environment that’s less predictable and more complex to manage.

To make this transition successful, modernization is essential. Which is where GE Digital’s Advanced Energy Management System (AEMS) come in. GE's AEMS can help you transform how you collect, analyze, and extract value from your data — so you can successfully navigate the electric grid’s greatest challenge. 

Throwing unpredictability into the mix: the great renewables challenge

As the modern grid integrates with a growing network of renewable energy sources, complexity increases in a number of ways:

• Supply and demand: Intermittent renewable energy sources make it harder to balance supply and demand in real time. This can lead to introducing overly conservative limits, and a general trend of operating reactively instead of proactively.

• Accurate forecasting: The unpredictable nature of renewables also makes it tougher to plan, anticipate risk, and maintain grid stability.

• Detecting anomalies: A lack of real-time data on renewable energy sources means that anomalies can be missed, potentially leading to sudden and highly disruptive blackouts.

• Extreme weather events: In recent years, transmission utilities are facing more and more disruption caused by extreme weather conditions leading to increased wildfires, and new records for low and high temperatures across the globe

Against this backdrop of complexity, you need a clear and comprehensive view of your data. Only then can you work with greater agility, forecast with increasing accuracy, and minimize the potential for disruption.

Rise to the renewables challenge with AEMS

With GE’s AEMS, you can overcome the challenges outlined above and master how you manage renewables. Specifically, AEMS integrates a powerful set of Digital Grid applications into a single solution (including EMS, WAMS, Renewables and Analytics), and gives you complete control and visibility of your network.

Balance generation, storage and load

Renewable energy production is inherently unpredictable. AEMS puts you back in control by helping you anticipate energy balance requirements. In turn, this gives you the freedom to plan and manage network capacity far more effectively.

Gain increased visibility across your grid

AEMS provides a real-time and look-ahead view of the grid, all in one place. In the context of renewable integration, this gives you the ability to constantly optimize your assets and systems within a complex energy environment.

Prevent potential blackouts

An increasing reliance on renewables means less system inertia to support the grid during generation losses. GE Inertia Monitoring and Forecasting advanced monitoring capabilities allows you to detect potential blackouts before they happen, so major disruptions can be safely mitigated.

Dealing with extreme weather events

GE’s Realtime Shutdown & Restoration Manager (RTSRM) has been conceived to minimize the impacts of planned & un-planned outages and accelerate the restoration time of disconnected assets. With RTSRM, transmission utilities can quickly assess, react and reduce the impacts caused by weather events increasing grid resiliency and electricity continuity.

Increase your visibility with new sensors

Many utilities have deployed PMUs as part of incentive plans and R&D initiatives. GE AEMS now comes integrated with Linear State Estimation that can provide real-time grid awareness using synchrophasors. With GE Linear State Estimator, utilities now have a powerful solution for grid awareness that can provide an extra layer of resilience to traditional RTU based State Estimator.

Ready to accelerate your renewables journey?

GE’s AEMS has arrived to assist grid operators successfully navigate their renewables journey and become more agile, fast-moving organizations. GE’s AEMS is designed to help the modern grid overcome multiple challenges, including complex digital transformation efforts.