To succeed in a renewable energy future, utilities need to embrace grid orchestration software. Here’s where to start.

Investments in renewables and distributed energy resources (DERs) are booming right now. In 2022 alone, global renewable energy capacity rose by 10%.

But as the shift away from fossil fuels accelerates, utility leaders are under mounting pressure to modernize their infrastructure — and find ways to thrive in a sustainable energy future. And the truth is, traditional grid management is far from an ideal way to navigate this process.

We discussed why that’s the case in a recent blog — and explained why grid orchestration is an essential next step in the energy transition.

In this blog, we share some concrete next steps for utility leaders. Read on to learn how you can equip your teams with the tools needed to orchestrate renewables across the grid — and succeed in a new era of energy.  

Following a summer of wildfires and record-breaking global temperatures, calls for increased renewable investments are growing louder by the day.

And investment is coming from all sectors.

In July 2023, the Biden Administration announced it was investing $20 billion to help finance clean energy projects and reduce pollution across the US. Private investment in renewables is also soaring as organizations seek to showcase sustainability credentials and meet regulatory requirements.

In terms of the real-world impact, these investments will contribute to an energy landscape that’s projected to radically change in the next few years:

• Renewables are set to account for over 90% of global electricity expansion, overtaking coal to become the largest source of global electricity by early 2025.

• Between 2022 and 2027, world renewable capacity is expected to increase by almost 2400 GW. That’s equivalent to the entire power-generating capacity of China today.

To keep pace with this rate of change, utilities will need the ability to proactively orchestrate a power network comprising millions of energy sources — large and small, from wind and solar farms to EVs, hydropower, and bioenergy plants.

In order to accommodate increasing renewables and DER penetration and drive your energy transition strategy forward, the way you manage the grid must change.

As a utility leader, here are some steps you can take to drive your organization toward grid orchestration:

1. Put an emphasis on collaboration.                                                

To succeed in a sustainable energy future, collaboration is essential. As a utility leader, look for opportunities to share knowledge and address concerns with policymakers, industry partners, vendor forums, peer utilities, and communities. Working together is a critical part of overcoming complex grid challenges — nobody can solve them alone.

2. Prepare for change; don’t just react to it.

The challenges of the energy transition require detailed and proactive planning — and there are steps that you can take right now.  For instance, by setting up a clear enrolment process for DER growth within your service territory, you can start recording data about every single new asset connected to your network— rather than dealing with the unpleasant surprise of a huge DER backlog years later. In addition, you should augment your existing systems with DER monitoring capabilities as early as possible. This will enable you to harvest historical data that will eventually, with a little help from AI, reveal crucial insights as to how DERs and the larger grid behave under a variety of conditions.

3. Equip your people with the right tools with grid orchestration software.

Navigating the energy transition requires a truly coordinated effort. But that’s not possible if you’re trying to manage your grid ecosystem through siloed systems and teams. Instead, all your departments should have the ability to visualize and react to disruptions in one place and in real time. Grid orchestration makes that possible.

At GE Vernova Digital our grid software solutions can help utilities orchestrate a more resilient, flexible, and sustainable energy grid — while minimizing complexity along the way. 

DERMS (Distributed Energy Resources Management System):

Our Distributed Energy Resources Management System platform gives you a complete, end-to-end view of your DER environment. With this centralized approach, you can predict potential disruptions, increase your situational awareness, run simulations to measure how DERs impact your operation now and in the coming hours, and automatically generate optimum DER dispatch plans that avert any upcoming violations.

AEMS (Advanced Energy Management System):

With AEMS for transmission operations, utilities can analyze the grid and the renewable energy sources supplying it via one easy-to-understand interface. The solution also provides valuable real-time insights, such as identifying potential risks like low inertia and recommending remedial actions. It can also forecast renewable energy generation to help you prepare in advance for shortfalls and surpluses to securely balance the grid.

ADMS (Advanced Distribution Management System):

Grid operators have traditionally relied on SCADA systems to monitor their distribution networks.  But as those networks grow, their needs quickly outpace the capabilities of SCADA. Our Advanced Distribution Management System, compatible with DERMS, offers a single view of your distribution network and management capabilities far beyond the confines of SCADA, so you have the situational intelligence needed to manage your distribution grid in a truly orchestrated manner.

 The energy transition represents the most challenging moment in the history of the grid. But it’s also a time of immense opportunity. At GE Vernova Digital, we’re helping utilities prepare for that future — so they’re ready to orchestrate a truly flexible sustainable energy grid.