Digitize to Decarbonize: Industrial Software’s Role in the Global Energy Transition

The global energy landscape will change more over the next 10 years than in the previous hundred. This energy transition will be a transformation of the world’s energy sector away from fossil-based fuels toward renewable energy sources as we build towards a zero-carbon future. It represents one of the biggest industrial challenges of our time. As we determine which energy sources can most effectively meet our global decarbonization goals, we must not overlook digital transformation. From natural gas to renewables to nuclear energy, digitization is key to orchestrating future energy demands.

Digital will help deliver energy at the right time, in the right place, and at the lowest cost

Digital technologies will be critical in creating a highly interconnected energy system for the future.  These tools will identify who needs energy and deliver it at the right time, in the right place, and at the lowest cost. Real-time data about energy production and consumption at various points in the grid must be accessible and reliable and we need to manage and process all these data flows. This is putting industrial data to work in the energy industry.

As a global leader in Industrial IoT and a pioneer in the electrical grid, GE Digital is driving the digitization of the energy sector, in partnership with some of the world’s largest utilities and energy producers. Over 40% of the electricity created on the planet is touched by our software on its journey from generation to consumption. The impact GE can make through digital improvements to the grid – the world’s largest and most complex machine - is consequential.

GE Digital’s industrial software gives network operators much better visibility into supply and demand by creating models that can forecast weather patterns and determine the precise level of wind and solar generation. Our software is making power-generating assets more efficient and the electric grid more resilient, reducing carbon and costs while increasing energy independence. For example, utilities pay $100 million per year to trim trees and manage other vegetation that threatens to down power lines, spark fires or result in major power outages. Our Visual Intelligence platform helps utilities model a virtual grid to identify the most trouble-prone areas they should target first, reducing costs, while increasing reliability and safety.

Digital helps utility and power generation customers maximize revenue

GE’s gas power business builds the gas turbines that generate 30% of the world’s electricity. Historically, those gas turbines powered giant power plants whose power generation was predictable and stable, which made it easier to balance supply and demand. Today, as more, lower-cost sources of renewable energy feed into the mix– from wind turbines in the middle of the desert, to solar panels on city homes—power generation is distributed but also intermittent. Renewable sources fluctuate, depending on weather, time of year, equipment reliability, etc., creating a choppy mix of energy for a grid designed to handle an uninterrupted flow of power.

That’s where our industrial software provides real value. Our digital solutions provide grid operators with the requisite tools and situational intelligence to recognize developing situations and act quickly and decisively, orchestrating flexibility across the grid for both utility and non-utility resources. Our software helps customers maximize the revenue they get from the power that’s produced, whether it’s from wind, solar or traditional power plants. It can help reduce operations and maintenance costs; improve power plant and network efficiency; reduce unplanned outages and downtime; and extend the operational lifetime of assets.

Looking Ahead

As I mentioned above, our industrial software touches 40% of electricity created on the planet on its journey from generation to consumption.  As we work with our customers to handle a broader mix of energy sources, we’re helping them achieve their decarbonization goals faster and more efficiently. We will continue the hard work towards the dual goals of decarbonization and digitization to transform our energy system into a more sustainable future for all of us.