Hidden Data Trapped in the Low Voltage Grid to be Revealed by New Partnership
A new partnership between Norwegian technology company, Greenbird IT and French data analytics company, Odit-e will enable utility companies to access previously hidden information from the Low Voltage grid.
Greenbird’s Utilihive Digital Integration Hub accelerates data integrations, giving Odit-e faster and more comprehensive access to data from the Low Voltage network. Odit-e’s specialized data analytic services can then give utility companies accurate models and predictions. This enables utilities to increase reliability at the Low Voltage level, reducing operational costs and non-technical losses while improving asset management, planning and customer experience.
“We are excited to combine the best of Odit-e and Greenbird to help utilities gain insights into low voltage grid complexity through advanced digital solutions,” said Kent Narvhus Oksdøl, SVP Strategy and Alliances. “Removing integration off the critical path for our partners will help them focus on utility innovation through analytics.”
Odit-e was founded by a group of electrical distribution experts from Schneider and research academics from the highly respected group of engineering schools, Grenoble-INP.
They shared a vision for the potential that data from the Low Voltage grid could offer and a concept for solutions that would unlock this data.
Between them, Odit-e’s founders had 40 years’ experience in public distribution markets and six years of combined experience in network modelling. The founders brought their skills together to develop innovative solutions for distribution network operators facing challenges working with the Low Voltage grid.
Odit-e joins Greenbird’s growing Utilihive ecosystem of partners. The ecosystem is a collaboration of highly expert, specialized enterprises servicing utility companies. This expertise can be delivered faster by integrating with Greenbird’s Utilihive platform, fast-tracking data services and innovation to utility companies.
Hidden data in the Low Voltage grid
The energy sector is undergoing a period of enormous change. Part of this change is being driven by innovation coming from the grid edge with electric vehicle charging, DER systems, microgrids and Smart Meters all relying on the Low Voltage grid. Frustratingly, this part of the network usually has the least visibility of the DSO’s network. Data from this part of the grid, including from Smart Meters is a largely untapped resource. Insights that utilities could be gathering from the Low Voltage grid about the way and the quality of the energy flow in the network are being missed. In addition, operating and maintenance costs are significantly increased. For example, fault location and resolution are directly affected by this lack of information, with average recovery time after faults taking four hours.
Low Voltage networks account for 60% of a utility’s fixed assets and absorb 50% of a utility’s operational costs. Expenditure is currently based on theoretical criteria with large margins of error. With more accurate information, 30% of utilities’ investment in the Low Voltage grid could be saved. In addition, the averaged €7 wasted every year, from every meter, due to non-technical losses could be avoided with increased visibility into the Low Voltage grid.
The lack of visibility into the Low Voltage grid translates directly to extra expense for utility companies and frustration to both to the utility and the customer who experience lower service quality as a result. The collaboration between Greenbird and Odit-e will lead to reduced costs to the utilities and improved services for utility customers.
“This new partnership with Greenbird Integration Technology is a great opportunity to accelerate the integration of our expert softwares in utility companies. It provides turnkey solutions which bring data driven practices in Low Voltage operations,” said Philippe Deschamps, CEO of Odit-e.
Utilihive Digital Integration Hub: At the Center of an Ecosystem
The challenge faced by startups and established utilities alike is access to data. Often this is locked in legacy systems, such as data from smart metering, intelligent electronic devices (IED) and geospatial information (GIS). Organizations can find legacy system data challenging to access and integrate. In addition, traditional legacy systems are not designed to handle the increased volume and speed of data exchange required for these new intelligent grid analytics and machine learning applications.
Greenbird’s Utilihive platform offers a solution to these challenges by delivering prebuilt support for integration to legacy systems that handle data from IoT devices, smart meters, and other traditional enterprise data.
About:
Greenbird offers out-of-the-box system integration for Digital Utilities. Its services are delivered in a SaaS model enabling integration of software operating smart meters and smart grids. Greenbird is based in Oslo, Norway
Odit-e uses advanced data analytics and innovative algorithms to give highly accurate predictions of the behaviour of Low Voltage grid networks. Odit-e’s modelling covers four areas: precise cartography for topology retrieval and GIS correction, observability through state estimation for daily operation, impact prediction for PV/EV integration, and Non-technical losses location and quantification. Odit-e is based in Meylan, France and Barcelona, Spain
For more information:
Frederik ten Sythoff
Greenbird Integration Technology
Storgata 1, 0155 Oslo, Norway
info@greenbird.com
