Energising Smart Grid with Analytics

Mr. Sudipta K. Sen,
Regional Director South-East Asia &
CEO & MD SAS Institute India.

Utilities in all geographies are in the nascent stages of a transformation that will drive through the next decade. They are assessing, planning, and deploying smart grid technologies to modernise their operational and information systems by deploying advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and other electronic communications technologies. This convergence of Information Technologies (IT) and Operational Technologies (OT) will enable the utility to track, analyse, and synchronise their networks to enhance dependability, availability, and efficiency.

India is no exception; lately Government of India has shown keen interest inmodernisingthe Indian power system by leveraging smart grid technologies. On recommendation of India Smart Grid Form (ISGF), Government of India has shortlisted Smart Grid Pilot to 14 distribution utilities. The estimated costs of these 14 pilots are US$ 80millionand aretargeted to complete by 2014.

As the utilities move ahead to implement the pilots, there is a need to facilitate better planning and skill development among the utilities specifically in the areas related to smart grid technologies and business models. With Smart Grid, utilities will be able to keep a closer track of efficiency, consumption patterns and reliability. Smart Grid implementations will produce a large amount of granular data, creating more requirements for people, processes and systems that can handle data and at the same time derive valuable insights from this data stream.Traditionally, a meter reading would have been taken say once or twice a month. With the implementation of Smart Grid, this data collection will take place say every 15-20 minutes. This will surely provide a lot of information about consumption patterns and operational efficiencies however, it will be most crucial to derive insight out of this data. The success of any Smart Grid project will be directly proportional to its ability of deriving meaning out of the large amount of granular data created.This makes Analytics a critical component in any Smart Grid Program.

Smart Grid Analytics is the process of examining raw data from smart grid sensors and devices, other forms of operational data, historical, and business data. With analytics at their fingertips, utility professionals can adopt data-driven decisions that keep the distribution network available and agile. Components of smart grid analytics include advanced load forecasting, data mining, predictive modeling, statistical / reliability analysis, network analytics, network optimisation and in-memory visualisation. ‘Analytics’ makes the Distribution network Predictive, Responsive, Agile and Self-healing for achieving the desired Return on Investment.

Analytics is the central piece that can increase value for all the stakeholders in the Smart Grid initiative:

Utilities :
With Smart Grid Analytics, utilities will be able to efficiently manage demand and hence plan for the supplies accordingly. This will save costs, meet regulatory requirements and improve satisfaction indices. Organisations can capitalise on massive volumes of new data to augment forecasting and quickly adjust to changing conditions.Analytics solutions help forecasting electricity load, which is largely driven by uncontrollable factors such as temperature, humidity, holidays, weekdays, weekends, customer acquisition, infrastructure development, etc. Smart Grid Analytics also helps leverage behavioral analytics to better segment consumers and collect better energy usage information.

Consumers:
Owing to the near real-time insights that smart grid analytics empower the users with, utilities can provide offers that are relevant to consumers and encourage the reduction of wastage by rewarding consumers with rewards such as rebate in rates. Such a consumption and reward mechanism can further improve consumer satisfaction.

Government :
Since utilities can now meet regulatory requirements more efficiently and consumers have a reward towards saving electricity, it will lead to minimal wastage and optimal usage.Optimal usage of electricity essentially means more resources that can be diverted to the rural areas as well and hence plan for inclusive growth. This will surely minimise the challenge of power cuts, as load can be managed for efficiently.

SAS is ranked No. 1 for smart grid analytics and data management/movement in the recently released utility industry report, The Soft Grid 2013-2020: Big Data & Utility Analytics for the Smart Grid, by GTM Research. Energy and utility leaders around the world rely on SAS’ analytics expertise to deliver the effective smart grid solutions for data-driven decision making across the enterprise in deriving maximum value out of their Smart Grid investment.

Modernisation in metering technologies and processes is in a nascent stage and there is a lot of growth expected in the coming years. Smart Grid technologies posts benefits to all stake holders: utilities, consumers and government. However, utilities will face on-going barriers such as managing and analysing the massive volumes of expected data and accurately predicting demand. Needless to say, there are a plethora of opportunities if these barriers can be overcome. And at the vanguard of this opportunity will be the organisations that have the right people, process and technologies to leverage analytics in transforming this vast data-stream into business benefits.

About SAS:
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions, SAS helps customers at more than 65,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know^®.SAS has been in India since 1997. SAS India operations are headquartered in Mumbai with regional offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and Pune. SAS works with organisations across Industries and offers them Analytics & Business Intelligence to fuel innovation and meet their business objectives. Year on year SAS has been leading the Advanced Analytics market in India with majority market share. It has also been awarded as one of the best places to work for by the Great Places to Work institute.

For more Information
SAS India operations
Web: www.sas.com/India