Navigating the Grid: Challenges in Grid Modernization
Sat, 10 Feb 2024 04:57:37 -0000
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The electric grid is transforming. The traditional grid consisted of electricity generation concentrated at one location, transmitted over long distances, and distributed to consumers. In recent years, with growing share of renewable power generation and the increasing electricity demands by electric vehicles (EVs), we have witnessed the grid evolve from being unidirectional, static, and passive to becoming multidirectional, dynamic, and active. Therefore, electric utilities are exploring ways to modernize their substations to support the exponential growth of EVs and renewables.
Grid transformation has its challenges:
- Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) management for system reliability
- EV charging and energy storage, distribution, and management
- Interconnection of varied devices, applications, and systems
- Incompatibility of existing legacy systems with modern systems
- Cybersecurity, data, and asset security
Substation modernization challenges can usually be categorized into three main categories: CapEx, Resources, and Time.
CapEx: Justifying the investments
Resources: Right skill set and training
Time: Regulatory approvals and deployment process
Grid modernization demands efficient orchestration of edge workloads for real-time decision making in energy distribution. This shift to edge computing offers a disruptive opportunity, enhancing grid reliability and unlocking data-driven insights.
The future substation platform will serve as a communication hub, seamlessly orchestrating smart devices and applications, and redefining the energy landscape for a resilient and intelligent power grid.
Dell offers a wide range of software choices for various applications and IoT technologies, providing great flexibility. Dell solutions are fully compatible with all the communication protocols used in modern substations. The platform has built-in cybersecurity features, ensuring secure device onboarding and zero-touch functionality. The platform also offers mission-critical monitoring and control, which helps organizations easily comply with regulatory requirements.
Dell is partnering with electric utilities to help consolidate their IT assets, secure energy infrastructure, and build a sustainable world for future generations.
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Empowering the Future: Understanding, Motivating, and Achieving Electric Grid Modernization
Tue, 31 Oct 2023 13:57:00 -0000
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The electrical grid is a critical infrastructure of our society that delivers reliable electricity to homes, businesses, and industries. Many challenges are posing threats to grid reliability, including:
- The infusion of an ever-increasing volume of Distributed Energy Resources (DER).
- The surge in Electric (Vehicle (EV) adoption and demand for electricity.
- Environmental regulations, cyber threats, and natural disasters.
As a result, power grid architectures are changing and being modernized to overcome these challenges to maintain the grid to be resilient and reliable.
What is Grid Modernization and Why is it Important?
Grid Modernization refers to the process of upgrading and improving the infrastructure of an electrical grid system in response to changing energy needs and technologies. With the strategic importance of the grid, these improvements are critical as they improve the grid’s flexibility, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and cybersecurity. This process requires a digital transformation, with the integration of hardware and software, along with the deployment of innovative technologies and solutions.
Modernization enables:
- The large-scale adoption of renewable distributed energy sources, such as solar, wind, and so on.
- The integration of battery storage and microgrids for enhanced flexibility.
- Improved reliability with smart fault detection and outage management.
- Improved efficiency with power quality management enhancements.
- Enhanced cyber resiliency.
- Grid modernization can also enhance customer satisfaction and foster innovation.
How are Electric Utilities Embarking on their Modernization Journey?
Electric utilities understand performance outcomes and metrics and are implementing solutions for grid flexibility and customer engagement to achieve a more reliable and resilient grid.
Some of the solutions and technologies utilities are adopting to kick off their grid modernization journey are:
- Substation modernization—Replace legacy systems with virtualized functions on a standardized infrastructure that supports grid flexibility, resilience, and security.
- Distribution Automation (DA)—Enables remote monitoring and control of distribution assets.
- Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)—Provides real-time data on electricity usage and quality.
- Smart inverters—Supports bidirectional power flow between distributed energy sources and the grid.
- Demand Response (DR)—Incentivize customers to reduce or shift their electricity consumption during peak periods.
By harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies and strategic planning, electric utilities are paving the way for a future where reliable, affordable, clean, and cost-effective energy can be a reality.
Utilities are positioning themselves to meet the evolving needs of their clientele and society by embarking on this transformative journey. Learn how Dell Technologies is working alongside electric utilities and partners in their journeys to help empower the future, secure our energy infrastructure, and build a brighter and more sustainable world for generations to come.
Learn more about Dell Validated Design for Energy Edge
Unlocking Smart Manufacturing Potential: Dell Technologies’ AI-Enhanced Edge Solution
Tue, 23 Apr 2024 09:16:08 -0000
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Manufacturers have always leveraged the latest technologies to enhance key outcomes such as productivity, efficiency, agility, and safety. However, the rapid acceleration of technology at the edge in recent years has left manufacturers grappling with the challenge of incorporating and integrating these innovations. This disparity creates a significant opportunity gap, favoring early adopters with a competitive edge.
A recent survey, Smart Factories Are Still a Work in Progress, highlights the struggle manufacturers face in integrating emerging technologies into their overall business strategy, as shown in the following figure. While AI is not new to manufacturers, only about one in five currently use it in their production operations.
Figure 1. Smart factory integration
Manufacturing customers encounter substantial challenges, particularly at the edge, when harnessing the potential of emerging technologies including AI. In addition to delivering critical functionality at the edge, the ideal solution must be:
- Easy to integrate, manage, and upgrade over its lifetime
- Designed to scale across diverse applications and systems
- Able to drive sustainability with greater digitization and efficiency of operations
- Able to securely protect the edge estate
Successfully meeting these demanding requirements in a sustainable manner necessitates innovative thinking and a robust ecosystem of partners to support the diverse needs of our manufacturing clients.
Say hello to the new and improved Dell Validated Design for Manufacturing Edge.
Dell Technologies’ extensive experience in the manufacturing and industrial sector, coupled with the trust of 82 percent of Fortune 100 companies using Dell for edge computing, has inspired us to enhance our edge solution with AI-driven features and to expand our partnerships.
We have accelerated key manufacturing outcomes by adopting AI and related technologies. This provided a comprehensive edge solution that bridges the gap between the promise of AI and its practical implementation on the factory floor with essential features such as:
- Simplified edge operations with Dell NativeEdge–Setting up AI capabilities on the plant floor is simplified. Dell NativeEdge streamlines deployment, ensures secure scaling without disrupting operations, orchestrates critical workloads, and manages the life cycle of the application and the endpoint automatically. These increased operational efficiencies drive greater sustainability, even in air-gapped environments.
- Strategic partnerships–Collaborating with Hyundai AutoEver (HAE), a Hyundai subsidiary, we deliver a crucial set of AI-driven capabilities and intelligent OT/IT convergence. HAE develops smart factory solutions such as NeoFactory IoT that integrate with existing IT/OT infrastructures, promoting streamlined operations and digital continuity across the manufacturing landscape.
- Flexibility of choice–Manufacturers can choose from a rich array of partners including Telit Cinterion, PTC, Litmus, Cognex, Claroty, and XMPro, each contributing unique capabilities. Whether it is edge analytics, connected intelligence, machine vision, predictive maintenance, or OT cybersecurity, the options are abundant.
- AI-driven insights–Dell Validated Design for Manufacturing Edge does not stop at deployment. It continues to evolve, adding features and supporting applications that enhance operational excellence. AI-driven insights empower decision-makers with real-time data, enabling proactive responses.
The Dell Validated Design for Manufacturing Edge empowers manufacturers to capitalize on their edge and leverage the potential of AI to gain business advantage. They do this by:
- Providing faster time to value by unifying IT and OT. This is done by eliminating data silos from edge devices from the factory floor to enterprise applications in the multicloud.
- Deploying innovative technologies for operational agility and improved production quality to expedite industry 4.0 and sustainability goals.
- Protecting the manufacturing edge from malicious actors using proven cybersecurity solutions.
Incorporating and integrating innovations quickly into production lines creates a competitive advantage. This end-to-end offering addresses this challenge from data collection and analysis to cybersecurity, all integrated and scalable in a single solution. The Dell Validated Design for Manufacturing Edge offers the best of both worlds, a trusted platform built by a proven market leader that is designed to accelerate manufacturing outcomes by leveraging AI.
To learn more about our validated designs for manufacturing edge, see Manufacturing Edge Solutions. Visit our exciting booth at Hannover Messe (#53, Hall 15).