Energy Data Platform

A cloud-based Big Data platform for managing and optimizing the electricity grid

As a response to the continuous rise of the global demand for energy, AutoGrid has developped Energy Data Platform EDP, a cloud-based platform that provides the capability to predict, optimize and control millions of distributed energy resources in real-time and at scale. The employed technologies include predictive analytics, behavioral algorithms and a physics-based understanding of the grid to give utilities and energy service providers the ability to predict, optimize and control power distribution and consumption in their service territories in real-time. Autogrid’s Energy Data Platform  is built upon software engines that pull together existing tangible resources to provide a unified management system that continuously optimizes the balance of power flow.

EDP includes Software Defined Power™, a software that allows utilities and new energy providers to integrate intermittent renewables like wind and solar on a large scale into their operations and introduce new technologies like energy storage or EV charging quickly and economically. The end result is lower capital costs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and an unprecedented ability to fine-tune operations to achieve regulatory and customer satisfaction goals.

In addition, the EDP provides the core data models, machine-to-machine interfaces, and connectors to enterprise and 3rd party data-sources along with powerful machine learning, artificial intelligence, big data, network optimization, and high-performance computation algorithms that enable energy providers to build and optimize next-generation energy networks.

EDP creates a living model of the Energy Internet by simultaneously modeling both the physics of the network and the variability due to human behavior and weather dependency of renewable generation sources. The foundation of the Energy Data Platform is a unified data model of the Energy Internet that takes into account the behavioral characteristics of the customer-owned “grid-edge” assets connected to it.

Energy Data Platform empowers energy providers to precisely predict and optimize supply and demand patterns across the Energy Internet, in real time and at scale. Deploying data science and high performance network optimization, AutoGrid’s patented Predictive Controls technology within EDP processes petabytes of streaming data to predict and control millions of connected energy assets.

  • Energy Data Science

Deep energy domain-specific data science, advanced machine learning, artificial intelligence, high performance computing algorithms enable optimization of millions of decision variables in seconds.

  • Speed and Scale

State-of-the-art Big Data technology stack including NoSQL database for time-series, Hadoop for massive batch processing, Kafka for power high performance streaming data ingestion and Spark for in-memory data processing at petabyte scale, all used to forecast and optimize millions of assets in seconds.

  • Modularity and Extensibility

EDP offers plug-and-play modularity at two levels. First, EDP’s patented architecture allows simultaneous support for multiple open and proprietary protocols allowing customers to easily add connectors for new assets over time. Second, EDP provides unprecedented configurability to flexibly support different cost functions and user-defined data science models to easily extend the functionality and adapt it for new markets and use cases.

Some of the case studies using this platform are presented below and more information can be found here.

  • E.ON: Operating in over 30 countries and one of the top energy suppliers in Europe, E.ON is undergoing major transformations. The company is transitioning from a centralized system to a cascade of microgrids, from single to multiple supply chains, and from a commodity-centric to a customer- and service-centric business model. To become a digital utility of the future, E.ON is working with AutoGrid to predict the future and make actionable decisions.
  • Florida Power & Light Company (FPL): Florida Power & Light Company (FPL), the third-largest electric utility in the United States, is using AutoGrid’s platform for predictive intelligence to ensure a more reliable, resilient grid infrastructure in Florida, where rapid tree growth frequently interferes with power lines and hurricanes are seasonal events. Powered by AutoGrid’s Predictive Controls™ technology, the system uses the big data from smart grid devices, in combination with other data sources, to detect and prevent problems on the grid before they occur.
  • Schneider Electric: Schneider is integrating AutoGrid’s Energy Data Platform (EDP) into its Wiser™ home management system, a comprehensive solution that connects utilities and consumers, enabling homeowners to better control energy consumption. Wiser Powered by AutoGrid will allow utilities to reduce peak power, curb emissions, and improve energy productivity to effectively utilize more of the electricity that is generated on the grid by enabling users to have a closer connection to their energy information.
  • CLEAResult: CLEAResult helps utilities, businesses and individuals make the wise use of energy a way of life. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in more than 80 cities in the U.S. and Canada, CLEAResult designs, markets and implements energy programs around the globe. CLEAResult has teamed up with AutoGrid to offer Behavioral Demand Response and Bring Your Own Thermostat programs to utilities across North America.
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) and AutoGrid have had a close relationship since AutoGrid’s inception. The California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded a $1.2 million grant to demonstrate a system for demand response optimization to AutoGrid and LBNL in conjunction with U.C. Berkeley and Stanford University. Thirteen scientists associated with Berkeley Lab have won the Nobel Prize. Fifty-seven LBNL scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Mary Ann Piette, featured in this video was one of the pioneers of demand response. She and Silla Kiliccote, also featured, developed the OpenADR Standard.