Originally Posted: 24 & 29 March 2021
Author: JIM MAGILL FOR FORBES
Los Angeles, CA

 

Forbes recently featured Beyond Limits and also quoted our own Steve Kwan, Director Product Management for Power Generation/Grid Management, in not one but two articles focusing on the power generation sector.
 
 
Artificial Intelligence Could Have Helped Alleviate Suffering from Texas Blackouts Is an article that features the repercussions Texas faced after an unexpectedly devastating snowstorm hit, leading to an almost total breakdown of the state’s power grid, leaving many in the dark and without power for weeks on end. Artificial intelligence (AI) is pointed to as one of the principal solutions that could’ve been an important key for preventing such a disaster to have occurred in the first place, had such transformational software been adopted beforehand.
 
 
“Another way in which AI could have helped alleviate the problems seen on the Texas grid in February would have been in providing improved long-term weather forecasts. This could have enabled the grid’s operators to determine in advance which units would have to go offline in order to protect the grid’s integrity, which in turn would have allowed electricity consumers more time to prepare for planned outages. Artificial Intelligence technology could also help match up power supply with power demand, down to a minute-by-minute basis, which would have been especially helpful to the ERCOT regulators during the crisis. Texas is in a unique situation because ERCOT isn’t connected to the western and eastern grid so there are fewer opportunities to make up for a shortfall.”
 
 
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.
 
 
 
 
As it Undergoes Transformation, U.S. Power Grid Embraces AI Is another article in which Forbes takes a deeper look at the important role enterprise-grade AI software solutions are playing in transforming power grid processes. The feature discusses how AI will be key for processing large volumes of data in order to solve complex problems, resulting in a smarter grid of the future that is more stable and efficient.
 
 
“Taking into account consumer behavior to ensure that supply matches demand as much as possible is a very large puzzle. This is a perfect application of artificial intelligence, because you can take into account many variables and be able to provide a recommendation in a very timely manner to support the changing needs of the consumer on a 15-minute basis. Using traditional physics-based modeling is inefficient or too slow.”

 
 
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.