If there is a monstrous challenge facing humankind today, it is the delicate balance between providing adequate power for an expanding population and controlling carbon emissions. That’s the basis of the strong business case for renewable energy across the globe. The demand for clean energy continues to grow as renewable generation becomes cost competitive against conventional energy sources.
Clean energy is also a proven source of jobs, many of them linked to managing the big amounts of data that help optimize the performance of the assets. Information technologies are becoming crucial in achieving the expected cost competitiveness by automating management processes and by providing quality information to improve the life span of the assets and their total lifecycle cost.
Indeed, technology is particularly relevant for any renewable energy business with diverse portfolio. Because of the nature of most renewables, there is usually need to operate multiple and geographically-distributed equipment with a set of challenges ranging from the integration of varied technologies into complex reporting flows to the faulty quality of generation information needed to secure the right invoicing of the generated power. What is the outcome? Renewable Energy (RE) businesses generate tons of data that consequently demand digitization to get the required value out of them.
Renewable Energy Businesses and Digitization
Digitization is already giving many businesses a head start. For example, online deliveries have boosted during these times of COVID-19. Retail has already perfected digitization and everyone can see it in efficient and user-friendly services being offered during a serious crisis. Renewables are barely starting this journey, but there are already a few positives we can outline, especially for renewable energy businesses.
Renewable Energy Asset Performance Details
There is no doubt that as a RE business grows, the need to prove its business case escalates. How easy is it to demonstrate that your projects and assets are performing according to expectations without monitoring data? With a digitized and business management oriented platform, you can do it flawlessly.
Nothing compares to the satisfaction of a project developer or investor accessing all project data at the click of the button. Reporting challenges that are associated with conventional asset management can be forgotten. Instead, digitized solutions give leeway for smooth collaboration among project stakeholders. This happens instantly with no need for emails, phone calls, meetings and long preparation hours the night before the reports we due.
When you have that kind of data access, making long-term investment decisions regarding your portfolio is less tasking. Digitization helps you compare different aspects of your business, from RE energy types to geographical location of the assets. Even when a time comes and you have to sell the entire or part of the portfolio, you have smooth access to verifiable data of your statistics from a single source of truth.
Improved System Efficiency
The renewable energy industry has always grappled with portfolio underperformance and downtimes. When a solar module fails unexpectedly, the manager has to dispatch a team of engineers to go fix it. Issues within the plant usually go unnoticed. Only scheduled maintenance unearths such anomalies. Managers unintentionally shorten the lives of their assets and incur huge losses, simply because scheduled maintenance may offer too little too late. It does not give complete assessment of asset health.
Without concrete information to help in asset maintenance, system efficiency is seriously hampered. Worst of it is the catastrophic failures that may follow. Data-centered asset maintenance can counter such challenges easily. As productivity levels rise, the renewable energy business can have a competitive edge.
Safeguard against Risks- regulatory, financial, etc.
Owning and operating renewable energy projects comes with various types of risks. Has your business encountered any of the following risks recently? How did you solve them?
- Weather related risk
- Financial risk
- Technological risk
- Market risk
- Environmental risk
As RE companies continue to expand their portfolio, these risks can only multiply. With digitization, RE managers become hands-on with their operations. Technologies that come with this strategy provide up to the minute insight into assets, thus rendering static reports irrelevant. It is so advantageous to gain fresh insight into portfolio performance in regards to existing risks. Managers are in a better position to spread any risk and enhance chances of business success.
Features of QBI Solution for RE Business
Use the QBI platform to make your life as an asset manager or owner of a RE business easier than ever before. The platform integrates energy invoicing, accounting, performance tracking, inventory, and maintenance activities under a single management environment, enabling you to take total control over your P&L without looking elsewhere.
Once RE assets are digitized in this manner, the following becomes as simple as 123:
- Generating energy invoices
- Reporting HSE incidents, periodic financials and performance
- Providing valuable insights for performance analysts
- Categorizing and assessing of energy losses
- Balancing maintenance programs (predictive vs. preventive vs. corrective)
- Optimizing asset negotiation based on actual performance…
- And a long list of value drivers based on the availability of quality data
Are You Ready To Digitize Your Diverse RE Portfolio?
If we are to realize a sustainable energy future that adds more value to environmental and socio-economic spheres, then we must promote digitization of the entire renewable energy system. At QBI, our core duty is commitment towards enhanced customer success through technology and digital transformation. We know that complete insight into diverse renewable energy portfolio comes from digitization. Now is the time for renewable energy businesses to take advantage of this strategy.
Get in touch with us for more insight into this exciting topic.
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