The pursuit of sustainability has become a critical goal for businesses across industries. For utilities, this responsibility is even more pronounced as they play a vital role in managing essential resources like water, electricity, and gas. In 2015, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) were designed to combat growing concerns for global climate change. The Paris Agreement was proposed and later signed by hundreds of nations across the globe to “achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” As a result of these and other climate initiatives around the world, there has been a global transition in demand from fossil fuels to electric energy, and utilities are being forced to change the way energy is being produced, stored, and managed across the grid. To accommodate these changes, new systems and processes are consistently being adopted to manage supply and demand. As utilities modernize operations to manage this shift to an increased demand for renewable energy sources, the importance of effective internal data management has become even more critical. As more systems are implemented to manage a larger number of energy sources and additional technology is acquired to support the new processes created to handle the increasing complexity of a modern energy grid, the importance of unified systems becomes crucial. System integration has emerged as a powerful tool to allow utilities to optimize their processes, streamline operations, and reduce their environmental footprint. Despite mounting pressures to enable sustainable practices, the lack of flexible data integration workflows between systems remains a large obstacle for businesses due to a “build-first” integration approach that most utilities have historically employed.
In this blog, we will explore how the focus on unifying systems to improve operations is empowering utilities to achieve more sustainable practices, contributing to longer asset lifecycles, increased productivity, and ultimately to improved sustainability.
Efficiency lies at the heart of sustainability. However, as the types of energy managed and provided to end customers continues to change, so do the systems and processes that manage data about these resources. Utilizing integration to allow a unified view of the data being managed is key to Utilities reaching the aggressive sustainability goals set by themselves and being demanded by their customers. By utilizing integration to create a unified data environment, utilities can eliminate data silos, enhance data accuracy, and make informed decisions faster. Streamlined data management reduces redundant processes, optimizes resource allocation for asset management, and ultimately increases asset lifespan, all contributing to greater sustainability.
The Geonexus Integration Platform offers utilities the ability to consolidate and synchronize data from various systems, including asset management, GIS, and work order systems. This enhanced visibility allows them to monitor and analyze critical factors like energy consumption and water usage, in near-real time. Armed with this information, utilities can then integrate that data within a BI application to identify inefficiencies, pinpoint areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to minimize environmental impact.
Sustainability encompasses the entire lifecycle of assets, from procurement to disposal. In order to meet sustainability demands, utilities are kickstarting projects to modernize their grid infrastructure for greater operational awareness. In a 2018 GMI report, the US Department of Energy (DOE) stated: “Our extensive, reliable power grid has fueled the nation’s growth since the early 1900s. However, the grid we have today does not have the attributes necessary to meet the demands of the 21st century and beyond.” Historically speaking, better management and view of assets leads to longer lasting assets. However, with over 85% of utilities using GIS technology for their field operations, grid modernization projects would heavily impact current integration workflows for assets being replaced in the field. The impact of grid modernization projects on existing integrations is forcing Utilites to rethink the approach to integration creation and management. With the rapid growth in new system adoption comes a growing demand for a quicker path to integration setup and maintenance. To optimize the asset lifecycle, integration of a variety of different systems including Enterprise Asset Management (EAM), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Customer Information Systems (CIS) are essential for a complete view into the process.
Geonexus helps utilities effectively manage drive grid modernization projects by providing a unified view of asset information. This streamlines maintenance and replacement processes, extending the life of assets and reducing the need for frequent replacements. Additionally, efficient asset management contributes to responsible resource usage and waste reduction – all helping utilities reach greater sustainability demands set by customers and reducing their cardon footprint.
Lastly, compliance with environmental regulations is paramount for utilities striving to reach aggressive suitability goals. On top of everything above, new regulations around climate disclosures will require increased investments to enable accurate and transparent environmental, social and governance reporting. For example, right now, asset data is used for system planning, operations, and scheduling inspections. However, new regulations will require this asset data to be used for reporting emissions.
Geonexus offers utilities the tools to ensure compliance by automating the synchronization of data used in data validation, reporting, and auditing processes. By proactively monitoring your data i and automatically keeping systems aligned, utilities can dramatically improve data integrity, ensuring they remain in compliance, mitigate risks, and avoid penalties.
In conclusion, the Geonexus Integration Platform is the key to empowering utilities on their journey towards sustainability. By streamlining data management & enhancing near-real-time visibility, facilitating efficient asset lifecycle management, and ensuring proactive compliance, Geonexus enables utilities to gain the flexibility to adapt alongside their ever-changing needs without fear of integration issues, version lock, or downtime.
About Geonexus:
At Geonexus, we’re on a mission to ensure the integrity and reliability of your enterprise data through our integration platform, empowering you to make effective decisions. The Geonexus Integration Platform (GIP) is the perfect flexible solution, offering ease of use, reliability, and seamless integration with popular systems like Esri® ArcGIS®, IBM® Maximo, SAP®, ABB® Ellipse, Oracle® Utilities, and more. We cater to asset-intensive industries worldwide, including utilities, telecommunications, pipeline, transportation, and government.
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