Energy generation and management, when not optimized, can severely impact economic
results. If costs are not closely controlled or production is not predicted accurately, profits
can be dramatically diminished and losses can even be incurred. It is essential for energy
producers to optimize energy management to maximize profitability.
Many countries have started to dramatically reduce economic subsidies for production and
have introduced more regulations. In some cases, it is even mandatory for energy producers
to optimize energy management to increase profit and avoid sanctions and penalties. To
help improve energy management and profits, Unatec partners with Altair SmartWorks to
create Smart Grids. With more than 10 years of consulting experience in energy solutions
working with the largest utility companies in Spain, Unatec (www.unatec.es) launched Energy
Smart Generation, its own solution for small and medium renewable energy producers.
These producers normally operate and maintain small- and medium-sized power plants for
solar and wind energy.
Unatec's energy smart generation uses Altair SmartWorks.
It is a cloud solution with a complete list of modules:
- Energy Prediction: Better production forecasting by comparing different prediction models
- Considering production breaks (scheduled and non-scheduled)
- Operations Monitoring: Detecting and reporting production issues. Issues and production breaks can be detected in real-time. Monitoring is done on main assets to analyze status and optimize performance and maintenance.
- Field Actuations: Data supports decision making for issue-related operations by showing:
- When to schedule production stops
- When to mobilize emergency teams
- When to increase cost control and identify non-profitable work
The Technology
From the beginning of the project, Unatec decided to rely solely on Altair SmartWorks as a core element of their technology stack. The Altair SmartWorks platform was implemented within 6 months, allowing Unatec to save significant money in development costs. The core of Altair SmartWorks is its ability to collect all the information from different Smart Grid elements (Smart Meters, SCADA systems and other elements) and IT systems (weather forecast systems, energy prediction systems, energy market, and 3th party companies operating the energy grid).
Unatec’s Energy Smart Generation platform uses different prediction services and compares them using Altair SmartWorks' core to increase forecasting accuracy. The prediction model receives feedback to continuously enhance accuracy in the energy offering calculation.
A customized set of KPIs is permanently tracked and displayed in real-time graphs to compare production with predictions and generate customized performance reports, budget tracking and plants comparison.
The Team
The team included local partners for field interventions and hardware partners, including
Machine To Cloud Solutions and
SATEL.