The new institute will focus on five core innovation tracks – outage planning optimization; asset management optimization; integration of renewables and distributed energy resources; wide-area situational awareness and the participatory network.
Hydro-Quebec, Netherlands’ Alliander and US-based DTE Energy have joined as the first members in this institute, which allows for joint research where shared investments, knowledge and capabilities will benefit every member.
The collaboration between corporate research and the energy and utilities industry is expected to transform energy firms through the use of advanced computation, system optimization and predictive analytics.
The research institute, which is equipped with computational infrastructure to pursue its innovation agenda, operates out of the global network of IBM Research labs.
Smarter Energy Research Institute director Dr. Dario Gil said, "Working collaboratively across disciplines, institutions and geographies has been proven time and again at delivering superior innovation results."
DTE Energy distribution operations VP Vince Dow commented, "Participating in this Institute allows us to utilize advances in predictive analytics to optimize the operation of our key assets and improve the reliability of our electric grid."
