As the world faces a potential rise in energy demand and a reduction in carbon emissions and greenhouse gases that impact the planet's ecosystems attributed to fossil fuel use, power generation companies are working to innovate their operations for an energy-forward, environmentally sustainable tomorrow
High power electricity poles in urban area connected to smart grid. Energy supply, distribution of energy, transmitting energy, energy transmission, high voltage supply concept photo, smart grid, smart home
The global phaseout of coal power and an end to fossil fuel subsidies are the European Union’s primary objectives as it declared climate change a central part of its foreign policy. Reuters (2021) reports that EU ministers have committed to an aggressive line on climate diplomacy by discouraging other countries from investing in fossil fuels and forging “high-ambition” alliances with large economies to spur faster emissions cuts.
Other countries such as China, Japan, and South Africa have pledged to cut net carbon emissions to zero.
As we move into the future, coal power and fossil fuel subsidies will be phased out, allowing us to make the most of our renewable resources like solar, wind, hydrogen, and gas. This shift will spur economic growth, create new employment opportunities, and enhance human welfare across the globe by reducing greenhouse gases and carbon emissions that impact our planet’s ecosystems.
Accelerate Your Digital Transformation Journey to Operational Excellence
Investing in a comprehensive, interoperable, and enterprise-scalable digital transformation strategy will accelerate your continuous improvement efforts in the ever-changing economic landscape. It will also promote the long-term resilience of your company’s safety performance, workforce, and asset productivity and provide your business with the competitive edge it needs to perform at its best. Here is how to implement your operational excellence digital transformation roadmap step-by-step.
Step 1 Digitalize Operational Processes, Procedures, and Permits
Digitalizing operational processes, procedures, and permits can be a great first step toward digital transformation. But to get the full benefits of your digital transformation initiative, you must ensure that your data ecosystem is set up to support safety-critical operational processes.
That’s why it’s suggested to reinforce this first step by using an industry-leading knowledge management suite to improve human performance through digital tools and connect to the modern process industry solutions used today.
Step 2: Connect Operational Data
Operational data is one of the most important assets that organizations have. It can improve efficiency, reduce downtime, meet internal and external compliance requirements, and more. However, it is often stored in different formats on multiple systems and may not be easily accessible.
That’s why it’s important to bridge these islands of information and connect them with all your operational processes and procedures. This will help you reduce operational risk and increase efficiency by decreasing downtime and removing value leaks. It will also help meet internal compliance requirements and ensure that your business is prepared for any external audits or investigations.
Step 3 Protect Your Digital Investments
Your digital investments are your most valuable assets. You’ve worked hard to build them and grow them, but you can’t take them for granted.
To keep them safe, you need to protect them from cyber threats. There’s no shortage of reports or news outlets raising the alarm on cybersecurity awareness. In fact, the ARC Advisory Group (2019) reported that “many industrial operations remain at risk of costly, disruptive cyber incidents.”
End Goal: Build, Maintain and Evolve a Digital Twin
Digital twins are the next step in the evolution of industrial information management. They help asset owners and operators to build and maintain an information management data ecosystem throughout the asset lifecycle, allowing for a continuous operational excellence journey. Deploying a comprehensive digital twin allows complex data to be analyzed and transformed into actionable information. The significance of this ultimate digital platform is that it opens the door to the competitive advantages made possible by using predictive and prescriptive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and automated decision-making across the power generation value chain. As mentioned in an article published by Forbes (2017), digital twin technology helps companies improve the customer experience by better understanding customer needs, developing enhancements to existing products, operations, and services, and can even help drive new business innovation.
See how digital twin technology can help you