German technology giant Siemens has developed a grid software suite to speed the transition to a net zero world.

The open, interoperable software suite can help ensure grid stability and economic efficiency, and manage the rising complexity of power grids. The software speeds up grid simulations by up to six times and is said to increase efficiency in grid management tasks by 85 per cent.

It does this using a digital twin of the grid throughout planning, simulation and real-time operation of power grids.

Siemens believes the suite is a game changer for established energy players and new stakeholders alike, enabling them to be fast, agile and flexible when coping with existing and future challenges. Siemens has already made steps to improve its offering for smart meter data management such as a cloud native option or improved task efficiency by up to 85 per cent by redefining the user experience.

The software also enables users to run grid protection simulations up to six times faster than the current speed of execution, helping utilities plan, operate and maintain power networks. All upcoming modules of the software suite will be developed following specific design principles to interact seamlessly and enable agility. At the same time, they will keep the power grid cyber resilient while creating a digital twin of the grid throughout planning, simulation, real-time operations and maintenance of power grids.

“The speed and scale of changes in the energy system are unprecedented, as distributed energy resources grow exponentially,” said Sabine Erlinghagen, CEO of grid software at Siemens Smart Infrastructure. “Power grids are at the heart of a sustainable energy system and are becoming increasingly more complex. We cannot manage this complexity without open, modular and interoperable software. By introducing the most comprehensive software suite in the market to date, we are leading the change to shape the grids of the future to a 100 per cent renewable world. We are aware we cannot achieve the energy transition alone – we work with customers and partners.”

Siemens is collaborating with players in the industry to rethink grid management jointly. Working together in a co-innovation approach, the partners seek to find ways to plan, operate, maintain and optimise power grids seamlessly. Working closely with those that use Siemens’ software should support faster adoption and integration.

To date, partners include companies such as CESC in India, CMY in the USA, Elvia in Norway, Hawaiian Electric in the USA, Ireti in Italy, KNG-Kärnten Netz in Austria, Quanta Technology in the USA, Stadtwerke Flensburg in Germany and Statnett in Norway.

Siemens is also open to complementary product partners aspiring to innovate jointly in the grid software space and will foster its partner network to support its customers’ workflows end to end.

A look at the energy landscape explains the urgent need to bring intelligence to a vast and complex system that forms the backbone of economies. Worldwide, electricity consumption is forecast to double by 2050. Through 2030, Guidehouse Insights forecasts a seven-fold growth in new distributed energy resources (DERs) annually with fluctuating infeed and demand. In 2020, five million assets were introduced to the supply and demand side.

The DERs are connected to the power grid mostly on the low voltage level where grid operators to date have not achieved much transparency. Due to the intermittent nature of the DERs, it is much harder for grid operators to control the power grid and predict what will happen next.

“Traditional investment in hardware alone is not sufficient to deal with the complexity we see in energy systems today,” said Erlinghagen. “We need disruptive and fast change where investment in software comes first and helps us leapfrog to green energy, away from reliance on fossil fuels. We’ve started this journey to transform our portfolio and plan to speed up towards our vision of autonomous grid operations.”

Experts expect a doubling of the market volume for grid software from $8bn in 2019 to roughly $17bn in 2028. During Capital Market Day in 2021, Siemens Smart Infrastructure committed to doubling its digital revenue to €1.5bn by fiscal year 2025 from €750m in fiscal 2021.

About 70 per cent of the world’s electricity consumption or 16,000TW hours each year already flows through infrastructure simulated by Siemens’ grid software. Today, 1300 control centre systems – that operate and control grids – based on Siemens’ software are in operation worldwide, keeping the lights on for hundreds of millions of people. With approximately 100 million contracted smart meters, in use by over 200 utilities globally, the meter data management software EnergyIP is a source of data at the low-voltage grid level.

The latest grid software enables energy companies to implement smart technology for their grid planning and management. These IT upgrades should be faster and less costly than investments in hardware. Through the modular approach, the parts will fit together and can be tailored to meet the individual needs of grid operators.

With seamless integration of IT and OT elements, thanks to one unified network model, users can synchronise data across their IT and OT systems, including their grid planning software, meter data management systems, geographical information systems (GIS) and advanced distribution management systems (ADMS), and then optimise workflows end to end.

Insights from analytics and AI can be directly transferred into actions, which lead to an improvement in grid operations. This allows a shift from a deterministic to a probabilistic management approach, fostering the integration of a large number of distributed energy resources. Additionally, across its power grid portfolio, Siemens meets cyber security requirements and security standards, and provides regular security updates.