A new cloud-based service for the e-mobility, utilities, data centers, and renewable energy sectors, currently being piloted in Europe and the US, will allow operators to pinpoint problems at their electrical installations with greater accuracy, deploy targeted maintenance teams faster and better understand how their facilities are performing, 24-7, from anywhere in the world.
Unlike existing digital monitoring platforms, CogniEN™ from ABB Electrification, is a product vendor agnostic cloud solution for cognitive electrical networks. Not only can the Amazon Web Services-hosted system remotely monitor the health of ABB electrical devices powering infrastructures such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers or switchgear, but it can also retrieve data from any third-party electrical device and upload it to the cloud in real time. This allows operators to remotely access up-to-the-minute data about how their installations are performing.
Highly flexible, the system can be customized depending on how much data the operator requires. The most basic subscription offers access to the raw data alone, while a more advanced setup will send an alarm if an asset is about to fail, allowing maintenance engineers to address the problem before it impacts the facility’s operation.
The most comprehensive subscriptions use artificial intelligence and machine learning to help customers make informed decisions about how to optimize their assets across multiple sites through predictive and prescriptive analytics. For example, the electrical infrastructure owners may be able to make a deal with the local utility company to bring in more energy based on time-of-use pricing models. Similarly, they could use the system to make informed decisions on when to store and release energy to and from the grid.
As net zero targets come closer, the shift to electricity in the energy consumption mix is accelerating. The IEA estimates that global renewable capacity will represent 58 percent of total installed capacity by 2040, while the sales of electric vehicles are expected to rise almost four-fold by 2025, according to GlobalData. To address the energy transition and decentralization of power generation and ensure profitability, facility owners must be able to guarantee high reliability, availability, and cost-efficiency of their power infrastructure.
“A primary benefit of this cloud solution is that is infinitely scalable,” says Luigi Traino, Global Product Line Leader, Digital Systems with ABB Electrification. “An EV or renewable energy infrastructure provider, for example, can start with one power station and, even if they add 10, 000 or 1,000 more, the cloud environment will continue to support them. Operators across the world are all experiencing the same challenges and opportunities; they want to be able to access data about the health of their assets wherever they are and use it to optimize their performance, allowing them to remain profitable as they shift to a more sustainable way of operating.”
Labeled as a ‘game changing’ solution for electrical systems, CogniEN is being showcased at the Hannover Messe exhibition, Hall 15, booth D74, taking place from April 17 to 21, 2023, with ABB experts available to answer questions about the new solution.
