New York is a little closer to an all-digital electric utility. The state has partnered with GE Digital to revamp its electrical utility hub in White Plains. The new Integrated Smart Operations Center, known as the iSOC, will analyze the performance of New York Power Authority’s (NYPA) power generation assets and statewide network of transmission lines to identify problems and issues before they occur in an effort to prevent potential service outages and reduce repair and replacement costs. The new center also advances the state’s goal to become the first all-digital public power utility in the U.S.
“With the opening of this state-of-the-art center, we are modernizing our state energy system and creating a more resilient, reliable and flexible power grid helping to grow our clean energy economy,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement on the launch.
The center uses GE Digital’s predictive analytics software to forecast and prevent equipment failures and significant outages at NYPA’s 16 power plants and more than 1,400 circuit miles of transmission lines. NYPA will use GE’s software to monitor several aspects of its generation and transmission operations. NYPA plans to integrate additional monitoring capabilities on GE’s Predix application platform in the future, including emergency operations, cybersecurity, physical security, network operations, information technology and data analytics.
The technology also will help NYPA make progress in meeting the Governor’s Clean Energy Standard, which requires that half of all electricity in New York comes from renewable sources and that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced 40 percent by 2030.
NYPA began using the system to monitor its 500-megawatt power plant in Queens in December 2016 and has now expanded its use to monitor all of its generation and transmission assets. Data is collected from more than 24,000 strategically deployed sensors embedded in equipment and analyzed for signs of normal aging. Data highlights are displayed in real time on an 81-foot video wall, where more than a dozen data screens draw attention to significant deviations. NYPA engineers can then promptly address potential issues with plant operations managers.
Also housed on the 25,000-square-foot all-digital floor will be NYPA’s New York Energy Manager (NYEM) and its Advanced Grid Innovation Laboratory for Energy (AGILe), which uses “big data” analytics to simulate, develop, deploy and integrate the next-generation electric grid, further positioning New York State as a leader in electric grid research.
