ENERGIZE!

Power from behind the scenes

Drawing from his interest that I introduced previously, the backcasting methodology, Tarmo Mere, Segment Director for Electric & Gas at Trimble Energy, encourages utilities to consider their decisions and actions today, in order to gain a better tomorrow. “As for the technologies affecting the utility business, for example the solar power will evolve, and it will become more efficient and more affordable for households and companies alike,” he states.

Looking at the development pace for alternative energy sources, it’s only a question of time when a disruptive innovation wipes over the utility business. So what could be done today to keep the utilities in business, and what does the regulation have to do with it?

When thinking about the different ways of doing maintenance, we often consider either taking a time-based approach, or taking the focus only on the condition of our assets. But what role does criticality play in the decision-making? How well are we able prioritize keeping the supply to a, say, hospital in the best possible condition?

As we’ve learned, minimizing life-cycle costs while keeping the technical aspects in mind is one of the key factors of the optimization, and it plays an important role in your asset investment planning. To open that up a bit more, the solution that Eero has worked on actually allows you to choose what kind of a network you are aiming at, and whether you are interested solely in the construction costs or want to take into account the entire network life-cycle, considering, for example, the reliability, operating, and maintenance costs. The most optimal network, of course, is the one designed for the entire life-cycle.

From electrical engineering to network modeling, software development to customer deliveries, this man rightfully plays a key role when developing our software for North American utilities. Originally from Europe, he has also faced the structural and technical ​differences between the American and European style electrical networks – and truly knows what he’s talking about!