{"id":18364,"date":"2016-11-18T14:49:31","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/making-a-smarter-grid-a-reality\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T14:51:53","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T19:51:53","slug":"making-a-smarter-grid-a-reality","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/making-a-smarter-grid-a-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Smarter Grid a Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Schneider Electric is a $39.3 billion company (Forbes, 1) focused on energy management and automation in four key segments: buildings, industry, infrastructure, and IT (2). Schneider Electric can trace back its beginnings to the industrial revolution 180 years ago where it was a \u201cmajor player in the steel and machine industry\u201d entering the emerging electricity market (3). Over time, they have focused on bringing innovation to their electrical distribution products through acquisition of great technologies. While these technologies have kept Schneider Electric relevant and competitive, they do not compare to the disruption that digitization is bringing to the entire industry.<\/p>\n

To stay relevant, players in electric distribution need to understand the future of infrastructure and industrial internet of things (IoT). \u201cAs a market leader in electrical products, systems and services, Schneider Electric is critically linked to the future needs of a smarter electrical grid infrastructure\u201d (4).<\/p>\n

\"Schneider<\/a><\/p>\n

What are the grid infrastructure opportunities for the electricity distribution industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On a macro level, the electricity distribution industry has been affected by immense technology leaps in solar energy and energy storage. These are key enablers in the shift from central generation (i.e. power plants) to distributed generation (5).<\/p>\n

\u201cUtilities will face a significant increase of operational complexity requiring a greater level of\u00a0real-time flexibility. This step-change in terms of operational performance will only be achieved thanks to a more digitized and connected operational ecosystem.\u201d (6)<\/p>\n

Digital transformation has led to smarter electrical grid infrastructure. What does it mean to be smarter?\u00a0 According to the U.S. Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, a smart grid refers to \u201cusing computer-based remote control and automation. These systems are made possible by two-way communication technology and computer processing that has been used for decades in other industries\u201d (7).<\/p>\n

How can Schneider Electric differentiate itself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A smart grid infrastructure increases Schneider Electric\u2019s value proposition to \u201cimprove reliability, resiliency, flexibility, and efficiency (both economic and energy) of the electric delivery system\u201d (8). How can Schneider Electric take advantage of this transformation and position themselves differently from competitors like GE Current, or NRG?<\/p>\n

Schneider Electric has an advantage over other utilities in the development of smarter grids: as a diversified company they have the automation experience from their industry business segment. Their product \u201cEcostruxure Grid\u201d is a platform of cloud-connected services that leverages IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics, and cybersecurity technologies that allow customers to improve their efficiency (9). This product does shift a key competency to processing big data at a scale unseen in their other industry segments. The data processed from grid infrastructure is very different than improvements to energy efficiency of a single office building in their \u201cBuilding and Partners\u201d segment.<\/p>\n

My recommendations for Schneider Electric <\/strong><\/p>\n