Like most utilities, Bayernwerk AG has large amounts of data about the production and consumption of renewable energy and various assets on the grid.
The utility, which provides electricity, gas, and water to cities across southern Germany, realized that this data is a major potential asset for improving service and generating new revenues. Properly analyzed and presented, this information can help customers improve the efficiency of their operations. However, that data was fragmented and difficult to deliver.
To solve those challenges, DXC worked with the E.ON subsidiary to create an Energy Portal (EnergiePortal) on its Socrates digital platform that makes data more easily accessible to energy administrators at the many municipalities it serves.
“The Energy Portal sets us apart from our competitors.”
Matthias Leitl Product Owner of Energy Portal for Bayernwerk AG
Unlike traditional siloed data stores, the portal centralizes relevant data and eliminates time-consuming data access and cumbersome authentication processes, providing greater transparency into assets and data.
“The Energy Portal sets us apart from our competitors,” says Matthias Leitl, product owner of Energy Portal for Bayernwerk AG. “It’s a single-sign on solution for all our services and solutions including IoT and consumption visualization, meter entry, efficiency analysis, planning tools and many more. The next step will be to open the platform for third parties.”
Learn how a business integration platform at Bayernwerk AG enables co-creation and fast development.
Rapidly deploying new solutions
The first version of Energy Portal was released to the market in just 6 weeks. Existing services were rebuilt in the Energy Portal, along with new services that give administrators access to online information. New data analytics functions can be introduced rapidly and consumed through public clouds such as Microsoft Azure, further reducing development time and costs.
Energy Portal enables customers to utilize smart energy solutions, such as a streetlight LED planner that helps municipalities identify which streetlights require modernization.
The portal is already enabling customers to utilize smart energy solutions. For example, the company’s streetlight LED planner gives municipalities insights into energy consumption, maintenance status and overall efficiency of streetlights, identifying which ones require modernization. It enables municipalities to quickly calculate the economics of older, less efficient lights and order replacements.
Value delivered
New solutions for efficiency and sustainability
Sustainability and environmental protection are major goals of Bayernwerk AG, which distributes heat and electricity to municipalities from more than 260,000 decentralized generation plants including photovoltaic, wind, hydroelectric and biomass. To support green energy initiatives, the Energy Portal is providing a single source for advanced analytics to help customers improve their carbon footprint and meet green energy goals, according to Leitl.
One of the first innovations was giving users the ability to visualize generation and consumption data from sensors and IoT devices, helping managers easily access insights about operations. Going forward, the company will be able to use existing applications on the energy portal to identify, develop and implement new digital solutions within days.
More services and applications can be added, such as:
- Continuous customer feedback to improve the customer experience and reduce administrative effort
- Target-to-actual comparisons for photovoltaic (PV) systems to identify power reduction
- Planning and live simulation of new construction to optimize consumption and costs
- A PV storage calculator to help users understand the savings and amortization time for storage of solar energy
“As a result, Bayernwerk AG will be able to generate growth outside the regulated market and help our customers become more sustainable.”
Matthias Leitl Product Owner of Energy Portal for Bayernwerk AG
Generating growth opportunities
The Energy Portal offers a great deal of flexibility such as the ability to offer white label solutions that can take on the branding of other distribution system operators. Multi-tenant capabilities enable multiple companies to securely access data and build new applications.
The portal was designed with the highest IT security standards available and will ensure access to functionality even if back-end legacy systems fail.
“As a result, Bayernwerk AG will be able to generate growth outside the regulated market and help our customers become more sustainable.” Leitl says.