by Power Factors
This article was originally published on Reuters.com on July 16, 2024, as part of the COP29 Vision 2045 campaign. It showcases a documentary featuring leadership from Power Factors and its customer, Lightsource bp.
During the COP28 U.N. climate conference in Dubai last December, government leaders from around the world committed to tripling renewable energy generation capacity. If current policies and market dynamics stay the same, global renewable capacity is expected to reach 7,300 GW by 2028. To hit the 2030 target, governments worldwide must reach a minimum capacity of 11,000 GW.
The good news is that the growth of renewables continues to outpace expectations. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that 2023 was another record-setting year of growth, with 510 gigawatts (GW) of renewable generation capacity added. This rapid growth creates new challenges. Not only is the number of sites increasing, but the size of the assets is also growing with increased capacity. The assets and the grid they feed comprise the world’s largest supercomputer with increasingly complex data needs. Additionally, owners, operators, and energy producers are shifting their business models, identifying new revenue streams, while incorporating the latest in innovative technology.
Over the past several years, Power Factors has been at the forefront of innovation, on a mission to provide the world with the first-and-only platform purpose-built to solve today’s renewable energy challenges. Our integrated solutions and domain expertise come to life in Unity, Power Factors’ next-generation renewable energy management suite (REMS).
Unity uniquely solves the hard problems across the renewable energy value chain — from ensuring high-quality data at scale with AI-powered insights across all assets, faster onboarding for faster time-to-value, integrated applications with a common data model, and providing mission-critical, real-time controls of storage assets to deliver predictable power with the ability to automate commands for optimal market participation.
The Unity technology platform’s secure, open, flexible architecture is designed to handle the volume, variety, and velocity of data generated by renewable portfolios at scale. Sitting on top of the Unity platform is a comprehensive suite of applications to support the entire asset lifecycle, from development and asset performance to market operations. Integrated solutions from sensor to cloud empower global energy leaders to optimize assets, maximize revenue, and scale portfolios at the pace of their business.
Power Factors hardware and software solutions are some of the most extensive and widely deployed solutions in the market. With over 300 GW of wind, solar, hydro, and battery energy storage system (BESS) assets managed worldwide across more than 600 customers and 18,000 sites, Power Factors manages 25% of the world’s renewable energy asset data.* Additionally, with nearly 40% of the world’s utility-scale storage capacity managed by Power Factors today, they are the leading utility-scale energy storage solutions provider.
On average, Power Factors customers see a remarkable 20% annual growth; its largest twelve customers increased their assets under management by 65% over the last three years. Connecting these teams with trusted data and purpose-built tools to optimize portfolio performance, maximize revenue, and realize significant improvements in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE).
Power Factors’ mission-driven team is dedicated to empowering the people who power the world. The company believes in forging strong partnerships with customers and technology experts to ensure a brighter future powered by renewable energy. With the introduction of the Unity renewable energy management suite, Power Factors is poised to lead the industry towards that future.
*Outside India and China