Grid modernisation platform launched by Tantalus
Tantalus’s Grid Modernisation Platform includes the TRUSync grid data management system to unify utility data from any device, system and vendor.
The Grid Modernisation Platform is aimed to help utilities accelerate their grid modernisation efforts with a smart grid architecture comprised of connected devices, communications networks, grid data management, applications and analytics.
TRUSync, an expansion of the software acquired through Tantalus’ acquisition of Congruitive in 2022, is a middleware layer that delivers true interoperability and automates the integration of all utility data captured from any device, any system and any vendor, the company states in a release.
“To modernise, utilities must shift their perspective from traditionally being device-centric to becoming data-centric,” said Peter Londa, President and CEO of Tantalus.
Have you read?
Tech Talk | A framework for a European energy data space
The flexible, digital grid platform of the future
“Grid modernisation requires the integration of an increasing amount of data from a growing number of connected devices in a synchronised manner. To fully achieve grid modernisation, utilities must access untapped value through data interoperability.”
Tantalus reports finding in a 2023 utility survey that almost all said that modernising their distribution grid was an important priority but only about one in ten felt completely prepared to do so.
Tantalus’ Grid Modernisation Platform is designed with a modular approach, which is intended to enable utilities to be more strategic in their deployments while minimising the cost of prematurely abandoning existing investments and assets.
The TRUSync middleware layer, that sits between a utility’s connected devices and the software applications and analytics packages that use the data those devices generate, generates a “unified, single version of the truth” that bridges the gap between the OT and IT.
In addition, Tantalus is rebranding its existing suite of solutions to align the overall platform, including:
● TRUConnect AMI – the purpose-built edge computing endpoints that are capable of integrating a wide range of field devices and meters across a robust communications network and suite of software applications.
● TRUGrid Automation – the expanding suite of applications and data analytics that leverage AI to anticipate and respond to challenges arising from failing distribution equipment, such as transformers, extreme weather events or imbalances between the supply and demand of electricity.
● TRUFlex™ Load+DER Management – the solution to help utilities manage a wide variety of residential and commercial loads responsively, reliably and flexibly while reducing costs associated with power outages and improving operational efficiencies.
● TRUSense Gateway – the suite of collar-based connected devices that deliver AMI 2.0 functionality without unnecessarily replacing existing meters. The devices also capture substation-level power quality measurements at the meter socket and deliver a dedicated secure connection to DERs and smart appliances located behind the meter.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.