The rise of renewable energy requires utility companies to rethink their control room organization. Next to monitoring traditional energy sources, control rooms now have to monitor the often unpredictable supply of a mix of variable renewable energy sources. Control rooms will therefore not only need to adapt or update their management systems, but also rethink their operator workflows. Barco offers energy & utilities companies the technology to make this transition much easier.
As utilities are gradually diversifying their energy portfolios, operators of utility control rooms often need to monitor a variety of hydropower, solar, wind and geothermal energy assets, in addition to traditional energy sources. The challenge for control rooms is to efficiently monitor their mix of energy sources and management systems, while at the same time optimizing energy flows in real time between grid demand and renewable energy supply.
Barco’s OpSpace personal operator workspace solution makes the integration of traditional and renewable energy information systems much easier, because it allows operators to combine and integrate different sources, applications and networks into a single virtual pixel space. Operators can create and organize their personal workspace, reduce navigation time and improve efficiency in any situation.Unlike traditional energy, the supply of renewable energy such as wind and solar is highly unpredictable and fluctuating. Control rooms need to balance energy demand and supply continuously, which puts great strain on collaboration and operator workflows.
To streamline their workflows, operators need to be able to organize their different applications and sources into one view. Barco video walls provide operators and decision-makers with an accurate overview of all their video, image and data sources.
In addition, Barco’s video wall controllers and software allow operators to monitor their content simultaneously or exactly when and where they need it, across their organization, from control room to breakout room, or with remote stakeholders.
Renewable energy generation is no longer confined to one specific plant. Instead, wind or solar fields are often geographically scattered, away from the control room, making it harder for operators to efficiently communicate and collaborate with maintenance personnel in the field. These new energy sources often come with new types of technology, requiring the support of specialists who need to be consulted remotely.
With Barco’s SecureStream media streaming solution, control room operators can easily share selected content with remote locations. In this way, authorized field operators or external staff can have a complete situational overview, contributing to better and faster decision-making.