Kongsberg Digital & BKK Nett's sustainable software
As the green energy transition intensifies, software company Kongsberg Digital has investigated how digital twins can be used to ensure optimal operation of power grids.
A digital twin is a virtual representation of something. Using simulation, a digital twin helps businesses who need to make decisions in unknown areas do so before making decisions in reality. A digital twin can help businesses make smarter decisions.
As a result of this investigation, Kongsberg Digital recently launched Kognitwin Grid, a digital twin for power grids.
BKK Nett, one of Norway's largest distributors of electrical energy, has signed an agreement on a six-month Research & Development project to further develop and test Kognitwin Grid.
Sustainable software solutions
Kongsberg Digital, a subsidiary of Kongsberg, creates software solutions for the maritime, oil, gas and renewable sectors. Named after the city it is located in, in south-eastern Norway, the company has a revenue of US$1bn.
Electrical energy company BKK Nett is headquartered in Bergen, Norway.
Based on the company's digital platform Kognifai, Kongsberg Digital has developed the SaaS product, Kognitwin Grid, in close collaboration with industry and research partners.
This is a digital twin of the power grid, which provides insights on:
- Grid bottlenecks
- Grid scenarios
- Grid investments
Collaboration is key in sustainability progress
Hege Skryseth, President of Kongsberg Digital and EVP Kongsberg, is concerned about the impact of green electric power on systems not built to handle such demand.
“While an increasing part of the world's energy systems and the means of transport are becoming electric, the pressure is increasing on the power grid infrastructure, which is not built to handle the new complexity”, said Hege Skryseth. “One of the solutions is to keep building out grids for maximum capacity, resulting in more costly infrastructure and thus more expensive electricity for consumers. Digital twins enable precise and data-driven real-time insight so that operators can forecast specific needs, introduce measures to balance the network and prevent black-outs without building it out.”
Eivind Flatlandsmo, project manager in BKK Nett, is looking forward to further collaboration with Kongsberg Digital.
“One of our strategic goals is to become more data-driven in the decision-making processes for development, management and operation of the power grid”, said Eivind Flatlandsmo, project manager R&D in BKK Nett. “This requires large amounts of data and information from various sources, which in turn requires new tools and methods to generate the insight we need. Fundamental to everything is data quality and information security, without this we cannot rely on the results produced or the software itself."
Flatlandsmo has learned a lot during the project and believes collaboration is key.
"We now know more about what a digital twin is, the work required to create a twin of value, and the potential the twin enables. The project has also given us a picture of our digital maturity level, the capacity for development and implementation of new solutions. This requires the two most important resources we have and always want more of: people and time. We are proud to continue our collaboration with Kongsberg Digital. We want to contribute to the green shift that challenges today's power grid. To solve this, we need help. We cannot solve all our challenges alone”, concluded Flatlandsmo.