7 Energy Challenges Addressed by Cloud Engineering Services

Introduction

The energy and utility industry is experiencing some major transformations. These transformations are mainly caused by climate change. There is also a growing demand for clean energy solutions.  Due to this, the industry faces challenges in data management and compliance.

Software plays an important role in mitigating these challenges. Cloud services have become a powerful tool. They help speed up energy and utilities software development.

By 2023, cloud computing in the global energy market is likely to reach USD 2.84 billion. Businesses want scalable, secure, and data-driven energy and utility software.

Cloud-based platforms built using cloud engineering services are in demand. They help organizations become efficient and flexible by helping them deal with technological challenges.

Let’s explore how cloud engineering services can help the energy and utilities industry tackle some major challenges!

7 Energy and Utility Challenges Solved By Cloud Engineering Services 

Challenge #1 Lack of Scalability and Agility During Peak Hours

The energy sector often experiences major fluctuations in demand. Traditional IT infrastructure finds it difficult to handle these fluctuations.

This leads to performance issues and outages. This may impact business, especially during peak hours.

Solution: 

• By utilizing cloud-based solutions, businesses can access on-demand resources. Developers can use them to scale their software up or down, based on real-time energy consumption. This allows the software to efficiently handle peak loads. At the same time, its performance is not compromised.

Consider cloud-based smart metering solutions for instance. They can accommodate high traffic during peak hours. This ensures accurate data collection and billing.

• Cloud platforms also provide easy horizontal scaling. Developers can add or remove virtual machines as needed. This allows the software to adapt to changing business needs and functionalities easily.

Take, for example, a cloud-based Distributed Energy Resources (DER) management platform that is scalable. The platform can easily integrate a network of solar panels and battery storage systems which keep growing and expanding.

Challenge #2 Meeting the High IT Infrastructure Costs

Energy and utilities companies need significant investments in IT infrastructure. This includes servers, storage solutions, and networking equipment. Sometimes, this can be a financial hurdle in software development.

Solution: 

• Cloud engineering services eliminate the need for this initial capital expenditure. Utilities only pay for the resources they use. This frees up capital for energy and utilities software development. The ‘pay-as-you-go’ model supports cost-efficient software development.
• Secondly, cloud platforms handle a large part of IT infrastructure management. This includes software updates, security patches, and hardware maintenance. As a result, the burden on internal IT staff is reduced. They can focus on core software development activities which minimizes operational costs for the utility.

Challenge #3 Time-Consuming Software Development Process

Energy and utilities software development is a time-consuming process.

Solutions:

• Cloud engineering services empower organizations to develop and deploy cloud solutions with the help of pre-configured tools and services. These include Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) based solutions. Using these, developers speed up their software development process.
• Additionally, developers can also use Software as a Service (SaaS) offered by cloud-based solutions. These can be used for application-specific needs. Such as customer relationship management (CRM), workforce management., etc.
• Using pre-built infrastructure and software, developers save time and effort. They can focus on core software functionalities like data analysis, user interfaces, and business logic.
• Cloud engineering services are also likely to shape the future of DevOps. Adopting these practices will be beneficial for energy companies. They can accelerate development cycles and the time-to-market for energy and utilities software development.

Challenge #4 Ensuring That the Energy Infrastructure Is Secure and Reliable 

Energy infrastructure plays an important role in today’s modern society. Therefore, ensuring its security is important.

If there are any breaches in the data stored by the energy sector, they can result in power supply disruptions and outages.

Solution:

• Cloud engineering services depend greatly on high-security features. These include end-to-end encryption, firewalls, unauthorized access control, and more. These features are constantly updated and monitored. Thus, cloud solutions ensure higher levels of security.
• Cloud providers also offer repetitive infrastructure across multiple geographic locations. This redundancy makes sure that software applications are highly available even when there is a hardware failure or natural disaster. Energy companies get uninterrupted operation of energy and utilities software. This helps them maintain grid stability and offer efficient customer service.

Challenge #5 Analyzing Vast Amounts of Data Needs High Processing Power and Storage Capacity

The energy and utilities sector generates vast amounts of data from various sources. Sources include smart meters, grid sensors, and customer data.

Gaining insights based on this data is important for several reasons. Some of them are, optimizing the performance of grids, integrating sustainable energy resources, and addressing customer needs. However, analyzing such massive datasets requires significant processing power and storage capacity.

Solution:

• Cloud engineering solutions are used to build platforms with high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities. These capabilities are specifically designed for Big Data analytics.
• Cloud solutions can also handle large datasets which are generated by the energy and utilities sector. Businesses can make use of these datasets in several ways. Some include identifying trends in energy usage, predicting peak demand periods, and optimizing the production of renewable energy.

For instance, cloud-based analytics tools analyze smart meter data to identify energy-efficient appliances. Based on this data, they also recommend conservation measures to customers. As a result, energy consumption and carbon emissions are reduced.

Challenge #6 Absence of Real-Time Collaboration and Innovation Among Teams

Teams must collaborate in real time to accelerate energy and utilities software development. This is also necessary for furthering innovation.

Solution:

• Cloud platforms promote collaboration and innovation with the help of cloud engineering services. Multiple teams can access and work on software projects simultaneously, even if they are located in different regions. This leads to faster development cycles. It also facilitates knowledge sharing between teams.
• Team members can also share data and models securely through a cloud platform. Thus, utilities and third-party developers can collaboratively work on innovative solutions.

For instance, a utility company and a software startup can easily collaborate on electric vehicle charging infrastructure using cloud-based platforms.

• Cloud marketplaces also offer access to a wide range of pre-built software components and APIs. Developers can use these to integrate new functionalities into their software without having to write the code from scratch. This speeds up innovation and software development.

Challenge #7 Minimizing the Impact Caused on the Environment Due to Carbon Emissions

A large portion of greenhouse emissions are caused by the energy sector. Businesses prefer energy-efficient energy and utilities software development.

Solution:

• Cloud providers promote green technologies and renewable energy sources to improve the efficiency of their data centers. This can be beneficial for utility companies using cloud platforms. They can focus on sustainability by reducing their carbon footprint associated with software development and operation.
• Cloud-based solutions also offer multiple environmental benefits. Such as cloud-powered smart grid management platforms. These platforms optimize energy distribution, minimize line losses, and assist in the integration of renewable energy sources. As a result, companies can offer cleaner energy without relying on fossil fuels.

Conclusion 

Cloud engineering services assist organizations in achieving efficiency, flexibility, and innovation. They offer the necessary tools, infrastructure, and services to optimize operations. Combining them with DevOps best practices offers many advantages.

It makes the process of energy and utilities Software Development efficient and effective. Moreover, the future of DevOps in the energy and utilities sector looks promising for businesses. Thanks to its focus on data-driven insights.

Cloud computing and DevOps practices will transform the way software is built and used in the energy and utilities sector. Companies must hire the best energy and utility services provider to build energy-efficient and sustainable software.