GE Power & Water unveils the Digital Power Plant

GE announces its Digital Power Plant, a revolutionary software and hardware solution that creates a virtual ‘’Digital Twin’’ of an entire industrial power plant complex.

Powered by GE’s Predix platform, the operating system of the Industrial Internet, “Digital Twin” is a collection of physics-based methods and digital technologies that are used to model the present state of every asset in a Digital Power Plant or a Digital Wind Farm. This transformational technology lets utilities monitor and manage every aspect of the power generation ecosystem to generate electricity as cleanly, efficiently and securely as the global economy and environment now demand with unprecedented real-time control and precision.

"The world is expected to need 50 percent more power over the next 20 years, including providing electricity for the 1.3 billion people without access today,” said Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Power & Water. “Imagine the benefits to our global economy and society when the power source of the world's economy, electricity, is as digitally connected and efficient as the modern technologies dependent on that electrical power."

The Digital Power Plant is more than connectivity and more than just one solution. Once an entire power plant is digitized, it can deploy applications powered by the Predix platform to continuously improve assets and operations. Predix is the only secure cloud and platform built for and by industry experts to support the unique scale and requirements of industrial data.

It also is the only platform with security and governance built in to allow developers to quickly build, test and deploy applications for highly regulated industries. Incorporating decades of experience in operational security and information security, Predix Cloud is designed with the most advanced security protocols available, including customized, adaptive security solutions for industrial operators and developers.

“To transform the entire energy value chain, we need a purpose-built, modern digital industrial stack—from software-defined machines, to the controls, to the cloud,” said Ganesh Bell, GE P&W, chief digital officer and GM of Software & Analytics. “We invite our customers to innovate with Predix to improve their performance and results.”

Exelon Generation and GE Power & Water have entered into an agreement to implement a Predix-powered suite of enterprise-wide software technologies across three fuel sources—nuclear, gas and wind. GE’s other launch customer, PSEG, recently chose GE’s software solutions to upgrade multiple gas-powered plants to improve their reliability and operational performance.

Read the GE white paper “Powering the Future: Leading the digital transformation of the power industry” to further explore the implications of the digital transformation of the energy industry,

For more information on GE’s Digital Power Plant, visit http://www.ge.com/industries/power-and-energy/power-generation/