Company Background
Introduction
In the Oscar-winning major motion picture, “A Beautiful Mind,” actor Russell Crowe portrays John Nash, a brilliant mathematician whose theory of rational conflict and cooperation shook up modern economics and became one of the most influential ideas of the twentieth century. Nash, who won a Nobel Prize for his influential work, took a fresh look at an old problem and created a startling new theory.
Antoni Trias-Bonet, co-founder of GRUPO AIA, has a similar story to tell. Trias-Bonet, who holds a doctorate in physics from Universidad de Barcelona, Spain, took a fresh look at the theory involved in managing the flow of energy on a power grid. An industry that had been totally dependent on the Newton-Raphson theory to manage energy flow was about to experience a major shake-up: Trias-Bonet created a new set of algorithms that, unlike Newton-Raphson, will never yield an incorrect response. The new approach yielded a real-time management tool that dramatically improved the reliability and restoration of electrical systems.
Today, GRUPO AIA's new solution is used by the electricity industry in Spain and California, and will soon be expanding to other parts of the world. EleQuant, Inc. was created in 2002 to market GRUPO AIA's product in North America.
Industry Overview
According to the North American Electric Reliability Council (NAERC), transmission congestion is expected to continue over the next decade. Growth in demand, new generation additions and the increasing number of energy transactions continue to outstrip the proposed expansion of transmission systems.
In a report on the reliability of the U.S. electrical industry over the next decade, NAERC declared, “other approaches to address transmission system limitations and congestion must be considered.” The Council advised that new approaches should include “the construction of new generation in demand centers, the implementation of advanced transmission technologies, or economic incentives for customers to voluntarily reduce their demand.”
History
Founded 14 years ago in Barcelona, GRUPO AIA is a technology consultancy and software development company that specializes in solving complex problems for the energy, banking and telecommunications industries.
AIA is known throughout Europe for its innovative solutions for river basin hydro-generation optimization, electricity demand forecasting and intelligent observation and management of electrical grids. The company employs more than 100 physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, electrical and telecommunication engineers who are dedicated to solving complex industrial problems.
In 2002, the company launched its U.S. operations with the formation of EleQuant™ headquartered in San Francisco. EleQuant initially will focus on selling the company's energy products to utilities, independent system operators, regional transmission operators and other organizations involved with management of electricity grids throughout North America. EleQuant, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of GRUPO AIA.
The Solution
EleQuant's main energy product, Advanced Grid Observation Reliable Algorithms (AGORA™), allows power system operators to effectively observe as well as simulate the activity on a power grid under any condition, allowing for more accurate planning and response. The system provides much more effective modeling for grid operators than conventional tools offer, even with just partial information about grid conditions.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) became GRUPO AIA/EleQuant's first U.S. customer when the utility purchased AGORA in 2001 to help manage its 18,000-mile transmission system. Utility companies in Spain, including Red Electrica de Espana S.A. and the Endesa Holding, also use the sophisticated management software in control centers in Madrid, Barcelona and Seville.
AGORA provides grid operators with:
- Real-time monitoring and observation tools
- Voltage collapse assessment
- System-wide or localized disturbance analysis and optimal restoration tool
- Powerful, fast and reliable load flow and state estimator
- Highly reliable grid modeling tool
- Minimizes losses on the grid
- Load forecast calculation
- Contingency analysis
AIA/EleQuants's Approach vs. the Newton-Raphson Method
For decades, the Newton-Raphson method has been used industry-wide as a tool to analyze the behavior of electrical power systems. However, Newton-Raphson can provide incorrect information that could result in inaccurate system planning, especially in more complex electrical systems.
Groundbreaking mathematical work by engineers at GRUPO AIA created AGORA, a solution that provides the correct answer 100 percent of the time in normal operations and 100 percent of the time in the vicinity of voltage collapse and disturbances. By contrast, Newton-Raphson will provide the correct answer 90 percent of the time in normal operations and no answer at all in the vicinity of voltage collapse.
Solution Improves Reliability of Electricity Transmission Lines
Unlike solutions using Newton-Raphson, AGORA guarantees that grid operators are never using incorrect information, dramatically increasing the reliability of the electrical grid. The load flow and state estimator tools ensure that incorrect information coming from the field is immediately detected. With real-time information flowing in at all times and properly estimated, operators are able to quickly react to any changes in the grid—often within seconds.
Helps Quickly Restore Power after Blackouts
Disturbance management has always been a major problem for electrical companies. However, before AGORA, no effective solutions were available. EleQuant's solution provides operators with a powerful tool to analyze, plan for and manage electric system disturbances—both planned and unplanned.
Dramatically Increases Efficiency
Utilities and other organizations responsible for managing the nation's power grid spend a significant amount of staff time on routine analysis and planning activities. Utilities regularly take equipment out of service for maintenance and must prepare plans that maintain the normal flow of power and avoid any disruption to the customers. Using AGORA's load flow tools, an organization could reduce the required engineering staff hours by 90 percent (from several days to several minutes). AIA researchers estimate that using AGORA, a small utility could save nearly $1 million annually by minimizing interruptions of power.