34% of your colleagues are SECRETLY using AI at work
Last year was a massive year for AI. In August 2023, Retool surveyed over 1500 people about their relationship with with Generative AI (GenAI) and found that 34.4% responded “Yes” when asked if they secretly used AI at work. While almost 20% responded that they only used AI “within company policy”, this finding still highlights the need for companies to take charge and make a plan for how they use GenAI.
Domain expertise will change the world, NOT software companies
Last week
By 2030 we will need an extra 1.3 million white-collar workers to operate and maintain the renewable power plants worldwide.
A McKinsey & Company analysis predicts that by 2030 we will need an extra 1.3 million white-collar workers to operate and maintain the renewable power plants worldwide. Additionally, 2.1 million blue-collar workers have to be added to the workforce solely for the operations and maintenance of these power plants.
Operating expenses now impact the LCOE more than solar modules cost!
First things first: LCOE, or Levelized Cost Of Energy, measures the overall cost of generating electricity over the plant’s lifetime. This includes the costs connected to developing, building, operating, and decommissioning the power plant and its resulting production. The LCOE for solar and wind has decreased significantly in recent years, in some instances falling below USD 50 per MWh. The rapid decrease can be attributed to multiple variables, including the reduction of cost of key equipment, decreased installation costs, improved efficiency and capacity factors, increased competition with more service providers, and innovations. As the overall cost of generating electricity has fallen, the relative importance of operating expenses (Opex) has risen. Currently, Opex typically accounts between 20% and 30% of the LCOE - a significant portion. As a comparison, for utility solar, in certain countries, the Capex connected to the supply of modules impacts less than 25% of the LCOE (or 33% of the overall Capex). This shift emphasises the crucial role of balancing increased production with optimised Opex to remain competitive. Opex now play an integral role in the LCOE. To meet our ambitions of deploying more solar, we need to continue pushing the LCOE downwards - let’s look at ways of further improving our Opex. We have to remember that LCOE does not give the entire picture for renewables. With the increasing grid penetration of non-controllable renewable power plants like wind and solar, the LCOE does not consider indirect costs linked to adapting the grids (cross border interconnections, storage, new transmission lines). Thus, on the long term, LCOE might not be sufficient to capture the full picture.
Have you heard about the ISO 55000 on Asset Management?
This standard provides guidance on how to implement and manage an efficient and reliable asset management system. It might not come as a surprise but asset information is a central piece of the puzzle.
Would you say your wind and solar portfolio is complex?
The renewable energy sector, particularly wind and solar portfolios, is experiencing unprecedented complexity due to evolving market dynamics. Asset managers now face multiple challenges, including transitioning from subsidized production to mixed market strategies, managing strict forecasting requirements, implementing storage solutions, expanding internationally, handling end-of-life asset management, integrating agrivoltaics, scaling from MW to GW portfolios, simultaneously managing diverse asset sizes, and taking on increased responsibility in construction and supply chain management. These complexities require asset managers to adapt and develop new strategies while maintaining cost-effective operations in an increasingly sophisticated renewable energy landscape.
1,000,000,000,000 watts of solar per YEAR!
If current projections are right, 1 TW of solar capacity will be deployed every year starting 2028. The only “problem” is that forecasts for deployment have consistently underestimated the rate of deployment. This makes it likely that we’ll reach this milestone even early, possibly as early as 2026! The impact of this rate of deployment is profound, with the most obvious being a massive yearly increase of the renewable energy being made available. However, it will also expose any cracks in the “foundations” of companies, grid infrastructure, and national regulations. Once these cracks start showing it quickly becomes very expensive to retroactively mitigate them. Amongst the initiatives addressing these challenges is
Aevy becomes a member of SolarPower Europe!
SolarPower Europe is the leading European association when it comes to solar. Representing IPPs, utilities, manufacturers, O&M, and many other key players, their dedicated policy experts lead focused work streams, address key issues, and influence legislation. And we will not be a passive member! As the Opex fraction of total project cost is increasing, optimal asset management is becoming increasingly important. Therefore we have already joined two working groups focused on optimizing asset management. Ready to make our contribution to elevating the industry.
Aevy x La French Tech
Stig Sund had the chance to present Aevy at a Viva Technology ‘side event’ organised by LaFrenchTech. With over 200 guests coming from all over the world, calling it a ‘side event’ is almost an understatement!
Aevy x WindEnergy: Introducing the Virtual Asset Manager
Come visit the Aevy booth at WindEnergy Hamburg! We are being welcomed by AI CENTER in Hall 3, stand 331.6. For the first time ever and just for the WindEnergy Hamburg attendees we'll be sharing some sneak preview of what the Virtual Asset Manager will look like. Commercial and administrative asset management of wind assets needs to take a sharp turn to become scalable and allow the ambitious growth and the increasing complexity we've got planned ahead. Leveraging the latest AI technologies and a wind and solar domaine-specific data-model, the first ever Virtual Asset Manager for renewables will become available end of this year. Come talk to us about it - first come, first served!
