Automation Needed to Foward Renewable Energy Transition in Developing Nations – CleanTechnica

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The global transition to renewable energy is fundamentally a technological revolution, extending far beyond the physical installation of solar panels and wind turbines. To make clean energy sources both reliable and cost-effective on a grid scale, the industry leans on a sophisticated digital backbone of automation and data intelligence.

This intricate network of control systems is the unseen force ensuring our sustainable future is also a stable one.

This story came about while attending the AWS AI Summit in Manila recently and the extensive use of energy companies of various forms of artificial intelligence to improve upon Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) platforms.

Operational efficiency

In large-scale solar and wind farms, for example, operational efficiency hinges on intelligent automation. The continuous, real-time adjustments needed to angle a solar panel towards the sun or alter a wind turbine’s blade pitch for maximum energy capture are handled by advanced programmable logic controllers, such as those in the Allen-Bradley ControlLogix family. These systems do more than just optimize output; they are also crucial for predictive maintenance, feeding operational data into analytics platforms that can foresee potential equipment failures.

The energy production ecosystem is often monitored through modernized SCADA platforms. Software like Ignition provides the underlying cloud infrastructure, allowing for scalable, resilient, and secure deployment on services such as Amazon EC2. Automation expert, Rockwell has FactoryTalk View, giving operators a centralized command center to oversee a facility stretching across thousands of acres.

Perhaps the most critical challenge for renewables is intermittency, which is being addressed by large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). These facilities rely on the same powerful industrial control systems to manage the complex flow of energy. Automation platforms govern the instantaneous charge and discharge cycles, allowing the batteries to absorb excess power during peak production and release it precisely when demand rises or generation wanes, thereby ensuring grid stability.

This need for precise control is equally vital in emerging clean energy frontiers like green hydrogen. The production of hydrogen through electrolysis is a delicate process that requires exacting management of pressure, temperature, and electrical inputs to be both safe and efficient. The granular control necessary to scale this technology from pilot projects to industrial-grade facilities is provided by robust process automation systems.

Digital twins

A key innovation is the “digital twin,” a virtual replica of a physical asset, which can be created using software suites like Bentley Systems iTwin Platform and OpenUtilities Digital Twin Services, or Rockwell’s Emulate3D.

This allows engineers to simulate performance, test new control strategies, and optimize operations in a virtual environment. It is this seamless integration of control hardware and intelligent software that forms the true backbone of the modern energy grid, enabling energy producers to derive more power from renewable energy sources.

American innovation, global application

The companies driving this transformation—AWS, Bentley Systems, and Rockwell Automation—represent a distinctly American approach to technological leadership. Their dominance in industrial automation and digital transformation reveals something deeper about American innovation philosophy: the instinct to build solutions not just for domestic markets, but for planetary-scale challenges.

Consider Rockwell Automation’s “Connected Enterprise” strategy, which integrates control and information systems across entire industrial operations. This isn’t merely a product offering; it’s an architectural vision for how distributed systems should communicate. When implemented in renewable energy projects from the Philippines to Germany to Chile, it carries with it a fundamentally American assumption: that complex problems require open, scalable, interoperable solutions.

On solar and wind

For the solar power industry, Rockwell Automation offers a range of solutions for both photovoltaic (PV) panel manufacturers and solar farm operators. These include automation for production lines, quality control systems, and advanced analytics to improve panel efficiency. For solar farms, the company provides supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems for monitoring and controlling vast arrays of solar panels, as well as solutions for grid integration and energy storage.

Similarly, in the wind energy sector, Rockwell Automation’s technologies are utilized in the manufacturing of wind turbines and the management of wind farms. Their control systems are integral to the operation of turbines, optimizing blade pitch and yaw for maximum energy capture. On a larger scale, their automation platforms enable the efficient operation of entire wind farms, including power collection, substation automation, and remote monitoring.

Rockwell Automation is also at the forefront of the emerging clean hydrogen economy with projects like their collaboration with Utility Global. The company provides automation and control systems for electrolyzer skids, which are the core component of green hydrogen production. Their solutions ensure the safe and efficient operation of systems that use renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

A technological paradox

Recognizing the intermittent nature of many renewable energy sources, Rockwell Automation is also actively involved in energy storage solutions. The company provides control systems for battery energy storage systems (BESS), which are essential for storing excess renewable energy and releasing it when demand peaks or generation dips.

What emerges from this technical landscape is a fascinating paradox. At a moment when American politics increasingly turns inward, American technology has never been more globally integrated. This paradox reveals something deeper about American technological leadership in the 21st century—which I explore in my next article coming soon.