Duke Energy joins Microsoft, Accenture on new methane detection platform

Duke Energy is working with Accenture and Microsoft to develop a new technology platform to measure methane emissions from natural gas distribution systems.

The cloud-hosted platform hosted by Microsoft will provide near real-time data collection, which will allow Duke Energy’s field response teams to more rapidly identify and repair methane leaks. The platform tracks the leaks through various means, including satellites, fixed-wing aircraft, and ground-level sensing technology. The sensor technology can detect trace levels of methane emissions that current technology may not identify. The methane-monitoring platform is expected to be up and running by October.

“This platform will re-imagine how natural gas local distribution companies calculate methane emissions and perform leak surveys and improve the expediency in which leaks may be repaired, resulting in dramatically lower methane emissions,” said Brian Weisker, senior vice president and chief operations officer of  natural gas at Duke Energy. “The current industry standard uses calculated data to report methane emissions, which leaves room for inaccuracies when it comes to actual methane levels.”

Accenture – in collaboration with Avanade, its joint venture with Microsoft – will provide analytics, artificial intelligence and cloud computing for the platform. These technologies will help drive the insights from the platform.

“Our work with Duke Energy and Microsoft demonstrates how technology, innovation and artificial intelligence can help address sustainability challenges,” Mark Schuler, a managing director in Accenture’s utilities practice, said. “Together, we can show others how to achieve their sustainability goals and make it an integral part of delivering value for all stakeholders, and not as one-off practices.”

Methane makes up nearly 10 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions every year, according to estimates from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The energy sector is one of the largest sources of U.S. methane emissions.

“We are looking forward to contributing to this collaboration with Duke Energy, Accenture and Avanade in supporting Duke Energy’s progress to net-zero methane by 2030,” Darryl Willis, Microsoft corporate vice president of energy and sustainability, said. “This is a great example of innovation and collaboration coming together to enable industries to more accurately detect, calculate and report on emissions and take action.”