Avangrid hosts technology leaders at second annual Digital Summit

Technology leaders met at the headquarters of Avangrid in Connecticut last week for the company’s second annual Digital Summit.

The Digital Summit is an event designed to showcase the latest in digital solutions for the energy sector.

“With the uncertainty in today’s economic landscape, innovation and disruptive technology take on heightened importance as the keys to resiliency and growth,” Pedro Azagra, CEO at Avangrid, a leading sustainable energy company, said. “Avangrid’s 2022 Digital Summit demonstrates our commitment to digital transformation and creates a powerful learning and collaborative environment to ensure we keep evolving. It was an amazing opportunity to continue identifying, analyzing, and debating new technologies that will position Avangrid and Iberdrola ahead of the digitalization wave and allow us to thrive.”

The summit included “speed-dating” workshops, or ITechShows, where technology partners, such as AWS, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, Deloitte, Accenture, ESRI, NTT DATA, Wipro, and Schneider Electric, showcased their newest digital products and services.

“As a leader in utility digital transformation, we at Deloitte are proud to team with Avangrid in an event like the ITechShows to explore innovative technologies that deliver sustainable outcomes for organizations in the Utilities sector and everyone in our communities,” Gabriel Tovar, managing director at Deloitte, said.

Featured technologies at the summit included advanced analytics, machine learning, edge computing, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, and robotics, among many others.

“To achieve innovation at scale, companies need the right digital infrastructure, but they also need the right people, processes, and a culture of innovation that allows good ideas to come to become a reality,” Damien Buie, sector lead for renewables and new energies at AWS, who delivered the day’s first keynote talk. “Avangrid’s Digital Summit and ITechShows have been a showcase of a great culture of innovation.”

In 2021, Avangrid invested more than $90 million in energy innovation projects and is on track to increase that investment this year. The company operates approximately 8.5 GW of wind and solar generation. It is also a leader in the emerging offshore wind industry with 2.4 GW contracted, including its landmark 806 MW Vineyard Wind 1 project, a 50/50 joint venture with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. It serves more than 3 million customers across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York.

“As Avangrid helps lead the country’s clean energy transition, it is critical we continue to invest in innovation, talent, and cutting-edge technology,” Azagra said. “The path to a cleaner future depends on our ability to modernize and keep evolving. The Digital Summit was just the first step to implementing new technologies that will make Avangrid the utility of the future.”