Duke Energy collaborates with Amazon Web Services on smart grid solutions

Duke Energy announced Thursday that it would collaborate with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build new smart grid software and services and expand its suite of custom-built applications to anticipate future energy demand.

The two companies said they would enter a multiyear strategic collaboration to accelerate Duke’s development of grid solutions. In turn, AWS said it would work with Duke to build out cloud technologies to support Duke’s grid-planning solutions so that they run faster and more cost-effectively.

“Our digital evolution is foundational to our clean energy transition,” said Bonnie Titone, senior vice president and chief information officer at Duke Energy. “For example, to accurately simulate future energy needs and plan investments for the grid, we need to run hundreds of millions of power flow calculations – a process that would take weeks using traditional IT hardware. By using cloud technologies that AWS is developing for Duke Energy, we aim to run those same simulations in 15 minutes or less.”

The move is part of Duke’s aggressive clean energy strategy to create a smarter energy future. The strategy also includes investing $145 billion over the next 10 years in capital projects, the bulk of which will go toward electric grid modernization that will improve the grid’s reliability and resiliency, connect renewables and prepare the grid for electric vehicle adoption while keeping energy affordable for the end user.

“Duke Energy and AWS share similar commitments to a smarter and cleaner energy future with net-zero carbon emissions,” said Sarah Cooper, general manager of AWS Industry Products. “These Intelligent Grid Services leverage the proven scalability and reliability of the world’s leading cloud and will help Duke Energy meet energy demands while maximizing the use of clean energy sources, such as solar and wind power, to serve their customers.”