The constant evolution of the energy industry requires frequent innovation and quick responses to meet the inherent challenges and changes. In the coming months and years, certain trends stand out as significant threats to the power grid. Only by anticipating and preparing for each of these can we help you to ensure stability and continue to thrive.
Here are some imminent risks that companies in the energy industry will face and how to begin solving for them:
1. Threat: The necessity of increased cycling will also, unfortunately, put added strain on your operations and can result in stressed equipment, even to the point of complete breakdown.
Solution: Implement diagnostic solutions that can predict danger zones before they worsen by carefully monitoring system performances. Ensure sufficient equipment maintenance and give your teams ample time to react, rather than waiting for dangerous situations and forcing them into panic mode. Not only can you manage cycling through these adjustments to your power plant, you will see clear boosts in operational agility, without losing productivity or putting excessive wear on machinery.
2. Threat: Increased use of renewable energy sources coupled with their unpredictable nature causes spikes in demand that are difficult to anticipate and compensate for during production.
Solution: Certain technologies can optimize flow and performance to respond to whatever the current demand requires, even as it fluctuates. To circumvent surprise, carefully schedule downtime and establish maintenance routines that assure you your products are performing optimally. This will build on your own sureties, regardless of the rise and fall of energy needs.
3. Threat: Half of the electric utility workforce will retire within the next ten years, as predicted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, and this disappearing workforce means fewer resources and added stress on remaining staff.
Solution: People are now an invaluable resource—and in order to compensate for the decrease in numbers, it’s important to enhance current staff effectiveness and offset for the coming losses. Through extensive training and implementation of new systems, you can maximize the talent that remains while utilizing the full capabilities of machinery automation.
4. Threat: Shifting EPA regulations will continue to complicate the way you determine costs and hiring needs.
Solution: As research continues to shed light on energy questions, your challenge will be to meet this new information and rise to each occasion. Just visible on the horizon is an inevitable transition to natural gas. And with that must come an adjustment to your operations. Partner with experts who can navigate the logistics of the change while advising and guiding in the implementation of each new reality.
Your business is too important to leave it vulnerable to changing threats and constantly emerging challenges. Prepare to meet every energy-related difficulty by partnering with Micro Motion and taking advantage of all of the experience we have to offer.
