GRIDiant Corp., a provider of software applications for electric utilities, and Baltimore Gas and Electric, Maryland's largest gas and electric utility, have announced a joint technology agreement to commercialize a new software application that could improve the reliability of the smart grid and lower distribution line crew costs for utilities.
The new GRIDplan Fault Circuit Indicator (FCI) software, which will be sold and marketed by GRIDiant, will assist utilities in determining the optimal placement of fault circuit sensing devices, reducing the time it takes a line crew to locate a fault. As a result, the duration of potential power outages could be reduced.
The partnership leverages a patent-pending methodology and algorithm developed and piloted by BGE as well as GRIDiant's GRIDfast patented optimization engine. GRIDplan FCI will soon be available to other utilities and FCI vendors.
"We were very encouraged by the savings realized during our pilot project using GRIDplan's FCI prototype," says Paul Frey, manager of BGE's smart grid distribution system pilot. "With these planning and analysis capabilities, our combined technologies will enable us to continue to improve the reliability of our network."
