Staying ahead of the technology curve means strengthening your competitive advantage. That is why we give you data-driven innovation insights into impacting the utility sector. This time, you get to discover 5 hand-picked digital twin startups impacting utility companies.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights 5 Top Digital Twin Startups impacting Utility Companies out of 354
The insights of this data-driven analysis are derived from the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 2.093.000+ startups & scaleups globally. The platform gives you an exhaustive overview of emerging technologies & relevant startups within a specific field in just a few clicks.
The Global Startup Heat Map below reveals the distribution of the 354 exemplary startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research. Further, it highlights 5 digital twin startups that we hand-picked based on criteria such as founding year, location, funding raised, and more. You get to explore the solutions of these 5 startups & scaleups in this report. For insights on the other 349 digital twin solutions for utility companies, get in touch.
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Exposé develops a Digital Twin for Utility Companies
For the utility sector, digital twin technology enables accurate modeling of physical generation, transmission or flow, and distribution of assets along with customer consumption rates. As a result, they improve operational decision-making and demand-side management. To this end, startups utilize 3D scanning and continuous asset and system monitoring to generate digital twins of established utility networks. This further reduces the time to create realistic models for large networks of assets without disrupting daily workflow.
Australian startup Exposé develops digital twins for power and water utilities. The startup’s digital twin combines the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), and predictive analytics to avoid closed bespoke development approaches. This improves their adaptability to variable environments and applications. Additionally, the startup enables predictive analytics to provide valuable insights into utility companies’ operations. Exposé’s digital twin solutions find numerous utility applications, including capacity planning, demand prediction, and asset management.
Idrica builds a Digital Twin for Sewage Networks
Smart management of water and wastewater is integral to align with global initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, digital twin solutions drive sewage network efficiency and improve sanity. Apart from offering a real-time simulation of the physical counterpart, digital twins enhance visibility asset conditions and other deviations from required operations such as effluent monitoring and treatment operations.
Idrica is a Spanish startup that provides digital twins for wastewater treatment plants as well as sewage and stormwater networks. The startup uses data from sensors and conventional hydraulic models to simulate different scenarios and real-time operations. Idrica also develops another wastewater management solution, GoAigua, with a centralized service operation center. These solutions include flood simulation using predictive models, discharge control, and sewage network monitoring, among others.
Digital Water Works creates a Digital Twin for Water Infrastructure
For water utilities, severe weather events, growing urban demand, and over-allocation are immediate challenges. Digital twins offer accelerated risk assessment, allowing utility operators to identify process failures. Additionally, they enable predictive maintenance, thereby reducing maintenance costs. This is why startups develop digital twin solutions to manage risk and address water security before the inefficiencies affect the communities.
US-based startup Digital Water Works creates digital twins for water utilities. The startup combines information from business information modeling (BIM), geographic information system (GIS), and enterprise asset management (EAM) with operational technologies like telemetry and actuators. It also replicates in-the-moment models of pipes, treatment plants, pumps, and storage facilities, among others. This allows water utility companies to monitor & respond to water networks, collaborate with various departments, as well as forecast short- and long-term performance.
GML develops a Digital Twin for Power Grids
Automation and digitization in the utility sector are further fueling the integration of digital twins in the energy utility sector for grid management and demand management. Moreover, digital twins further enable touchpoints at each step of the electricity utility, from storage to delivering power to the customers. Using this data, startups offer valuable insights into grid operations and customer behavior with big data and analytics.
GML is a Portuguese startup that develops digital twins for power grids. The startup enables the understanding of electrical, mechanical, and thermal behavior of transmission assets without installing sensors. It combines information from various sources such as power meters, industrial internet of things (IIoT), weather data, and topography. This approach significantly reduces the configuration time and implementation cost of the digital twin. In addition, GML provides a portfolio of software solutions that aid in asset monitoring, locating faulty points, and power optimization, among others.
Gradyent creates a Digital Twin for Heating System
Energy requirements for heat networks and the inefficiency in conventional heat networks is a critical issue for the heat utility companies. Therefore, these companies are adding more sustainable heat sources for the heating networks. The present heat sources only have few centralized heat sources even though it is an energy-efficient solution for high-heat consumption areas. Digital twins aid heat management by offering real-time feedback on domestic heating requirements while optimizing the heat network for maximum efficiency and minimal heat wastage.
Gradyent is a Dutch startup that creates digital twins for heating networks. The startup’s platform analyzes customer heat demand on a granular basis and combines it with hydraulic and thermo-dynamic losses within the network. Gradyent’s AI-driven platform dynamically optimizes the heat network based on historical data. This, as a result, lowers heat losses, capital expenses, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in heat networks. The startup also provides data visualization-based decision support systems and automates network control.
Discover more Utility Startups
Utility startups such as the examples highlighted in this report focus on digital twin solutions and implementation for water, gas, and electric utility companies. While all of these technologies play a major role in advancing utility management, they only represent the tip of the iceberg. To explore more technology solutions for utility companies, simply get in touch to let us look into your areas of interest. For a more general overview, you can download one of our free Industry Innovation Reports to save your time and improve strategic decision-making.
