The energy and utility sector is widely considered the chief enabler of economic growth in every country. The reason is simple – without power, it is nearly impossible to keep the world running as everything from industries to even automobiles is now mostly powered by electricity. 

But, over time, the energy sector has witnessed a massive transition in its outlook from “making power anyhow” to “making power sustainably.” Businesses in this space are under immense pressure to optimize their production facilities to lower emissions, follow sustainable and standard energy management practices, and ensure a continuous supply of clean energy for various needs. 

A good portion of their budgets go towards optimizing and securing their physical infrastructure, and as such, energy organizations need new innovations to manage their assets with minimal supervision and field staff. This is where visual analytics can be a game changer.

Visual Analytics in the Energy and Utilities Sector

In simple terms, visual analytics leverages computer vision to discover insights from visual data and use it to automate decision-making. Nearly every major power production and management facility will be equipped with several visual monitoring systems like security cameras. 

Enterprises can use the live video feed from these cameras as visual data and leverage powerful visual analytics tools like KamerAI to discover new ways of automating their facility operations without risk. In the energy sector, this would mean a range of automated operations in areas like securing the facility, managing strategic equipment positioning within facilities, and more.

How Computer Vision Enables Better Operations in the Energy Sector?

Let us explore some of the top applications of computer vision in the energy and utility sector:

Entry Authorization

Being critical assets and key drivers of economic growth, power generation facilities and utility management infrastructure are often housed in highly secure environments. They must be protected at all times as critical assets are often the target of threat agents. That’s because of the scale of impact that can be realized by a deliberate disruption of the facility’s functioning. 

As such, the first step in securing the facility is to ensure that only authorized personnel are permitted to enter designated zones within the facility. With computer vision, energy companies can leverage facial recognition to ensure that only the right personnel are permitted to enter the facility. It can be an additional layer of security on top of access cards or other biometric privileges provided to authorized personnel.

Autonomous Perimeter Monitoring

Similar to the entry points, perimeter security is a high-priority area for critical infrastructure establishments like power generation facilities. Intrusions must be dealt with dynamically and fast. But to do so, the key is to identify any potential threat before it progresses into an intrusion. 

While traditional CCTV and radar technology do provide some level of assurance, they are not failproof and can even set off alarms for the wrong reason, like animal trespassing. Besides, such measures require human staff to constantly monitor the live video feeds and motion patterns. 

Computer vision-guided security systems, however, leverage the live security camera video feeds and use machine learning to identify suspicious movements in the perimeter. They can identify whether the movement is being caused by a stray animal or a threat agent. Subsequently, they can alert security personnel to take action to prevent intrusion.

Eliminate Leaks of Hazardous Materials

Energy production facilities that leverage gas or other chemical sources of power often have very toxic environments being created within their core operational environments. In the worst-case scenario, a small leak somewhere in the network of power generation infrastructure can result in poisonous emissions finding their way into the workplace, putting lives at risk. 

It is imperative to protect staff from being exposed to such toxins. Visual analytics can help in identifying potential leaks through analysis of live feeds from thermal imaging sensors and cameras installed in such facilities. The presence of any hazardous gas in the environment can be easily detected and relevant stakeholders can be automatically notified to prevent staff from entering the danger zone.

Manage Equipment Operations

Several power plants employ dozens of heavy machineries that may be constantly set in motion to generate power. Take the case of turbines in a power plant where fossil fuels or any other energy source is utilized to produce heat which in turn converts water into steam that powers the turbines to generate electricity. 

There may be instances where turbine shafts or the turbine itself might be moving away from the pre-defined work environment owing to natural effects while working for a long duration. Computer vision-enabled systems can easily detect this movement of machines and notify the relevant teams to act. This will help improve the life of machines due to optimal maintenance and operating schedules.

The Final Word

Visual analytics can go a long way in making energy and utility companies work better, creating a safer workplace for employees, and eliminating costs of manual work and supervision across their large infrastructure. 

Getting the best ROI on computer vision investments is critical in ensuring a sustained growth trajectory. This is where the KamerAI platform can become a major asset for companies in this sector. Get in touch with us to know more.