IBM Institute for Business Value | Benchmark Insights: Preparing Electric Utilities for the Energy Transition
Overview
- Objective: IBM and APQC's Clean Electrification Maturity Model (CEMM) helps electric utilities enhance resilience, reliability, and sustainability through a clean electrification strategy.
- Key Players: IBM, APQC, and leading corporations aiming for net-zero carbon emissions.
Key Findings
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Current State:
- Progress: Utilities are modernizing for decarbonization, but progress is slow.
- Maturity: Average maturity of clean electrification capabilities is low, indicating significant opportunities for advancement.
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Challenges:
- Technology and Grid Operations: Most mature utilities prioritize IT/OT architecture initiatives and have an enterprise IT architecture in place.
- Data Analytics: The most mature utilities deploy advanced data analytics and real-time analytics, significantly differentiating them from less mature counterparts.
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Opportunities:
- Strategic Vision: Organizations with a clear vision and strategy for innovation and modernization are more successful.
- Leadership: High-maturity utilities are leading in critical domains such as modeling and planning, financial and risk management, and data and analytics.
Clean Electrification
- Tipping Points: In 2023, investments in solar power generation will exceed spending on oil production, and emissions from power generation are expected to decline.
- Goals: Utilities aim to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 as per the Paris Agreement.
- Investments: Multi-trillion-dollar investments in grid improvements are necessary to meet growing electricity demand.
The Clean Electrification Maturity Model (CEMM)
- Purpose: To provide a comprehensive tool for measuring performance across various capabilities and guiding modernization efforts.
- Structure: Eight domains including business vision, regulatory and stakeholder management, modeling and planning, financial and risk management, etc., with up to 200 operational capabilities.
- Scoring: Maturity scores range from Level 1 (Evaluating) to Level 5 (Leading).
Survey Results
- Participation: 90 transmission and distribution (T&D) electric power utilities from 26 countries participated in the first global CEMM survey.
- Results: Overall maturity level for T&D utilities is low, with an average maturity score below Level 2.
- Opportunities: Significant gaps exist between high-maturity and less mature utilities, highlighting areas for improvement.
Conclusion
- Improvement Path: By focusing on critical gaps and learning from high-maturity utilities, T&D utilities can enhance their performance and sustainability goals.
- Visualization: The CEMM provides a clear roadmap for improvement, enabling utilities to target specific capabilities and track progress.
Maturity Scores of T&D Electric Utilities
- Range: From Evaluating (Level 1) to Leading (Level 5).
- Average: Lower than Level 2, indicating room for significant improvement.
Note: Figures and specific maturity scores are visualized and detailed in the original report.