The Company Announces Open Innovation Contest For Unmanned
Inspections in Extreme Heat, Improving Safety and Helping Solve $1B
Problem for the Global Electric Utility Industry
ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
The
AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) today announced the advancement of its
efforts to lead transformation in the energy industry with an open
innovation contest targeted at improving the safety and increasing
availability of power plants through unmanned inspections in extreme
heat.
Andrés Gluski, AES President and CEO, said, “AES takes our mission of
improving lives seriously and recognizes that today’s energy solutions
must evolve to meet tomorrow’s needs. Engaging and collaborating with
great thinkers outside our company and industry allows us to extend our
internal innovation capabilities to create the best solutions for the
future.”
AES has a history of innovation in the industry, starting with the
company’s founding as one of the U.S.’s first independent power
producers and continuing through today as the world’s leading provider
of energy storage solutions through its Advancion® product and leading
user of drone-based applications in the electricity sector. The company
remains committed to its efforts to turn ideas into real solutions by
focusing on three areas that impact its ability to improve lives:
developing a clean, unbreakable grid; creating a safer, smarter
workplace; and considering the full energy value chain when seeking
solutions to meet the challenges of growing communities and economies
around the world.
To further its efforts to create a safer, smarter workplace, AES is
launching an Open Innovation Contest in partnership with NineSigma, a
company with extensive external resources and connections to accelerate
innovation.
It is estimated that more than 20,000 MW of generation capacity is
offline globally at all times due in part to outage-related inspections,
reducing the ability of electric grids to absorb variable renewable
sources like wind and solar. These outages represent $1B in lost power
capacity, nearly the energy consumption in the state of Virginia every
year. Electricity generation can require extreme heat conditions. When a
system failure occurs that halts electricity generation and we need to
inspect and repair equipment, we must wait until temperatures reach a
sufficiently low level for someone with personal protective equipment to
enter the confined space safely to inspect and repair the equipment. It
not only can be hazardous work, but also increases the time it takes the
company to begin generating electricity again.
AES is looking for innovative unmanned technologies to conduct
inspection work that can resist extreme heat and keep our people safe
while improving energy availability by getting plants back online more
quickly. Responses and potential solutions are being requested from
other companies, consultants, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs or
inventors. Three winners will be recognized and rewarded at AES’ global
Innovation Congress in July 2017 held at its Corporate Headquarters in
the Washington, D.C. metro area. The company is accepting proposals
through February 28, 2017.
For more information about the contest, please go to www.aes.com.
#beattheheat
About AES
The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) is a Fortune 200 global power company. We
provide affordable, sustainable energy to 17 countries through our
diverse portfolio of distribution businesses as well as thermal and
renewable generation facilities. Our workforce of 21,000 people is
committed to operational excellence and meeting the world’s changing
power needs. Our 2015 revenues were $15 billion and we own and manage
$37 billion in total assets. To learn more, please visit www.aes.com.
Follow AES on Twitter @TheAESCorp.
About NineSigma
NineSigma connects organizations with external innovation resources to
accelerate innovation in private, public and social sectors. NineSigma
has the largest open global network of solution providers and an
extensive database of existing solutions spanning numerous industries
and technical disciplines. In 2015, the company was again named to the
Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America. Learn
more at www.ninesigma.com
or www.ninesights.com.
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Source: The AES Corporation