Acquisition of Resilience Startup Alteia by GE Vernova Unveiled

In a significant move towards enhancing grid operations, GE Vernova has incorporated Alteia's visual intelligence into its GridOS platform. This integration aims to revolutionise vegetation management, asset inspection, and wildfire mitigation, with potential future applications extending beyond these areas.

The GridOS platform, managed by GE Vernova, is already a valuable tool for utilities, helping them refine the management of their grid operations. With the addition of Alteia's technology, utilities can now benefit from more precise visual data, enabling a host of predictions beyond tree-cutting and timing.

Alteia's software is capable of ingesting visual data, such as images captured by drones, processing it, flagging the locations on the grid that need physical maintenance, and suggesting a plan for the work. This technology complements other solutions in the GridOS ecosystem, such as DERMs provider EnergyHub and household energy data company Net2Grid, all working together to help utilities modernise their grids.

GridOS has also expanded through the acquisition of Greenbird Integration Technology, providing a data integration platform that allows utilities to connect multiple data sources across their entire grid. This, combined with Alteia's visual intelligence, enables utilities to see across transmission, distribution, and edge DERM devices, a step towards GE Vernova's goal of a fully automated grid.

Scott Reese, CEO of GE Vernova's electrification software business, stated that there is "ubiquitous" demand for visual intelligence among utilities using GE Vernova's grid orchestration platform. He envisions the ultimate vision for GridOS to have two screens: one monitoring the real world and another predicting what the real world will look like, with a human deciding on actions based on the predictions.

This move comes as utilities struggle to get a complete understanding of their physical grid due to its vastness, and sending humans out for visual inspections is expensive, time-consuming, and incomplete. By incorporating Alteia's visual intelligence, GridOS aims to provide a more efficient and accurate solution to this challenge.

GE Vernova's core strategy is to build an open and extensible platform with GridOS, believing that the energy transition is a team effort. Other companies targeting the specific needs of utilities include Optelus, AiDash, and Overstory, all of which operate under the same umbrella API but are not a part of the GridOS platform.

Improving vegetation management is one of the most common ways utilities are using AI to become more resilient, as extreme weather events become more intense due to climate change. By integrating Alteia's visual intelligence into the GridOS platform, GE Vernova is taking a significant step towards helping utilities navigate these challenges and build a more resilient energy infrastructure.

In 2023, Hitachi Energy acquired GE Vernova to expand its GridOS network orchestration platform and improve the visual understanding for power grid operators. This acquisition further solidifies GE Vernova's position as a leader in grid orchestration and visual intelligence for utilities.