Brady’s Integrated Energy Ecosystem: from data management to trading.
Recently, Brady released a white paper outlining how their Energy Data Manager (EDM) interacts with ETRM systems and why EDM is a vital component of the modern energy ecosystem. I had the opportunity to discuss the white paper with Chris Regan, the Managing Director of Brady Technologies.
Our discussion began by examining business cases, with the utility sector being the most typical. Utilities have traditionally relied on systems for managing meter data from production and customers, so EDM does not represent a new concept for them. Chris explained that there are significant differences between traditional meter data managers and modern EDMs, such as the one developed by Brady.
Legacy meter data managers, often custom-built, lacked key functionalities like handling forecasts, managing multiple forecast versions, or supporting user-defined calculations. Brady’s EDM offers a more comprehensive and more holistic solution. It is agnostic to the type of time series it processes, supporting not only meter data aggregation but also price calculations, transfer pricing algorithms, and more. The ETRM serves as the primary repository for trades, providing risk calculations and back-office functions, but it doesn’t need to handle multiple time series in fine resolution, as this could affect its performance.
Another advantage of Brady’s EDM is its connectivity. The solution supports around 300 different input data formats, offers predefined connectors, and provides APIs for pushing forecasts or other data, as Chris explained. Customers can upload multiple forecasts and have the flexibility to manipulate or adjust them to generate the desired results.
In the case of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) or project developers involved in renewable energy or BESS projects, the EDM can function as a basic trading system, eliminating the need for a separate ETRM. These companies typically sell their production via Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Consequently, they require a system that can manage meter data, perform aggregation and forecasting, handle simple trades, calculate positions, and provide PPA settlement. Chris highlighted that all these tasks can be handled by the EDM system alone. The solution can even calculate the hedge ratio for PPAs, which is the ratio between the fixed and floating portions of the PPA and suggest appropriate hedging strategies.
An especially intriguing aspect is the business model that goes beyond basic PPA sales and involves continuous intraday trading and reserve provision. How does Brady’s ecosystem function in these scenarios? Chris explained that their Power Desk application for short-term trading is seamlessly integrated with exchanges and also connected to the EDM through a low-latency interface. Real-time position updates from the EDM are available in the Power Desk for trading, and real-time trades made on the exchange are flowing into both the Power Desk and in the ETRM or EDM, depending on the system configuration. Chris emphasized that all components of the ecosystem remain synchronized.
The solution components are cloud-native and scalable, enabling a SaaS offering in Brady’s private cloud as well as options for public cloud or on-premises installations. Chris shared that more and more customers are seeking SaaS solutions, and Brady offers full application services for their ecosystem.
These recent Brady’s ecosystem developments, especially related to EDM functionality and integration, support the general trends which ComTech Advisory already decried in multiple publications. Energy Data Management has become a separate software category and vendor market for these solutions includes the ETRM vendors with ecosystem tools such Brady as well as companies specializing in data management alone.
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