By Alice Chambers |
Energy and utilities organisations face mounting pressures from ageing infrastructure, distributed renewable assets, complex regulatory frameworks and ambitious sustainability mandates. For operators managing hybrid portfolios of renewable and traditional assets, achieving near real-time visibility and operational efficiency is essential. Cloud-based, AI-powered solutions like IBM Maximo Application Suite on Microsoft Azure are helping these organisations turn data into actionable insights.
KP Group, one of India’s most diverse renewable energy companies, manages over 1.4 gigawatts (GW) of capacity across more than 70 sites. With plans to expand beyond 10GW by 2030, KP Group faced a pressing need to scale operations and streamline reporting. Its manual approach to access each plant’s SCADA system and track work orders offline was becoming unsustainable, creating bottlenecks and limiting efficiency. To address this, KP Group partnered with IBM to implement IBM Maximo Renewables, which is integrated with Microsoft Power BI. The platform delivers automated hourly updates through centralised dashboards for operational and investor reporting. It also provides maintenance workflows through Maximo’s Monitor, Analyze and Operate modules, and near real-time performance visibility for proactive decision-making.
Now, KP Group has onboarded 137 projects. Data is delivered to near real-time dashboards and automated alerts show users when issues may arise. Early results suggest energy losses from corrective maintenance could drop by up to five per cent.
“IBM Maximo Renewables has significantly transformed our operations,” said Faruk Patel, chief managing director of KP Group. “Our reporting now delivers real-time insights at both the organisational and investor levels, greatly enhancing visibility and decision-making.”
Meanwhile, Kubota – a Japanese solutions provider across agriculture, water and environmental industries – faced operational efficiency challenges, compounded by staff shortages and ambitious sustainability goals. To support its zero-carbon city initiative and improve facility operations, Kubota implemented IBM Maximo Application Suite on Azure for its Kubota Smart Infrastructure System (KSIS) BLUE FRONT. The platform links internet of things facility operations with Maximo’s asset management, operating across 100 water and wastewater facilities, and is designed for scalable future expansion.
Kubota has reduced administrative tasks for staff with IBM Maximo Application Suite on Azure
IBM Consulting is helping Kubota deliver the full implementation phase and build out the system. Since deployment, the field is already seeing a significant reduction in time spent on administrative work. Kubota is reducing administrative overhead and actively working to cut electricity and chemical usage to lower operational costs while supporting municipal water budgets. The company is establishing KSIS BLUE FRONT as a global standard for smart infrastructure management, leveraging Azure, Maximo and Red Hat technologies as the foundation of its digital transformation.
Together, KP Group and Kubota exemplify how IBM Maximo Application Suite on Azure can transform a wide variety of operations across multiple industries from renewable energy to smart water infrastructure. Integrating operational data with intelligent cloud services can help organisations identify issues before they occur, optimise efficiency and achieve measurable sustainability goals.
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