{"id":555522,"date":"2022-11-15T05:36:46","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T13:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=555522"},"modified":"2025-12-12T12:00:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:00:38","slug":"fast-four-renewable-energy","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/fast-four-renewable-energy","title":{"rendered":"Fast Four: Renewing the Energy Outlook"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[482772,479122,10332,381332,1441],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-555522","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-ai-ml","tag-fast-four","tag-imagery","tag-operational-awareness","tag-resilience","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"A short history of the renewable energy sector reveals tantalizing prospects for the industry.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The renewable energy industry might be having its best decade yet. Businesses worldwide are using cleaner forms of power to reduce their carbon footprints. The transportation sector\u2014once almost exclusively dependent on fossil fuels\u2014is moving rapidly to alternatives<\/a>. And legislation like the US Inflation Reduction Act is set to fund a massive transition to more efficient heating and cooling of homes and offices."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Article snapshot:<\/strong> Renewable energy companies have tantalizing new business opportunities in their sights as the industry gains unprecedented momentum.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"But even in an industry with the wind at its back, some companies will mishandle a prized opportunity. Those that outperform their peers tend to have one thing in common: they rely on location intelligence to gain an edge in an increasingly crowded industry.\r\n\r\nIn this Fast Four interview, Esri's Alessandra Millican explains how renewable energy companies have applied location technology in recent years, and how it will help them power tomorrow's high-profile businesses.\r\n\r\nWatch the video interview or read the transcript below."},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_cjmirktw\/253538153","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Chris Chiappinelli:<\/strong> We are back with another episode of the WhereNext<\/em> Fast Four series. These short videos explore the past, present, and future of location technology across the business world. Today, we are talking renewable energy with Alessandra Millican. She'll explain how these companies get a competitive edge using geographic information systems, or GIS.\r\n\r\nAlessandra, help us set the stage. How did renewable energy firms first get acquainted with GIS technology? And what were they trying to achieve?\r\n\r\nAlessandra Millican: <\/strong>Renewable energy projects typically have a really large land footprint. So the development can really lead to some land-use conflicts or trade-offs between energy supply and ecosystems. So it really started with site suitability analysis\u2014finding the right locations to develop these projects.\r\n\r\nSo, for example, finding out where there's a lot of sun or where there's a lot of wind. Are these areas close to transmission lines? Or are they far away from people? It's all about finding the right location.\r\n\r\nAnd unfortunately, in several of these areas that do have a lot of wind or solar, sometimes the communities can be really contentious about developing those assets. So several companies even build a digital twin of those renewable energy assets before any ground is broken so that they can perform viewshed analysis and understand where in the community [people] can actually see those assets, or even shadow impact analysis to understand where the shadows will be.\r\n\r\nChiappinelli:<\/strong> Interesting. Okay. So, some basic due diligence, some project planning there. If we fast-forward to present day, can you talk us through maybe two goals that these companies are trying to achieve with location technology?\r\n\r\nMillican:<\/strong> Yeah, so obviously, location technology is still used in site suitability analysis or due diligence, but GIS is really expanding to other business units. So, for example, operations and maintenance . . . they want to use location intelligence for things like health and safety awareness. So now, they can use drone technology and machine learning to understand where those problem areas are instead of sending people out there, or do things like real-time monitoring or historical weather analysis to predict lightning strikes, or even send out real-time alerts to warn employees that are within a radius of hazard. And that's just one side of the business, right?"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"The Fast Four on Key Industries<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFor short takes on key sectors, check out these Fast Four installments:\r\n