Improved data analytics have made the solutions offered by smart grid technology company Tantalus Systems (Tantalus Systems Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials TSX:GRID) that much more tantalizing to customers.
Tantalus, which provides smart grid solutions to public power and co-operative utilities, announced on Tuesday that six members of its user community have subscribed to the TUNet Grid Reliability Analytics (TGRA) solution in the first month since its commercial launch. TGRA leverages power quality data accessed through Tantalus’ advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to help utilities identify failing assets deployed throughout an electric distribution grid. These failures can lead to power outages or catastrophic fires, while through its TUNet technology platform, the company collects granular data from meters and devices to generate insights to help predict potential issues, enable efficient transmission and better manage the load.
“Our purpose is to help utilities transform their distribution grids into digital networks that are more resilient, reliable and efficient,” said Peter Londa, President & CEO of Tantalus Systems, in a press release. “Launching our new analytics tool is a concrete example of how we are enabling utilities to go beyond the traditional notion of AMI systems by analyzing data captured by our devices to provide situational awareness and granular command and control of the assets utilities deploy to safely and reliably deliver power to their customers and members.”
TGRA detects anomalies in power quality data, such as loss of voltage, blink count, aggregate blink count, maximum and minimum voltage, current readings and power factor, from the edge of a utility’s distribution grid. This information allows Tantalus to help its clients identify symptoms of failing transformers, corroded meter sockets and splices, cracked insulators and other latent equipment problems.
“After relying on Tantalus’ AMI system for several years, we decided to work with their team to determine how our utility could more proactively manage our distribution grid based on the granular data we capture,” said Sarah Clark, AMI Coordinator at Estes Park Power and Communications, in the Tuesday press release. “Tantalus’ new analytics solution helps us quickly pinpoint power quality issues that are developing across our distribution grid that would otherwise not be visible to our operations team until becoming much more problematic.”
Burnaby, BC-based Tantalus, which currently has over 200 utilities across North America and the Caribbean Basin as customers, had US$8 million in revenue in its most recently reported quarter, the company’s Q2 2021, delivered in August. Tantalus is due to report its third quarter on November 15 after market close.
Since listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange on February 9, Tantalus’ stock price has fallen by about 36 per cent. Last month, Paradigm Capital initiated coverage of Tantalus Systems with a “Buy” rating and $3.00 target, with analyst Daniel Rosenberg saying infrastructure tailwinds are in GRID’s favour.
“We have seen strong adoption of Tantalus’ suite of products that has led to consistent growth and impressive customer retention numbers,” Rosenberg said in his report on October 1. “Governments are deploying major capital into infrastructure following years of underinvestment. We view Tantalus as particularly well positioned to benefit from a major capex cycle.”
Disclosure: Tantalus Systems is an annual sponsor of Cantech Letter.