Over the past few decades, extreme weather events have not only become more severe, but are also occurring more frequently. Neara is focused on enabling utility companies and energy providers to create models of their power networks and anything that might affect them, like wildfires or flooding. The Redfern, New South Wales, Australia-based startup recently launched AI and machine learning products that create large-scale models of networks and assess risks without having to perform manual surveys.
Since launching commercially in 2019, Neara has raised a total of $45 million AUD (about $29.3 million USD) from investors like Square Peg Capital, Skip Capital and Prosus Ventures. Its customers include Essential Energy, Endeavour Energy and SA Power Networks. It is also partnered with Southern California Edison and EMPACT Engineering.
Neara’s AI and machine learning-based features are already part of its tech stack and have been used by utilities around the world, including Southern California Edison, SA Power Networks and Endeavor Energy in Australia, ESB in Ireland and Scottish Power.
Co-founder Jack Curtis tells TechCrunch that billions are spent on utilities infrastructure, including maintenance, upgrades and the cost of labor. When something goes wrong, consumers are affected immediately. When Neara started integrating AI and machine learning capabilities into its platform, it was to analyze existing infrastructure without manual inspections, which he says can often be inefficient, inaccurate and expensive.
Then Neara grew its AI and machine learning features so it can create a large-scale model of a utility’s network and surroundings. Models can be used in many ways, including simulating the impact of extreme weather on electricity supplies before, after and during an event. This can increase the speed of power restoration, keep utilities teams safe and mitigate the impact of weather events.
“The increasing frequency and severity of severe weather motivates our product development more so than any one event,” says Curtis. “Recently there has been an uptick of severe weather events across the world and the grid is being impacted by this phenomenon.” Some examples are Storm Isha, which left tens of thousands without power in the United Kingdom, winter storms that caused massive blackouts across the United States and tropical cyclone storms in Australia that leave Queensland’s electricity grid vulnerable.
Comments