Digital Health Check: Power Generation Digitization

BCG’s digitization health check helps power generators better understand and optimize their use of digital technologies.

For today’s power generators, achieving operational excellence means optimizing their business on multiple fronts. One of the most important is the deployment of digital technologies. These technologies offer generators new possibilities for plant and process efficiency and cost reduction. But many power generators are not using digital levers as fully or effectively as they might. The result can be missed opportunities or subpar returns on investment.

BCG’s digitization health check can help power generators exploit these technologies to their fullest. It examines generators’ use of digital technologies based on 23 dimensions across four different categories:

  • Operational improvement
  • Performance management
  • People involvement
  • Establishment of a foundation for the ongoing effective deployment of digital tools and technologies

It also identifies best-practice usage among industry peers so that a company can identify its strengths and weaknesses, and provides suggestions for how best to improve in cases where improvement is warranted or desired.

The health check also provides a detailed look at specific cases of digital technology use by power plants and their estimated impact on performance. This gives power generators a clear view of the effectiveness of potential solutions they might choose to deploy. Finally, the health check provides access to a database of technology providers to turn to for specific needs and objectives.

Through these facets, the health check provides power generators a vital understanding of their current capabilities on the digitization front—and what companies need to do to translate their use of digital technologies into further gains in productivity, cost efficiency, and, ultimately, competitive advantage.