by Heidi Riley
BluWave-ai is a Canadian company based in Ottawa with offices in Calgary and Summerside. The company uses data and cloud-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict, optimize, control, dispatch and manage how renewable energy is used by industrial and utility customers.
“Our software service solutions improve efficiency of operations of renewable energy,” says Devashish Paul, CEO/Founder, BluWave-ai.
The company’s focus is on green technology such as renewable energy and electric transportation. Their solutions apply AI cloud software to optimize the cost, carbon footprint and reliability of renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
They work with customers such as utilities, fleet operators and electricity system operators to improve their energy-related decision-making to decrease costs and their carbon footprint.
“Founded in 2017, by 2020 we were one of the top growing tech start-ups. We have 26 US patents filed in real-time AI-based renewable and EI optimization. We ran the first ever AI-enabled electricity market dispatch in both the Canadian and Indian markets. Our goal is to use the assets that are already out there with a bit more intelligence.”
In 2021, BluWave-ai was awarded a contract to advance the City of Summerside’s system utility manager software to integrate a new 26‐megawatt solar and battery project. The Canadian Smart Grid AI Center of Excellence in Summerside uses energy generated from wind, solar, battery, and smart metering with diesel backup.
In August 2022, Summerside, in partnership with BluWave-ai, hosted the first solar energy powered concert in North America. The concert was held at Credit Union Place and was run indoors at night using solar and battery solutions.
The cloud-based AI optimization platform delivered a 100 percent solar powered concert. They were able to predict solar production during the day of the concert and store sufficient solar capacity in a battery to cover the projected energy demand, such as lighting, audio equipment, and air conditioning.
“We have a prototype system that can be used around the world. This system can decarbonize the planet. Everything we built here on PEI was used to manage energy in Mumbai, one of the largest cities in the world.”
Devashish says energy from renewable sources is not constant – it fluctuates. Therefore, customers using renewable energy still need backup, which is run by fossil fuels. Using intelligence, data, and real-time optimization, the company is making renewable energy more dispatchable.
Early in his career, Devashish worked as a software engineer on the F18 fighter jets program with the Royal Canadian Airforce. “I felt that our software could fly the planes better than the pilots could. AI does not get sick or take time off. It just works all the time.”
“Software and automation are there to assist humans. Pilots are not going to go away. AI will not take all our jobs. Automation is there to enhance the quality, safety, and the mission criticality of many systems. With more and more business intelligence, we can use more renewable energy and decarbonize the grid.”
“The grid is not static – it changes all the time as new electrical demands occur. It does not matter how good your research is or how good your algorithm is, it has to work live in the field 24/7. The job creation will come from implementing that work.”
Before starting BluWave-ai, he worked for a Canadian tech company that was purchased by a US company. “I felt there was a place for Canada to go on the world stage in renewable energy, data, and AI. I knew we could get a Canadian company to be a dominant player in this emerging market. The opportunity was there.
“The traditional grid is based on natural gas or coal or hydro or nuclear with a transmission grid going from generation to transmission to distribution. If you add more renewable energy at the generation level, and locally on top of our homes, and then add an increasing number of electric vehicles, it creates another layer of complication in the grid. BluWave-ai takes the data from all of this and better manages all the assets in real time.
“We make better decisions than a human operator, and we are always improving.
“AI provides a generational opportunity to create wealth. We have the right people here in the Canadian economy to do it. Let’s see how we can take on the world with this.”
Hiring needs at the Summerside office
Positions in the Summerside office include Software Developers, Machine Learning Developers, Technical Sales, and Quality Assurance Testers. Graduate and internship opportunities are also available.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For a list of open positions, visit www.bluwave-ai.com/careers
