The energy system and energy supply are undergoing fundamental changes. Renewable energy sources are bringing new dynamics to electricity generation, consumers are increasingly becoming prosumers, and new equipment is expanding the possibilities for grid operation. For an energy provider that ensures the electricity supply for approximately 11 million people in Germany, this also places greater demands on the underlying IT infrastructure. The energy provider’s solution: building its own cloud-native platform for its data centers. In the future, the platform is intended to serve as the digital nervous system for the energy transition. It forms the foundation for developing, deploying, and gradually refining new technical functions for grid operations.
Case
Cloud-native on-Prem Plattform
How can decades-old OT systems be integrated with modern cloud-native technologies? An energy provider is collaborating with UhuruTec to develop its own internal platform for the digital transformation of grid operations. The platform will be built and operated entirely within the company’s own infrastructure. Due to the sensitive nature of the project, no further details about the customer or the specific infrastructure will be disclosed.
Challenge
The energy provider needs its own highly available platform for modern applications in grid operations. This involves connecting decades-old OT and IT systems with cloud-native technologies. At the same time, critical operational requirements call for a standardized, automatable infrastructure that can be operated in the company’s own data centers—independent of public cloud offerings—and designed with redundancy across multiple zones.
Solution
UhuruTec supports the setup and development of the internal cloud-native platform using Kubernetes on bare metal. Kubernetes is provisioned in a reproducible manner on dedicated bare-metal infrastructure and operated across redundant environments. The platform has a modular design and enables the distribution of workloads across multiple availability zones. Automated deployment processes and standardized components create a consistent foundation for operations and further development.
Result
With the platform supported by UhuruTec, the energy provider has a standardized foundation for the highly available operation of cloud-native applications. Workloads can be distributed across multiple availability zones, and new business functions can be integrated incrementally. The combination of bare metal, Kubernetes, uMetal, and automation reduces manual operational effort and creates reproducible processes for the further development of the company’s own infrastructure.
Project Summary
By building its own cloud infrastructure, the energy provider is not only creating a new technological platform but also a long-term building block for the digital transformation of grid operations. The infrastructure provides greater flexibility in developing new applications and makes it possible to gradually adapt digital solutions to the changing requirements of the energy transition. This creates a foundation on which technological innovation and existing operating models can be integrated. New digital functions can be developed and tested without having to replace established processes and systems in the short term. At the same time, knowledge about the platform, its architecture, and its operation remains available within the organization itself.
UhuruTec supports the energy provider as a technical partner and integrator in building this new platform. The focus is not on introducing a single product, but on developing a sustainable infrastructure that can grow alongside technical requirements. In this way, digitalization becomes a continuous development process: The platform provides the framework within which the energy provider can shape its own digital infrastructure over the long term and thus respond to new requirements of the energy system.
Client testimonial
“Our challenge is to design new solutions that are easy to use while also offering the robustness and resilience required for modern network operations.”
*Due to the sensitive nature of the situation, the customer has been anonymized in this case study.