Case Study: TransAlta achieves richer real-time analytics and lower costs with Microsoft Azure

Canadian power generator shines light on numbers

TransAlta, a Canadian power generator, was facing a challenge with its outdated, unsupported data collection system. The proposed upgrade from their third-party vendor was cost-prohibitive at approximately $200,000. TransAlta needed a new solution to handle millions of device telemetry readings for analytics and monitoring without incurring high upfront costs and while gaining real-time insights.

Microsoft Azure implemented a hybrid cloud solution using Azure Event Hubs, Stream Analytics, Service Bus, and Power BI. This provided TransAlta with a scalable, low-maintenance platform for real-time data ingestion and analysis. The results included avoiding the large capital expense, lowering operational month-to-month costs, and processing over 56 million telemetry readings within weeks of launch. Microsoft Azure's solution also increased uptime, provided disaster recovery benefits, and delivered actionable insights through real-time dashboards.

TransAlta

Kent Weare

Senior Enterprise Architect