Digital Asset Management: Efficiency in Energy Sector

TL;DR 

Problem Context 

In today’s energy sector, companies manage sprawling physical assets (power plants, substations, office buildings, vehicle fleets, etc.) under strict efficiency and regulatory targets. Traditional maintenance systems—fragmented spreadsheets, disconnected tools, and manual reports—make it hard to track thousands of assets or catch issues early. EDP, for example, faced this exact challenge: 1,000+ sites across multiple geographies with 22,000 tracked assets, each requiring preventive maintenance, safety audits, and reporting.

Meanwhile, buildings now consume roughly 30% of global final energy (IEA, 2023), so inefficiency is unsustainable. Energy leaders must digitize asset and facilities management to cut waste, enforce SLAs, and meet sustainability goals (e.g., EU Energy Efficiency Directive).

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Technical Diagnosis 

At the root of EDP’s problems was lack of visibility and integration. Assets and sensor data lived in silos, making it impossible to see end-to-end processes. For example, no unified system meant water leaks or equipment anomalies could go undetected for days or weeks. Likewise, service requests and SLA compliance had no real-time oversight. Tiago Cardoso, Head of Finance & Systems at EDP Facilities area, explains that without a centralized platform, insights were scattered and slow to gather (Nextbitt Case Study). This lack of digital control increased manual effort, compliance risks, and reactive maintenance events costly technical debt.

Solutions and Trade-offs  

With Nextbitt, energy leaders gain:

• A single platform to manage thousands of energy assets and facilities, regardless of geography.
• Real-time energy monitoring for each building, with instant anomaly detection (e.g., leaks, abnormal consumption).
• Automated SLA tracking and management for all service providers, ensuring compliance and faster resolution.
• Data ready for ESG and regulatory reporting, fully aligned with EU CSRD and taxonomy requirements.

Real-World Use Case

Challenge:
EDP, a leading energy company, manages an extensive network of facilities and physical assets. The main challenge was to increase operational control and optimize the management of 22,000 assets across approximately 1,000 sites. Before adopting Nextbitt, information was scattered, making it difficult to respond quickly to maintenance needs, monitor energy consumption, and achieve efficiency and employee experience goals.

Nextbitt Solution:
EDP implemented Nextbitt as a centralized platform for asset and energy management. All physical assets were digitized and integrated into the platform, enabling 500 users to manage around 70,000 work orders per year. Workflows were defined for every type of intervention, from preventive maintenance to resolving energy anomalies. Real-time monitoring, supported by IoT sensors, enabled immediate detection of consumption deviations, such as water leaks or energy spikes, and rapid corrective action.

“Currently, we have about 1,000 facilities in the system under our management, with a total of 22,000 assets. In total, we have 500 users working on the platform daily, where 70,000 work orders are created per year. By using a centralized platform like Nextbitt, we achieve strict control and a quick response to various needs.”
— Tiago Cardoso, Head of Financial Management and Systems, EDP Facilities Division

Results:
Digitalization enabled EDP to achieve rigorous operational control, reduce response times, and optimize maintenance and energy efficiency processes. With data centralized and workflows automated, EDP improved the experience of its employees and ensured greater transparency in resource use, aligning with the energy sector’s sustainability and compliance objectives.

For further details and direct testimonials:

• Nextbitt EDP Case Study
• EDP x Nextbitt Video Testimonial (YouTube)

Stats and Benchmarks 

• • Buildings’ energy footprint: Buildings account for approximately 30% of global final energy consumption and 55% of electricity use. Adoption of digital controls—such as smart thermostats and automated lighting—could reduce building energy use by up to 10% by 2040 (IEA, 2023; IEA, 2017).
  • Energy efficiency investments: In 2022, global spending on building energy efficiency exceeded $250 billion (IEA, 2023). The European Union’s current target is to reduce final energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030 compared to projected use (EU, 2023).
  • EU energy trends: Renewables accounted for a record 45.3% of gross electricity consumption in the EU in 2023 (Eurostat, 2025).
  • Energy sector trend: Digital solutions—including automation, connectivity, and advanced analytics—can reduce operational costs in oil and gas by 20–25%, with a significant portion of savings coming from improved fuel and energy efficiency (McKinsey, 2020; Energies Media, 2025).

Technical Evaluation Checklist 

When assessing solutions for energy asset management, look for:

✅ Real-time IoT integration: Connect sensors for utilities (water, energy, air quality) and equipment status.

✅ Centralized asset register: All assets (mechanical, electrical, facilities) are cataloged with histories.

✅ Custom dashboards & alerts: Configurable views for managers, with threshold alarms.

✅ SLA & compliance tracking: Built-in workflows to manage service-level agreements and regulatory audits.

✅ Cloud SaaS with APIs: Hosted platform with documented APIs for integration (ERP, GIS, building management).

✅ High availability: Enterprise-grade uptime (≥99.9% SLA).

✅ Mobile support: Tablet/phone apps for field teams to update work orders on the go.

✅ Scalable architecture: Supports thousands of assets and users across geographies.

Product Integration and Use 

In practice, deploying a centralized platform like Nextbitt at EDP required careful integration with existing systems and operational processes. The typical steps included:

1. Data onboarding – Migrating asset registers and historical work order data into the Nextbitt platform to ensure a complete and accurate digital asset inventory.
2. Sensor integration – Connecting IoT devices for real-time monitoring of energy, water, temperature, and air quality across all facilities.
3. User training – Providing targeted training for the 500 users, enabling self-service management of work orders and asset data for facility teams.
4. Vendor onboarding – Integrating service providers into the platform to enable real-time SLA tracking, automated notifications, and transparent performance monitoring.
5. Standardisation – Enforcing standardized workflows for all maintenance and compliance processes, improving auditability and operational consistency across 1,000 sites.
6. Ongoing support – Establishing a dedicated center of excellence to provide continuous support, system updates, and best practices for process optimization.

Digitalization has transformed EDP’s facilities management from a reactive to a proactive model—reducing operational costs, improving asset uptime, and streamlining ESG and regulatory compliance.

Final Thoughts 

EDP’s Nextbitt success story shows that utility and energy companies can no longer afford fragmented maintenance systems. A unified digital platform not only improves routine operations, but also advances strategic goals: sustainability, cost control, and resilience. By seeing all facilities and assets in one place, directors can enforce compliance instantly, capture leak or efficiency data in real time, and shift from reactive fixes to predictive upkeep. As global energy and climate benchmarks tighten (e.g., Europe’s 2030 targets), such digital transformation is essential. EDP’s case — aligning 22,000 assets under one platform — provides a compelling benchmark for the industry.

Key Takeaways:

• Digital asset management delivers measurable savings and efficiency.
• Real-time IoT monitoring is crucial for operational excellence.
• Centralized platforms support compliance and sustainability goals.
• EDP’s experience demonstrates rapid ROI and scalable impact.

For decision-makers, the lesson is clear: investing in an integrated asset-management system yields measurable gains. In EDP’s words, Nextbitt’s implementation “enabled us to manage all existing processes in a multi-site context” and prepared the company for future innovations. This approach—centralizing data, automating insights, and leveraging IoT—can unlock substantial ROI in any energy organization facing similar challenges.

Technical FAQ 

1. What does Nextbitt enable for energy and facilities management?
   Nextbitt digitizes all physical assets and maintenance workflows, integrates IoT sensors for real-time monitoring (energy, water, environment), and provides automated SLA tracking and compliance reporting—all in a single, scalable platform.
2. How was Nextbitt implemented at EDP?
   EDP migrated asset data, connected IoT devices, trained users, and onboarded vendors to the platform. The cloud-based system allowed for rapid rollout and ongoing updates without major hardware investments.
3. What are the main measurable benefits?
   EDP achieved stricter operational control, faster response times, reduced resource consumption, and improved compliance—while managing 22,000 assets and 70,000 work orders annually across 1,000 sites.
4. How does Nextbitt ensure data privacy and security?
   Nextbitt is fully compliant with GDPR and ISO standards, offering encrypted data storage, role-based access controls, and auditable logs. The platform is hosted on Microsoft Azure, ensuring enterprise-grade security and high availability.