Pointerra up 15% on storm data deal with US power utility

Pointerra Limited (ASX:3DP) is up over 15% in the first hour of trade as the company reveals its storm response software will be purchased by US energy utility Florida Power and Light (FPL). 

Minimum revenue intake from the agreement with FPL will see Pointerra receive US$250,000, with that figure set to fluctuate based on the severity of the US 2022 storm season and number of emergency responses by FPL. 

The value of the contract refreshes annually, meaning Pointerra will structure the deal with FPL as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) recurring payment. 

What is FPL actually buying from Pointerra? 

Pointerra will provide to FPL its ‘Pointerra3D’ software package, which simulates and models the real-world impacts of extreme weather events. 

In the event of a storm that damages FPL power grid assets, Pointerra will run its software to analyse LiDAR (wind) data to model where storm responses are best prioritised. 

This data will be ready for FPL within 24 hours for pre-storm collection and within six hours after a storm event damages assets, the company claims. 

The software will cross reference its models automatically with public electricity outage data to guide deployment of FPL response teams. 

Pictured: the size of Hurricane Ida in 2021, pictured dwarfing the North American GOM coastline

What’s the significance of storms? 

During the American summer, hurricane season hits the US Gulf of Mexico, the coastline for which lands in both Texas and Florida. 

The US NOAA is predicting the 2022 hurricane season to be above normal in terms of severity. 

In 2021, Hurricane Ida devastated both offshore and onshore energy assets. 

Pointerra notes FPL faces bills of up to over US$100m for every major storm response event. 

The move is in line with the company’s recent boosting of partnerships with US energy utility players; recently won customers include grid operators in Seattle.

Turnaround hopeful 

It’s been a rough twelve months for Pointerra, with the share price of the company falling from the 90c range in the first quarter of 2021 to 22c today. 

Year-to-date performance is down -45%, as the communication services and tech sectors continue to see mass sell-offs. 

The company is, however, up 25% this week.

Pointerra's three month charts versus the comms services index (XTJ)