Digitalization Hydropower Plant
The small hydropower plant “Nesensohn” in the village of Laterns in Voralberg, Austria, which was built in 1922, has been refurbished and modernized. Originally, the power plant was the only way to supply the village and surrounding farms with electricity. Today, the electricity generated is fed into the public power grid. The power plant consists of several widespread facilities. The high reservoir is about one kilometer away from the power plant and has avariety of technical, widely distributed facilities such as level measurement, temperature measurement and pressure line as well as all facilities for power generation. In addition to the refurbishment, the objective was to noticeably simplify the operation of the plant and make it more efficient through digitalization and automation.
The individual plant components were interconnected via the cloud using digifai’s IoT platform control. The RevPi Connect was used as the matching hardware. With the help of this solution, it is possible to record and monitor all current and historical data as well as alarm and error messages. No matter where the power plant operator is, he can access the information he needs through the IoT platform and mobile monitoring, which makes power plant monitoring much easier. He gets an overview of the data on water resources, power production and, directly via the IoT platform, also the possibility to remotely look into the individual plant sections via the cameras, to actively intervene if action is required and to remotely control the plant sections.
Furthermore, trends and deviations can be detected and analyzed at an early stage. This function is particularly important for predictive maintenance, as it helps to quickly take countermeasures and avoid failures thanks to timely error and alarm messages.
Looking Ahead
Networking and automated monitoring are therefore prerequisites for the efficient operation of such widely distributed systems.
IoT platforms make alternative energy sources fit for the future!
Implementation
This project was implemented by austrian-based company digifai.
Every work step can be digitally mapped and recorded. The solutions from digifai make use of this – they control, simulate or automate processes – across all industries. The result: quality and efficiency increase, while risk decreases. Digifai is a spin off.
The company in the background is a specialist in automation technology.
Further information is available at www.digifai.com.
Module used
RevPi Connect