For as little attention as it gets, hydro generation is a surprisingly important part of global power infrastructure. Many of the most critical sites around the world have been in operation for decades, reliably generating energy and supplying water management for communities.
In his recent article in Power magazine, Emerson’s Matthew Roberts explores the modern operations of hydro generation, sharing the strategies they use today to deliver better visibility, security, and control for increased operational excellence. These organizations, Matthew explains, are moving away from a wide array of disparate, interconnected independent controllers toward a boundless automation vision for data across their sites. By building with a boundless automation vision, to provide data with seamless data mobility from the intelligent field, through the edge, and into the cloud, Matthew shares,
“Teams can eliminate silos of data and gain greater visibility into what is happening with their operations and maintenance—not only at a single site, but also across a cascade, fleet, or enterprise.”
Common challenges
Much of the challenge to efficient hydro operation would be recognizable in any industry. Expert personnel are retiring, and new operators and technicians have less experience, and tend to move between roles much more quickly. As a result, it is hard to retain the deep, steady institutional knowledge necessary to maintain operations and assets.
Moreover, even when facilities can find new personnel, training them and providing the decision support they need in the field is a challenge due to data silos created by a web of complex, custom-engineered connections between systems. Matthew explains,
“Consider the traditional PLC architecture on which most legacy hydro power automation systems are built. Trying to connect one PLC to a second is not a particularly challenging task, especially when both systems are procured as part of the same project. However, over time, as the operations and maintenance teams need more capability, they will also need to add more PLCs. As they do so, they will need to interconnect every new PLC to every existing PLC—managing all the mapping, engineering, communication protocols, and more—ultimately leading to a vast web of different systems, with many connected differently and using a wide array of unique interfaces.”
Modern control is key
In response to the challenge of today’s operations, many sites are modernizing their systems, moving to control solutions like the Ovation™ Automation Platform. The software in the Ovation Automation Platform is designed with a boundless automation vision to be part of the emerging Enterprise Operations Platform (EOP) that will define the next generation of automation.
Seamless integration means that every system is ready to communicate with the others across the facility and across the enterprise out-of-the-box.
“With a seamlessly integrated control system, whether the team is adding the 4th controller or the 28th, the instant the controller is brought online, every other unit can immediately see it and securely communicate with it.”
Not only does this simplify operations, it also increases scalability and security. No matter how many controllers are added, data can move between them with ease, and because they are not connected via complex custom engineering, they are far easier to secure using both the built-in cybersecurity features and defense-in-depth layers.
The seamless data flow provided by an EOP is delivered via a comprehensive data fabric. That data fabric can also integrate other software applications that drive increases in performance and efficiency. Tools like advanced process control, digital twin simulation, alarm management, and AI-driven analytics all become part of the seamless whole and can consume the valuable, contextualized data produced by systems anywhere in the enterprise.
Operational excellence starts with next-gen automation
Demand for renewable energy generation is increasing rapidly, putting increased pressure on hydro generators to increase output and efficiency. Meeting the requirements of the coming years and decades will necessitate operational improvements. As teams explore their options for improvement, modernizing with a goal of seamless data mobility, both to support the shifting workforce and to build an EOP for seamless integration of the advanced software tools supporting operational excellence will be a critical strategy for success.
With modern tools supporting modern operations, the future is boundless.
