Voith Hydro has taken the next step in delivering the benefits of digitalization to its customers by entering a pilot phase of cooperation with Austrian HYDROGRID. The Vienna-based company was founded in 2016 and offers a fully automated “Software as a Service” (SaaS) solution for optimal real-time operation and dispatch of hydropower plants.
The software, HYDROGRID Insight, which was awarded the Austrian “National Digitalisation Award” in 2019, uses meteorological data and self-learning algorithms to predict hydropower inflows and optimize water management while ensuring operational restrictions are obeyed.
Additionally, the software automatically positions hydropower plants in the power markets in an optimal way to increase profitability. By using the software, hydropower operators in Norway, Sweden, Finland, UK and Turkey already benefit from up to 18% additional revenues and 20 hours less operational effort per week.
In combination with Voith’s HyCon Automation and cutting-edge digital “Intelligent Hydropower” solutions, these effects can be further enhanced through optimal integration of products along the entire value chain: Up to now, existing solutions were focusing mainly on long-term maintenance cost reductions and a safe plant operation. Together with the information on short-term impacts on power generation delivered by HYDROGRID both companies will maximize insights for operators supporting them in their daily business. This special two-dimensional approach of taking into account the assets’ health status and, at the same time, the operational conditions and constraints is unique in the industry.
Over the last six months, the parties have already successfully validated the strong demand for a joint offering of digital products in selected European markets, with the first contracts already signed in Italy and numerous requests-for-offer currently in progress:
As a next step, Voith and HYDROGRID are looking to expand the joint market roll-out in further selected countries and to offer clients optimally integrated, cutting-edge digital solutions along the entire value chain.
