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Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Aboitiz Power sets rollout of 'digital twins' in 3 more power plants

Aboitiz Power sets rollout of 'digital twins' in 3 more power plants

Published Sep 13, 2023 07:08 am

At A Glance

  • Algorithms drawn from digital twins of power plants can provide useful data and simulations on how power capacity availability can be optimized; and it can also anticipate probable technical snags in operations, thus, troubleshooting and proactive maintenance can be better enforced.
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After the successful debut of a ‘digital twin’ at its Therma South Inc (TSI) coal-fired power plant in Davao, Aboitiz Power Corporation is eyeing the rollout of the same digital tool at three more of its electric generating facilities in Luzon and Visayas grids.

Aboitiz Power President and CEO Emmanuel V. Rubio indicated that the next ‘digital twin’ deployments will be for their Therma Visayas coal plant in Cebu; as well as its GNPower Mariveles and GNPower Dinginin coal plants in Mariveles, Bataan.

A ‘digital twin’ is a virtual representation of a generating plant - and in the 'internet of things' (IoT) sphere, this aids power plant owners and operators in assessing the overall performance of their facilities.

At the same time, the data generated from sensors of the power plants’ digital twins can be used by power generation companies for predictive analytics purposes – and that could be beneficial in coming up with simulations or analysis on how best a power plant can be operated efficiently, including on when their maintenance schedules can be viably scheduled.

With reliable and well-measured deployment of digital twins at electric generating facilities, power firms can increase their revenues because of higher availability of capacities; while also cutting down operating costs because they can have better gauge on how to prevent breakdowns in their facilities.

“In our power plant operations at TSI, we’ve been doing predictive analytics – so it’s beneficial for our forecasting and simulation. For example, can we extend the running beyond the plant maintenance dates? So, these are the tools that we’re using now,” Rubio said.

He added “we’re confident with the data that is now in the platform. What we’re trying to see is: if the simulation actually mimics the actual performance of the power plant.”

The Aboitiz Power executive conveyed “we’ve been announcing in our analyst briefings that one reason for the good financial performance of AP is availability of our plants – most of our plants are running above 85%.”

Algorithms drawn from digital twins of power plants can primarily provide useful data and simulations on how power capacity availability can be optimized; and it can also anticipate probable technical snags in operations, thus, troubleshooting and proactive maintenance can be better enforced.

The next step of the company, he noted, is a targeted partnership with a Thai company that is a key player in digital infrastructure innovation – and that is planned within this year.

“I’m not going to announce yet the name of the entity – but we’re partnering with a Thai major player in infrastructure – they’re big on data innovation. It will happen around October or November this year,” he stated.

Rubio emphasized that the eventual target of the company is to have 100% digital applications on all of their generating plants, although there is no firm timeframe yet on concretizing that goal across the chain of their power facilities.

Related Tags

Aboitiz Power Internet of Things digital twins power plants Digitalization
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