Doan Thi My Hanh – General Director of ANDRITZ Vietnam Co., Ltd
Reporter: How would you rate the application of technology at EVN's hydropower plants compared to others in the world?
Ms. Doan Thi My Hanh: ANDRITZ has been present in Vietnam for nearly 30 years. We have witnessed the impressive development of EVN in particular and Vietnam in general.
In the overall picture of the hydropower sector - specifically EVN's plants - We believe that most of these plants are equipped with similar technologies as that in the plants constructed at the same period in the world, equipped with advanced control systems.
However, the current plants are being exploited in a relatively local way in terms of control. This more or less has certain limitations in industrial communication when entering the era of Industry 4.0 and the digital economy.
In the past few years, the development of IT (IT) has helped us gain a vision of the possibility of more efficient exploitation of the existing plants. In addition, control systems (AT) have been entering the replacement and upgrading cycle with significant updates in operating technology (OT) with an increasingly high degree of automation.
Along with the right development strategy and the determination and investment interest of EVN, I think that EVN will create opportunities to build technological infrastructure not only for hydropower power plants but also for other systems such as financial transmission, trading, metering, dispatching, etc., thereby forming an ecosystem that ensures long-term and sustainable development for EVN's power plants and the national power system, getting ready to participate in the digital economy.
Reporter: How will digitization in the hydropower sector bring benefits?
Ms. Doan Thi My Hanh: Digitization is an inevitable development step in most industrial fields in general and the power sector in particular. Even in the power sector, digitization started very early when we have modern control systems being exploited at power plants. However, as shared above, hydropower plants are in operation and are exploited as local systems. In other words, we have not yet fully exploited the value brought by data, and have not built an ecosystem at the corporate scale - an ecosystem where AT, OT, IT, and ET technologies are connected, collected, analyzed, shared, exploited, and supported one another to serve a long-term and sustainable development strategy.
Commercially, the immediate benefits of digitization can be summarized as the reduction in operating and maintenance costs; improvement in the efficiency of power plants and power grids; very good support in the planning of maintenance plans combined with hydrological data and predict future production; reduction in downtime both in and out of the plan; extension of equipment/assets lifetime - thus maximizing return on investment and delivering sustainable commercial values.
Representative of ANDRITZ Vietnam sharing integrated automation solutions for hydropower plants at the Conference of Power Sector Automation on the trend of digital transformation organized by EVN in April 2022.
Reporter: In your opinion, what are the difficulties and challenges in the roadmap for the digital transformation of hydropower plants of EVN?
Ms. Doan Thi My Hanh: Given the gap in awareness and skills, part of the workforce may be concerned or skeptical about the effectiveness of the digitalization process because of a lack of information or expertise in digital transformation.
The main requirement for digitization is the complete fulfillment of infrastructure not only in terms of information technology but also in control and data collection infrastructures at plants. Lacking one of these factors creates a major barrier. For example, the security and assets of the plant need to be properly invested because it is of vital importance. A cyber attack can affect not just one or more plants, but the entire national energy system.
At the same time, the current legal corridor may not allow innovation or application of data-sharing technology.
Reporter: To solve such problems, what actions should be taken to maximize the benefits of digital transformation in the hydropower sector in Vietnam?
Ms. Doan Thi My Hanh: For a successful digital transformation, all stakeholders shall have a common vision and know how to contribute their value to this vision. Therefore, there must be a strong commitment from senior leadership to drive change and ensure that all operating and exploiting units effectively adapt and exploit the new style of working after digital transformation with the help of digital technology products.
For example, ANDRITZ - with its DiOMEra solution has helped customers achieve their digital transformation goals by addressing questions: How to exploit the full potential of the existing hydropower power plants? When and what needs to be done to ensure these plants avoid or limit incidents, with best-risk-benefit trade-offs? When is it better to replace equipment than to repair it?
Reporter: What experience can ANDRITZ share with EVN on implementing digital transformation at hydropower plants?
Ms. Doan Thi My Hanh: ANDRITZ has good experience in implementing digital solutions and services in the field of operation and maintenance for power plants, including the full range of operation and maintenance management directly at the plants, to support services through remote digital platforms.
ANDRITZ can help EVN deploy and customize digital solutions in the field of O&M to suit EVN's specific conditions. With the technology brand of Metris, ANDRITZ provides a portfolio of advanced solutions and smart digital products, including the Metris DiOMEra product, which is being applied very successfully in many countries around the world with a total capacity of more than 17GW to date.
PV: Thank you, madam!
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ANDRITZ:
- As a technology and equipment supplier from Europe.
- More than 180 years of design and manufacture; providing technology and equipment for hydropower power plants in the world.
- Strengths: Operational management, repair, and maintenance of hydropower power plants.
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