THE Aboitiz Group is open to expanding the use of digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI) in more power plants as well as other subsidiaries that utilize raw materials to improve maintenance periods of facilities and reduce down times.
David Hardoon, Aboitiz Data Innovation chief executive officer, said the system will be initially deployed in smaller facilities as there is a need to employ a learning program and generate a pool of data.
Digital twins are a virtual replica of a power plant that mimic the latter’s operational processes and systems, giving operators a tool that can simulate or stress-test scenarios, as well as detect faults and glitches earlier and in real time, all within a virtual environment.
“The principle of digital twin, the key aspect is how much data you have and how much do you actually know the asset. We had to go for a learning program to understand our broilers to build this…,” Hardoon told reporters at the sidelines of a corporate even recently.
“But we (have to) start with somewhere smaller, where we have full control and have a smaller environment,” Hardoon added.
If the program has accumulated enough data, the system can also be used on bigger power plants including the 1,336 megawatts (MW) GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. coal-fired power plant in Mariveles, Bataan.
Last week, Aboitiz Power and Thai company REPCO NEX, signed the partnership agreement for Project Arkanghel that will develop digital twins for Aboitiz Power’s existing circulating fluidized bed coal-fired power plants which are the 300 MW Therma South Plant in Davao City and the 340 MW Therma Visayas Plant in Toledo City, Cebu.
Both assets will serve as pioneer models for future installations in other thermal sites.
The company said that digital twins of power plants will further optimize the performance of facilities through data science and AI that will empower operators and engineers to make more informed decisions.
As an integrated system, a digital-enabled power plant can also streamline data collection and review for the benefit of asset health monitoring, life cycle management and predictive maintenance.
Aboitiz Power said such insights will also enable lesser periods of planned and unplanned shutdowns of power plants as well as to predict when a power plant part must be replaced to avoid major disruptions.
