Practical AI Applications for Digital Hydropower Operations

In the evolving landscape of renewable energy, hydropower stands as a pivotal component. Yet, the sector is confronted with the challenge of adapting to dynamic market conditions and environmental unpredictability. Digitalization presents itself as a transformative approach, facilitating enhanced decision-making capabilities and operational efficiency.

The shift towards digital operation is not just a trend but a necessity fuelled by dynamic market demands. Transitioning to a digital toolkit is crucial, but it’s more than choosing software — it’s about empowering strategic decision-making for every team member without adding complexity or unnecessary data. The selection of an appropriate digital tool is complex, as simplicity and strategic insight are hard to distil from the abundance of unstructured data.

Series: 1/4 Stay tuned for the upcoming pieces!

At the end of this three-part series you will be ready to maximize hydropower generation, ensure seamless collaboration within your teams, and simplify all aspects of asset and portfolio management.
So stay tuned!

If you are exploring digitalization opportunities for hydropower operations, we’ve got you covered! In this upcoming three part series, we explore the pillars of hydropower digitalization, all features that can take your planning to the next level, and all the pitfalls of choosing and implementing a digital solution.

Selecting the Right Digital Tool for Real-Time Hydropower Management

Facing a myriad of options, hydropower engineers must select tools that deliver real-time insights rather than creating a cluttered data environment. The ideal solution should offer PREDICT, VISUALIZE & PLAN functionalities, using an interactive and intuitive interface. Time horizons also play a role in hydropower production planning, as on short-, medium-, and long-term planning all present different challenges. To leverage the newest digital solutions and prevent software sprawl, make sure your new real-time digital solution provides these core functionalities.

Part 1. Real-Time Inflow Predictions in Hydropower: Enhancing Forecasts with Machine Learning

Here is where machine learning excels. Machine Learning combines the robustness of statistics with newly developed algorithms which identify patterns in data, otherwise hard to detect and time consuming for a human operator. When it comes to hydrological systems, a forecast model is not going to serve all planning needs in hydro-energy production. In fact, in most cases, many different forecast models are run, each one associated to a given timescale.

Read the full blog post: Real-Time Inflow Predictions in Hydropower

Part 2. Collaborative Visualization: Interactive, Transparent Platforms for Hydropower Cross-Team Strategic Planning

When time is of the essence your team needs all relevant inputs available in real-time. The inputs need to be intuitive, and fully customizable. When generating a visualization for hydropower production planning, data granularity, transparency and connectivity become essential variables for unlocking relevant insight. Beyond the visualization of data, digitalization provides users the possibility to edit data granularity, manipulate and check data, as well as share information across multiple teams. This streamlines decision-making and workflow within large teams, mitigating the vulnerabilities associated with manual data analysis processes.

Read the full blog post: Gaining Clarity Through Visualization

Part 3. Strategic Planning with AI: Integrating Technology and Human Expertise in Hydropower

Planning functionalities are critical in translating predictive insights into intelligent decision-making. While production planning must factor in many operations’ specific parameters, it remains a task in which, for most fleet managers, collaboration between trading and operation teams is the norm. Your next digital solution can bridge real-time communication across teams, with customizable access levels and full reporting functionalities. This is how a digital solution can save you time by reducing coordination efforts, report writing and knowledge transfer sessions.
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Read the full blog post: Planning for Hydropower Operations and Energy Production

Streamlining Operations: Replace Complex Processes with Integrated Production Planning

Integration across teams is the bedrock of a valuable digital solution. Having a singular, comprehensive suite avoids the pitfalls of fragmented software use and ensures a smooth, coordinated, and efficient transition to sophisticated production planning. Additionally, bringing all your data under the same set of interconnected algorithms and forecasting models will increase the accuracy of all results.

The aim is clear – quicker implementation times, from months to weeks. Stay tuned to find out how we do it!