ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD

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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
Energy is changing:
Why it’s time to think
digital and get ahead
of the curve
Focus on India

January 2021
ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
Contents
India’s new energy future 					                         3

The Indian trilemma				                                 4
The impact of Covid-19 on energy demand                5
Reimagining coal in the new energy landscape           6
Coal’s role in the energy transition                   6

Profit from experience						                           7
Economic Flexible Operation			                         7

Digitalization could be easier than you think           8
Building a digital enterprise			                       8
What does digitalization involve? 			                  9
It all starts with data			                             10

What’s next? 							                                   12
Building a digital business case 			                   14
Real use cases to inspire your digital business case   15

2
ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
India’s new energy future
With a population of 1.4 billion and one of the world’s
fastest-growing major economies, the International
Energy Agency (IEA) sees India as vital for the future
of the global energy markets1.

Like the vast majority of countries around      As an owner operator with a successful
the world, India is focusing on providing       portfolio of 34GW, we genuinely know what
secure, affordable and sustainable energy       it takes to operate and maintain assets
to its people, whilst transitioning to a low    in challenging market conditions. We’re
carbon global future. The country’s energy      managing our own, and our clients’ fleets,
sector is developing rapidly, driven by         to support renewable integration, so we
both renewable energy technologies              understand first-hand how to successfully
and energy market reforms. Both will            transition plants to operate flexibly.
be needed to meet Prime Minister Modi’s                                                      Digitalization is essential in
target of 450GW of renewable energy             This report sets out to share our            keeping this increasingly
capacity by 2030.                               experience of unlocking Economic             decarbonized and decentralized
                                                Flexible Operation and how digitalization
Flexibility and digitalization will be key to   can help you get there. Globally, the        system stable and affordable.
navigating the multiple energy challenges       energy sector is undergoing a major          We’ve been through our own
India faces over the next few months and        transition, and much of it would not be      digitalization journey and we’ve
years, from fluctuating demand and the          possible without digital solutions.          experienced what works and
integration of renewables, to the changing
role of coal-fired plants.                                                                   what doesn’t. We’ve learnt from
                                                                                             our successes and mistakes and
                                                                                             can help make your own journey
                                                                                             faster and easier.

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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
The Indian trilemma                                               Trends in the Indian power market

                                                                     Solar capacity increased                                   World’s largest renewable
India is facing the trilemma of needing to provide secure and        in the last five and a half                                energy expansion programme
reliable energy to homes and businesses at an affordable             years from around
price, whilst playing its part in resolving the global climate                                                                  175GW until
crisis. It’s facing this trilemma from the challenging position
                                                                     2.6GW to more than 34GW                                    2022
of having massive domestic coal stock reserves and little
natural gas. However, there is huge potential for renewables,
especially wind and solar, and new technologies like hydrogen.
                                                                    Renewable energy has                      India now at              Solar park scheme
According to the Government of India’s
                                                                    a share of
                                                                                                              5th                       doubled from
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy,
India has the world’s largest renewable
                                                                    23.39% in the                             global position           20GW
                                                                                                                                        to 40GW
                                                                    total installed generation                for overall
energy expansion programme, with a target                           capacity in the country                   installed
of 175GW of renewable energy capacity by                            i.e 368.98GW                              renewable
2022. Installed renewables capacity has                             (Up to 29th                               energy capacity
grown rapidly, increasing by 226% in the                            February 2020)                                                      Solar power tariff
last five years.2                                                                                                                       reduced by more than

                                                                                                                                        75%      using plug
                                                                                                                                        and play model

                                                                    Renewable energy
                                                                    installed capacity increased

                                                                    226% in the last 5 years
                                                                                                                                        Record low solar tariff

                                                                                                                                        RS  2.44/unit
                                                                                                                                        achieved in Bhadla,
                                                                                                                                        Rajasthan
                                                                    Highest ever wind capacity addition of

                                                                    5.5GW in 2016-2017

                                                                  *All figures correct as of December 2020.
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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
The Indian trilemma

Increasing demand                                >50% of capacity in India                    With these trends in mind,               The impact of
supporting economic growth                       will be non-fossil fuel                      we believe India’s power                 Covid-19 on
and industrialization                            within 10 years                              sector urgently needs:                   energy demand
Driven by nation-building initiatives            India was one of the world’s biggest         1. A move away from baseload Power       According to the IEA’s World Energy
such as Make in India – the Government           investors in renewables in 2019 –               Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to a       Outlook report, published in October 2020,
initiative to transform India into a global      investing $9.3 billion in the sector.5          more market-based system that         global energy demand is set to drop by 5%
design and manufacturing hub. Tier 2                                                             rewards the most efficient and        in 2020, with electricity demand down by a
cities uplifted by new industries will           Rural electrification and                       flexible fossil generation, through   relatively modest 2% for the year. Depending
develop into megacities, with demand                                                             a combination of capacity             on the progress of the pandemic and global
growing as incomes increase, supported           changing use patterns                           payments and exchanges.               economic recovery, energy demand could
by Government incentives around electric         Around 700 million people in India                                                    return to pre-Covid-19 levels by early 2023.8
vehicles and infrastructure.                                                                  2. The incentivized development of
                                                 gained access to electricity between
                                                                                                 new technology such as batteries,     While energy demand in India has fallen by
                                                 2000 and 2018.6
                                                                                                 hydrogen and hybrid grids.            around 25-30% in the pandemic, the IEA
Low carbon agenda                                                                                                                      predicts that India will lead the demand for
and falling renewables costs                     Sector reforms                               3. Support to make the power             energy globally over the next 10 years – with
                                                                                                 industry the best career choice       growth forecast at between 4-9%.9
Solar power tariffs are continuing to            The IEA has identified urgent changes
                                                                                                 for the brightest Indian engineers
fall in India, to around Rs 2 per unit.3         needed in India’s power sector, including
                                                                                                 and scientists.                       The increase in demand will mainly
                                                 closer co-operation at national, regional
                                                 and state-level between the discoms                                                   be driven by India’s growing industrial
Tightening of finance                            (distribution companies), the                                                         sector, with a smaller rise in demand
for new coal sites                               system and grid operators, and the                                                    coming from the residential sector, as
                                                 regulators through the Central Electricity                                            households have more disposable income
Funding for coal projects fell by 82% in                                                                                               to spend on electrical appliances like air
2019, following a 90% reduction in 2018.         Regulatory Commission; tariff reform;
                                                 and the creation of an India-wide                                                     conditioning, especially in rural areas.
Lending to renewable developments fell
by 6%, but it still accounted for 95% of total   electricity market with efficient trades.7
                                                                                                                                       With renewables meeting 80% of global
investment in energy.4                                                                                                                 electricity demand growth over the
                                                                                                                                       next decade, the IEA also predicts India will
                                                                                                                                       become the largest market for utility-scale
                                                                                                                                       battery storage, with storage playing
                                                                                                                                       an increasingly vital role in the flexible
                                                                                                                                       operation of power systems.10

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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
The Indian trilemma

Reimagining coal in the                                                                        Coal’s role in the
new energy landscape                                                                           energy transition
Alongside the continued growth of                 As the IEA’s report noted, the flexibility   India is home to one of the world’s largest    modifications and integrity management
renewables and the demand for existing            needed to successfully integrate             reserves of coal, and it’s likely that coal    to name but a few in order to manage the
generation assets to decarbonize,                 renewables doesn’t just come from            plants will play a role in the country’s       new operating regimes and the risks and
successful operators will need to                 coal plants, but from other fuel sources     energy transition. The Central Electricity     opportunities they present.
adapt their operating and management              like natural gas, new renewable              Authority’s 2019 generation optimization
regimes to be more resilient in a                 technologies such as hydrogen, energy        plan included potential investment in new      For plants, operating flexibly can mean
rapidly changing environment.                     storage, demand-side response                efficient coal plants up to 2030, alongside    fewer operating hours and lower income,
                                                  and power grids.                             the closure of 48.3GW of end-of-life           less notice to start with faster ramp times
In its 2020 review of India’s energy                                                           coal plants.11                                 requested, and more demand volatility
policy, the IEA outlined coal plants’ role                                                                                                    with larger swings in load. For plants
in supporting India’s energy transition.                                                       With flexibility key to the successful         predominantly designed for baseload
                                                                                               integration of renewables, the Government      operation, that could potentially speed up
                                                                                               of India is currently working to identify      plant deterioration and lower reliability,
                                                                                               plants that can and need to provide that       increase fuel, oil and water consumption,
                                                                                               flexibility, representing a significant        and heighten the risk of premature failure
                                                                                               opportunity for the sites that get it right.   and downtime.

                                                                                                                                              To operate economically, especially in a
                                                                                               What does flexibility mean                     more competitive market with limited
     “India’s power system is currently
                                                                                               for coal plants in India?                      investment, plants will need to focus
     experiencing a major shift to higher                                                                                                     on both:
                                                                                               As part of India’s energy transition,
     shares of variable renewable
                                                                                               renewable penetration will see the
     energy, which is making system                                                                                                           • Operational optimization to
                                                                                               country’s existing asset base of mostly
                                                                                                                                                increase flexibility, lower costs, and
     integration and flexibility priority                                                      coal-fired plants move from baseload
                                                                                                                                                reduce emissions;
     issues. The Government of India has                                                       operation to running flexibly.
     supported greater interconnections                                                                                                       • And plant optimization to protect
                                                                                               Renewable energy-rich states like Andhra
     across the country and now requires                                                                                                        reliability, lower maintenance costs
                                                                                               Pradesh, Karnataka, and Rajasthan will
                                                                                                                                                and extend asset life.
     the existing coal fleet to operate more                                                   need highest flexibility. Plants with high
                                                                                               marginal cost of generation would face
     flexibly. It is also promoting affordable                                                                                                Operating flexibly also requires a
                                                                                               significant demand to operate flexibly to      significant level of staff competence,
     battery storage.”                                                                         ensure better integration of renewable         compared to steady state operation.
                                                                                               energy into the grid.                          Training will be needed to upskill onsite
     World Energy Outlook 2020 flagship report, IEA
                                                                                                                                              engineering teams for flexible operation
                                                                                               Moving to flexible operation involves making
                                                                                                                                              and new trials, together with
                                                                                               strategic changes onsite: from operations
                                                                                                                                              management culture changes to share best
                                                                                               and maintenance (O&M) schedules, to plant
                                                                                                                                              practice across teams and reduce
                                                                                                                                              shift-to-shift variations.
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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
Profit from experience
The UK and Europe have already gone through this change,
and have insights and experience that can be leveraged across
the regions to help evolve asset management and operations,
without the need for large capital investment projects.

Plants have demonstrated they can               The potential real-world value
successfully reduce minimum load to
around 10%, improve ramp rates,                 of Economic Flexible Operation
and/or two shift to minimize                    • Shorten start-up times by 20-50%
renewables curtailments.
                                                • Improve ramp rate and load
                                                  following by 50%
Economic Flexible Operation
                                                • Reduce major component
Economic Flexible Operation is effectively a      replacement costs by 20-30%
change management program focusing on
economic operation, maximizing income and       • Increase max load by 5-10% of Pmax
reducing risk. It’s based on our experience     • Reduce minimum load by
as an owner operator navigating the energy        5-10% of Pmax
transition in the UK and Europe, and our
collaboration with clients’ plants around the   • Increase major outage
world. It has helped us get the most from         intervals by 20-40%
our existing assets, and we can help you        • Reduce daily maintenance
do the same, by providing expert flexibility      costs by 10-20%
support bespoke to your plant.                                                                    In 2019, our digital solutions
                                                • Reduce fuel, oil and water
                                                  consumption by 10-20%                           delivered an average 56%
                                                • Extend economic plant life                      rate of return on investment
                                                  by 5-15 years                                   for our clients, across 20GW
                                                A significant increase in useful asset            worldwide. In India, we deliver
                                                utilization, life and profitability. What would   engineering expertise and
                                                these benefits be worth for your plant?           digital-based solutions to
                                                                                                  support the energy transition
                                                                                                  across the region.

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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
Digitalization could be
easier than you think
When you look at the trends and targets driving India’s energy
transition, it’s clear that the plants that will survive and grow
will need to be steps ahead – ready and able to deliver
flexibility. Digitalization will help you get there, by giving you
a real time view of your assets, risks and opportunities. It’s
integral to the commercial delivery of safe, flexible operations.

Digital technology is transforming the          We’ve developed meaningful and proven
energy sector and bringing wide-ranging         digital tools for our own power plants,
changes. The Industrial Internet of Things      which have demonstrated a measurable
(IIoT) promises to digitalize much of the       step change in performance, but crucially,
world’s industrial processes, including an      digitalization isn’t just about technology.
overhaul of physical infrastructure in the      There isn’t a silver bullet – a solution that
utilities sector, such as power generation,     can simply automate everything for you. For
transmission and distribution. This brings      us, it has meant combining advanced digital
with it equally enormous opportunities,         solutions developed specifically for power
both operational and societal, and major        plants with multidisciplinary engineering
challenges including interoperability and       expertise – to achieve specific goals.
regulatory issues.
                                                                                                In short, digitalization in the
The main issue is that digital means                                                            energy sector means digital
different things to different people and                                                        engineering and asset
getting value out of digital, in amongst all
                                                                                                management – with bespoke
the buzzwords and promises, is the key
challenge facing many owners and                                                                digital solutions to solve
operators. Often, digitalization consultants                                                    bespoke challenges
and providers talk about best practice,                                                         around reliability,
without looking at or understanding the
practical aspects for plants. That means
                                                                                                availability, flexibility and
that when plants set out their digitalization                                                   commercial resilience.
roadmap, it can often be unrealistic.

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ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
Digitalization could be
easier than you think

What does                                  Navigating the energy transition
digitalization involve?                    with digital – how can digital help?
Frost & Sullivan see digitalization as
the analytics, foresight and prevention                                              Applies to the entire stack of power generation
needed to drive better agility of assets
within a plant, to drive long-term
profitability and sustenance amid                                    The familiar territory                                       The unfamiliar yet the most innovative territory
market uncertainty.
                                                  Sensing                 Monitoring                Analysis                 Analytics                Foresight                     Prevention
They recommend digital platforms            Basic data                Different methods of     Analysis of condition    Data analysis            Event or operational           Any event that lead
because they allow for the creation of      collection tool.          monitoring depending     monitoring and           and visualization        prediction before the          to negative outcomes
holistic operational intelligence that      Pressure,                 on the asset type.       reliability assessment   to derive outcomes       event occurs. E.g.             is prevented with
can drive enterprise-wide optimization      temperature, vibration    Condition monitoring     data. Root cause         from past operational    asset failure                  prescriptive
                                            common measures in        reliability assessment   analysis, equipment      instances to identify    prevention due to              technologies such as
across your portfolio, whilst individual                                                                                                         trends and pattern             artificial intelligence
                                            sensing. Latest trend     and monitoring,          specific analysis,       patterns, trends and
solutions can be targeted to serve          is with                   vibration analysis       operational simulation   situations that can be   analysis or digital twin       and machine learning
a specific purpose.                         multi-sensing             and monitoring, etc.     analysis, etc.           improved for future      based simulations.             tools, thus leading
                                            (multiple measures                                                          operational purposes.                                   to cost savings.
                                            can be collected
                                            at once).

                                                                                                      Digital Platform Stack

                                                                                                             Customized AI/ML
                                                                                                              Driven Analytics
                                              Cloud Support          Mobile Native                                                                  Customer API               Existing application
                                                                                                                                                      Support                   interface support
                                                                                                   Single data feed-in/feed-out layer

                                                                           Monitoring                                       No code app                  O&M                           Data
                                                  Sensing                                           Scheduling              development               Management                    Management

                                                  Analysis                  Analytics                Workflow                Criticality               Portfolio                    Cybersecurity
                                                                                                   digitalization           Contribution              Management                       and IT

                                                  Foresight                Prevention

                                             Asset/Plant Performance Management                       Workflow Management Stack                             Other Pertinent Stacks
                                            Stack (can be combined with market risk
                                                        management too)                                                                                                     Source: Frost and Sullivan
9
ENERGY IS CHANGING: WHY IT'S TIME TO THINK DIGITAL AND GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE - FOCUS ON INDIA - IIOT WORLD
Digitalization could be
easier than you think

It all starts with data                        For plants, AI and ML can help you learn            Accessed at the click of a button with        The six Vs
                                               what’s ‘normal’ and spot deviations to              no long supply chain. Ultimately, not
Most of the data needed to run a power         prevent issues before they happen. That             embracing cloud computing will                Traditionally, the challenge of managing
station more profitably already exists.        offers significant benefits in terms of             increase the time, cost and effectiveness     and utilizing big data is described in terms
But with a vast amount of data to              cost, ROI, risk, health and safety, and             of digital implementation.                    of – volume, variety, velocity and veracity.
understand and analyze, how do you extract     environmental compliance. Operating
the insight you need, especially with a        flexibly often means operating in the                                                             Volume – the vast amount of plant data
small plant team?
                                                                                                   Start small and scale up
                                               unknown, so ML and AI are key to helping                                                          generated every second, with many
Advanced technologies like Artificial          you analyze the impact of flexible operation        One of the benefits of digital platforms      datasets too large to store or analyze using
Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)    on performance and asset life.                      enabled by cloud computing, is that           conventional database technologies.
have made data much easier to manage                                                               they offer plants the ability to scale.
and turn into useful, actionable insights.     Cloud computing                                     Plants can start small and evolve their       Variety – the numerous types of data
Including structured data from things like                                                         digitalization journey in the way that’s      generated plant-wide (e.g. plant process
plant monitoring, and unstructured data        Brian Bradford, Vice President of Utilities         right for them, with potentially unlimited    data, maintenance records or shift logs etc.).
from control room emails for example.          within Oracle’s Industry Strategy Group,            access to resources.
                                               believes that many utilities increasingly
                                               see cloud computing as essential to their           Digitalization is something that every        Velocity – plants need to be able to
Machine Learning &                             survival and a fundamental asset in meeting         plant should target, but in our experience,   extract continuous, real-time insights for
                                                                                                                                                 both operational and plant optimization.
Artificial Intelligence                        ever-evolving expectations and turning data         we’d recommend taking baby steps
                                               into an opportunity to modernize and evolve         towards your vision, to understand the
ML and AI definitions are often
                                               their operations.14                                 limitations as well as the opportunities.     Veracity – plants need reliable,
interchanged and differ depending on                                                               Before we started working with one of         accurate, high quality data to support
who you are talking to.                        A recent study shows that 71% of utilities          our clients, they had put out a single        their decision-making.
According to Gartner, advanced ML              now use cloud hosted software, up from just         tender for their complete digitalization      Increasingly, two further Vs are also used
algorithms are composed of many                45% three years ago, with 74% planning to           all at once and invited all the major         to reflect issues around cybersecurity
technologies such as deep learning,            spend more on cloud technologies in the next        providers to bid. They didn’t get a single    for example.
neural networks and natural language           3-5 years.15                                        response to their tender because it’s
processing. Algorithms are designed to         Traditionally, utilities often cite cybersecurity   impossible to automate like that. We          Vulnerability – data security and
learn from data, so the more data they         and regulatory acceptance as barriers to            responded by sharing our own                  privacy are key concerns for plants,
use, the better they get.12                    cloud adoption, but it’s important to               digitalization experience and suggested       and is often seen as one of the barriers
                                               remember that cloud providers spend billions        a step-by-step approach to build on           to digitalization.
AI applies advanced analysis and               on cybersecurity, attract the best talent in        the success of each implementation.
logic-based techniques, including ML, to       the market and cloud services can be                                                              Value – the value of data lies in
interpret events, support and automate                                                             It’s important to remember that               meeting your specific objective, for
                                               hosted in India if preferred.
decisions, and take actions.13                                                                     digitalization is a change management         example, reducing your emissions or
                                                                                                   process involving technology and people       lowering your maintenance costs.
The main message to take from this             Cloud computing provides the security
                                                                                                   working together. If digitalization isn’t
evolving area is that both ML & AI have many   and flexibility for companies to pay
                                                                                                   user-friendly for example, it increases
technical sub categories, which when applied   only for what they use, when they need it.
                                                                                                   the risk of digital tools not being used.
with engineering know-how can generate
high benefits.

10
Digitalization could be
easier than you think

Digital solutions designed                    Digitalization isn’t about                        A human-centric approach:
by engineers                                  replacing people                                  • Do you need support to deploy and
Our journey began 30 years ago with           In our experience, going digital involves           embrace technology in a way that’s
thermodynamic modelling and today             more than just technology and applications.         bespoke and relevant to your plant
we’re using technologies like site-specific   Fundamentally, AI, ML and the IIoT are doing        and your onsite team?
artificial intelligence and neural networks   what engineers have always aimed for –
                                                                                                • Do you have questions around IT and
for operational and plant optimization.       delivering improved ways to do things cost
                                                                                                  security concerns at management,
A neural network learns from your             effectively. They are tools to help people
                                                                                                  investor or plant level?
best human operator to optimize your          work more efficiently and make quicker and
specific plant. It processes all input data   better decisions. Understanding the human         • Is your technology scalable and suitable
simultaneously, making decisions every        element is a crucial part of the digitalization     for diverse uses, across a regional or
30 seconds, 24/7. As plant operators          journey, and often more complex than the            national portfolio for example?
ourselves, we know how to design and          technology itself.
use AI in a safe and secure way.                                                                • How will technology help to support
                                              Digitalization isn’t about replacing people         your onsite team? Are your resources
With our power plant background, we know      with technology, it’s about supporting and          stretched, for example?
how to identify value-added information       enhancing plant teams and tapping into
hidden in vast amounts of data.               engineering expertise. There’s a world            • People are the most difficult to change,
                                              of difference between technology and                so identify their drivers and support them,
                                              technology enabled by plant knowledge.              share good practice and experience.

The digital IIoT solution we                  Building a digital platform is easy, but          • Identifying KPIs and remaining agile will
developed for our own digitalization          bringing power plant knowledge into your            support successful implementation.
                                              algorithms is key. What makes digital tools
journey, Enerlytics, is built on a            effective, powerful and relevant for plants
strong engineering base. It provides          is their ability to unlock the value of your
our plants, and our clients’ plants           data and transform it into timely actionable
with a clear picture of asset health          insights, together with their ability to
                                              harness the very best engineering
and actionable insights from                  expertise – both onsite and from other
their data.                                   plants around the world.

11
What’s next?
No one technology should be seen in            Navigating the energy transition with digital – trends in digital technologies
isolation. As Frost & Sullivan put it: “The
boundaries of digital are being stretched
                                                                 Intuitive skill based                   Connected Field Services
to enable performance optimization and                            workforce training
achieve process excellence.” With cloud
computing and scalable digital platforms,                                                 AR/VR/MR
you’ll be ready to adapt to new
technologies as needed.                          Intelligent sensors                                                    P2P Energy Transfer
                                                    with embedded                                                       via Microgrids
                                               compute capabilities
Technology should not be seen in isolation.
A converged view leads to new growth
opportunities. Boundaries of digital are
                                                                                                                               Contractual
being structured to enable performance                                                   Deep Learning                         Service
optimization and consequently achieve
                                                                       Sensor                 and                              Agreements
process excellence.                                                                                      Blockchain
                                                                       Fusion               Artificial                         for Connected
                                                                                                                               Services
                                               Product as                                 Intelligence
                                                 a service
                                                (Lifecycle
                                              Monetization
                                               Strategies)

                                                                                                                        AI-based Cybersecurity
                                                                                                                        Threat Prevention across
                                               AI + Edge + Sensing                         Edge and                     Sensor Fusio Blockchain,
                                                                                         Cybersecurity                  AR/R/MR

                                                                  Edge-based AI
                                                             driven applications

                                              Source: Frost and Sullivan

12
What’s next?

How to build your digital business case                                                        How digital can help you                     To survive and thrive
The current state of play in India’s power sector provides a clear case for plants to          overcome the challenges                      in a challenging and
embrace digitalization – with economic flexible operation needed to support ROI.               of flexible operations and                   evolving market,
But how do you go about building a bespoke digital business case for your specific plant/s?
                                                                                               benefit from the opportunities               plants will need to:
                                                                                               Flexible operation represents both a         • Optimize operations to increase
1                      2                       3                        4                      challenge and an opportunity for many          flexibility, lower costs and
     Company vision                                Use case gathering       Financials         plants in India. Supporting the transition     reduce emissions.
                           Analyse and focus
     and goal                                                                                  to renewables could mean less income
                                                                                               from generation and more pressure on         • Optimize assets to protect
How can                How are your            Gather the use           Create a financial                                                    reliability, lower maintenance
                                                                                               assets rapidly adapting to different
digitalisation help    assets positioned       cases which match        model which values                                                    costs and extend asset life.
                                                                                               operating scenarios.
your company           in markets and          your asset type          the use cases,
create the future      using an asset          from own trials or       trials and costs to                                                 • Upskill onsite engineering teams
you are aiming for?    management              other companies.         produce a matrix                                                      for flexible operation.
                       model, what are                                  detailing your risks
                       the focus areas for                              and opportunities.                                                  • Optimize management culture to
                       value creation?                                                                                                        support onsite teams and share best
                                                                                               It’s important to remember                     practice plant-wide.
                                                                                               that digitalization is a                     Digitalization combined with
                                                                                               change management process                    engineering expertise will help you
                                                                                               involving technology and                     navigate these strategic changes,
                                                                                                                                            maximize income and reduce risk,
                                                                                               people working together.                     by unlocking the value of your data
                                                                                                                                            and giving you bespoke digital tools
                                                                                                                                            to solve specific plant challenges.

                                                                                                                                            Crucially, it will help you optimize
                                                                                                                                            your assets and operations without
                                                                                                                                            the need for large capital investment
                                                                                                                                            and drive ROI fast. In 2019, our digital
                                                                                                                                            solutions delivered an average 56%
                                                                                                                                            rate of return on investment for our
                                                                                                                                            global clients.

13
What’s next?

What markets are                              What are your focus areas for value creation? Use this table to match
your assets in?                               your market scenario and operation mode to identify the value drivers
Your digital business case sets out how
digital will help to deliver your corporate                       Scenario         Conventional (gas/    Conventional (gas/    Wind farms/Solar Conventional (gas/      Conventional (gas/
strategy, for example, flexibility,                                                coal) assets in       coal) assets in       farm in liberal  coal) assets in         coal) assets in
                                                                                   low renewables        low renewables        market           low renewables          high renewables
decarbonization, security of supply,                                               penetration market,   penetration                            penetration market,     penetration market,
aligned to the markets you operate in.                                             with efficiency       market, with an                        low fuel cost so high   high fuel cost
                                                                                   driven PPA            infrastructure with                    in the merit order
                                                                                                         capacity issues
Test before you invest                                            Operation mode   Base load             All modes             Run all the time   Base load             Flex
We recommend gathering use cases to
test the real-world impact of using digital
                                                                  Capacity
solutions before you invest, focusing on
three to five key areas significant to your
plant strategy. You can run your own trials                       Availability
                                              Value focus areas

or learn from external use cases relevant
to your assets, market and objectives.                            Reliability
Given the need to accelerate your
digitalization journey, a combined
approach could be the best way to give                            Flexibility
you the advantages of both. Trials will
give you results and data unique to                               Efficiency
your plant and enable you to see and
understand the cultural impact of
your digital project..                                            Cost

Learning from external use
cases will help build your
business case faster and
leverage a huge breadth and
depth of experience and
expertise from plants around
the world, including similar
markets to India.

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What’s next?

Real use cases to inspire
your digital business case

Case study                                       Case study                                       Case study                                 Case study
Assets protected by                              Maintenance costs cut by                         Demineralized water use                    5 figure gains unlocked
smart alerts                                     up to 15%                                        optimized to save water,                   through thermodynamic
                                                                                                  chemicals and energy                       modelling
Marubeni Asset Power Management are              Through plant data collected to monitor
transforming their O&M business model            the condition of our assets, we could see        We’ve developed our digital Enerlytics     Advanced remote monitoring techniques
through digital transformation – to reduce       that some components maintained during           platform over many years, based on         such as online thermodynamic modelling
risk, improve efficiency and increase            planned three-yearly shutdowns didn’t            our engineering expertise as an owner      provide a way of identifying the optimal
profitability. They’ve recently worked with      actually have any issues. We carried out         operator. It enables us to develop         operational changes to make onsite 24/7.
us to develop data-driven early detection of     our first site-specific Maintenance Strategy     bespoke digital tools to solve specific,   Enabling you to see how your plant will
jellyfish and algae ingress affecting plants’    Review (MSR) in 2017, to identify the optimal    real-life plant challenges. For example,   respond and the risks and benefits of
cooling water intake. Together we developed      maintenance strategy for each individual         we’ve created a bespoke digital tool for   different operating scenarios. In this case,
a smart alert configured to provide 24/7         auxiliary asset, using data modelling to         plants to optimize their demineralized     precise insights from thermodynamic
autonomous monitoring and email                  compare the effectiveness of different           water use – to reduce costs and risks,     modelling helped our customer accurately
notifications. This delivered a practical        maintenance strategies. Today, all our plants    increase efficiency and improve            identify the optimum number of cooling
solution to a new problem, quickly and easily.   are using asset data combined with onsite        performance. Plants can create             towers the plant needed to maximize
                                                 expertise to cut maintenance costs by up to      automatic, real-time online reports        efficiency and performance across an
                                                 15%, reduce the risk of maintenance-induced      to visualize their daily water use at      already heavily optimized power station.
                                                 failures by up to 30%, and optimize planned      a glance, with a health score to           This unlocked 5-figure gains per annum
                                                 outages. We’re rolling out MSR at our clients’   benchmark daily performance.               from small operational changes in just a
                                                 plants too and can optimize maintenance for      Enerlytics is designed to work             single area of plant. For plants operating
                                                 up to 500 assets in just one day using our       alongside proprietary software,            flexibly, thermodynamic modelling
                                                 unique MSR algorithm and your asset data         enabling you to combine multiple           will help you understand the impact
                                                 and operating/market conditions.                 data sources and maximize ROI on           of variable loads on operation and
                                                                                                  your existing technology.                  how to balance generation versus
                                                                                                                                             efficiency savings.

15
The next step…
One size doesn’t fit all, especially in India’s diverse and
evolving power markets. Working out what digitalization
means for you is key to a successful digitalization journey.

Digitalization can work at any stage
– whatever market factors you’re experiencing.

Why not talk to us about developing a
bespoke digital solution for your plant?
We offer free trials to help you understand the benefits and impacts
at plant level, based on our engineering expertise and experience
as a fellow owner operator.

Animesh Kumar
Managing Director
Uniper India Private Limited
M +91 907 395 3939
M +49 173 368 2118
Animesh.Kumar@uniper.energy

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Sources
1
  IEA India 2020 energy policy review
2
  Government of India, Ministry of new and renewable energy
3
  The Times of India
4
  Yahoo Financial
5
   Yahoo Financial
6
  IEA India 2020 energy policy review
7
  IEA India needs a resilient power sector
8
  World Energy Outlook 2020
9
  Down to Earth
10
   IEA World energy outlook 2020
11
   IEA India 2020 energy policy review
12
   Gartner: Machine Learning
13
   Gartner: Machine Learning
14
   Smart Energy International
15
   Smart Energy International

www.uniper.energy

Uniper Engineering, Uniper India Pvt
Ltd, Unit 701, Tower 1, Okaya Centre,
Sector 62, Noida 201301, UP, India
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