| Power plant products hydro-floating solar project


The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is deploying Siemens’ SICAM microgrid control and photovoltaic plant control to balance the energy mix generated by the world’s largest hybrid hydro-plus-floating-solar project at Sirindhorn dam, in Ubon Ratchathani province. The project, with solar power generation capacity of 45 MW and hydroelectric capacity of 36 MW, recently began commercial operation. Capable of generating electricity from renewable sources 24 hours a day, it is the first of its kind in Thailand. The energy ecosystem in Thailand is changing rapidly as technological innovations transform energy management. Prasertsak Cherngchawano, EGAT deputy governor responsible for power plant development and renewable energy, commented: “EGAT is committed to grid modernisation by [employing]


various technologies and innovations. Our main goal is to promote the use of clean energy and reduce carbon emissions to net zero in the future in accordance with the National Energy Plan.” “EGAT plans to implement similar projects at other nine dams nationwide, with a total capacity of 2725 MW and is [considering a plan] to expand [with] an addition of 5000 MW. This plan is significant first step toward the true carbon neutral society,” he added.


Siemens is responsible for installing, testing, and commissioning the microgrid control that works together with photovoltaic plant control systems for the Sirindhorn dam project. The company deployed and fully activated the control system on 31 October last year, and it has been in commercial operation since then. In addition, Siemens is installing DEOP, the


cloud-based software for the optimisation of distributed energy resources. DEOP ‘s capability to present real-time hybrid power distribution data on dashboard helps EGAT manage power distribution more efficiently.


With the controllers and the cloud-based DEOP software, operators can use a dashboard to monitor important parameters including status of electrical equipment, electric power generation, weather measurement and electric power generation forecast. These solutions can properly address EGAT’s needs for efficiently managing, forecasting, and supporting the commercial distribution of large amounts of electricity.


‘Swarm’ technology to increase wind farm profitability


WindESCo, a specialist in accelerating annual energy production from wind turbines, has launched ‘WindESCo Swarm’, said to be the world’s first commercially available, patented solution for autonomous, co-operative control of wind assets.


Taking it’s cue from the way flocks of birds adjust their orientation to maximise flight efficiency, ‘Swarm’ enables turbines to co- operatively adjust their positioning to boost total production of the entire array – that is, not just single machines – by 3–5% over an annual period. For a typical 1 GW wind farm, this would translate to over €17 million over a five-year period.


Currently available solutions sought to optimise wind assets on a turbine-by-turbine basis. This approach can deliver incremental


improvements but does not reflect the complex reality of wind farm operations and is insufficient to address fleet-wide losses that can be as high as 20% of potential power production. Swarm connects and creates a ‘shared understanding’ between turbines. It allows turbines to know what is happening at neighbouring machines, such as their reaction to wind eddies and other local effects, along with the direction, strength of, and any shifts in wind resource, to change their operational profiles and optimise the swarm instead of individual machines. By understanding how their operation is impacting the performance of the site at large, operators can take predictive, protective and proactive turbine control measures to maximised fleet-wide.


Blair Heavey, CEO of WindESCo, said: “In a


competitive market, our customers are telling us they’re looking to springboard from defensive or risk-based solutions to offensive, revenue producing solutions to tackle the widespread challenge of LCOE (levelised cost of electricity). Current solutions do not provide actionable insights and a measurable ROI in terms of tangible site-wide production boosts.” Swarm combines hardware and software as an integrated system. To develop it WindESCo used a multidisciplinary approach, combining the fields of turbine loads, controls, meteorology, sensing and machine learning. The first commercial implementation on 3 wind plants with over 300 MW of capacity is underway in North America. It is currently being offered as a repowering solution that is compatible with most turbine OEMs and models.


Valmet to deliver automation of Estonian biogas plant


Above: BioWOIMA


Valmet is to install automation for the Baltic region’s first biogas plant fired with household and commercial biowaste. Built by BioWOIMA Finland Oy in Tallinn, Estonia, it will produce biomethane for the natural gas network and fuel for natural gas-powered vehicles. Biofertilizer for land improvement is also created as a by-product. Delivery will take place in May 2022, and the new biogas plant will be ready for operation in 2023. Valmet’s contract includes delivering DNA Automation System and an information management system as well as electrical,


instrumentation, system, application and display engineering.


The DNA Automation System is equipped with a web-based Valmet DNA User Interface that extends the use of the automation system beyond traditional remote operations. Said to be built with the latest web technologies, it comes with secure web-based access that enables the plant teams to get relevant information whenever they need it, regardless of their location. Valmet will also supply two containers to house the automation system.


www.modernpowersystems.com | January/February 2022 | 39 Thailand’s first


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