BANGKOK—Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower) teamed up with REPCO NEX Industrial Solutions of Thailand to introduce the Philippines’ first smart power plants as part of the Aboitiz Group’s push towards a “techglomerate.”
The project, dubbed “Project Arkanghel,” will develop digital twins for AboitizPower’s circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired power plants including the 300-megawatt Therma South plant in Davao City and the 340-MW Therma Visayas Plant in Toledo City, Cebu.
AboitizPower, Aboitiz Data Innovation and REPCO NEX held the ceremonial signing of project Arkanghel here, marking a milestone for the Aboitiz Group as it embarks on a journey of innovation that will transform the future of the Philippine energy landscape and even Southeast Asia.
Both assets will serve as pioneer models for future installations in other thermal sites.
Digital twins are a virtual replica of a power plant that mimics its operational processes and systems, giving operators a tool that can simulate or stress-test scenarios and detect faults and glitches earlier and in real time, all within a virtual environment.
AboitizPower said that with CFB technology already recirculating combustion for even greater power generation efficiency, digital twins would further optimize the performance of the power plants through data science and artificial intelligence to empower operators and engineers on making informed decisions.
A digital-enabled power plant will streamline data collection and review for the benefit of asset health monitoring, life cycle management and predictive maintenance.
AboitizPower executives said the proactive action spurred by these insights could result in shorter planned and unplanned downtimes, thus increasing plant reliability.
AboitizPower chief finance officer Sandro Aboitiz said the Philippine energy landscape is constantly evolving towards transition, while the economy continues to grow at a rapid pace, requiring new sources of dependable and reliable power supply.
“We also see the impact of the continuing decentralization and digitalization of the energy value chain, supported by enabling policies and technological advancement,” he said.
“As more distributed energy resources are added to the grid, and consumers become prosumers, the need for stable and reliable baseload supply becomes even more critical to ensure the security of our grid,” Aboitiz said.
AboitizPower Thermal chief operating officer of operated assets Aldo Ramos said the partnership would establish the Philippines’ first smart power plant.
“We will harness the power of data science and AI to create a digital twin that will unlock the potential of our existing power plants Therma South and Therma Visayas,” he said.
“Project Arkanghel is pivotal in boosting our thermal power plants’ efficiency and resiliency. It will also help to ensure that our plants provide reliable baseload supply and lessen downtime due to forced and planned outages,” Ramos said.
The Aboitiz Group launched its Great Transformation campaign in 2022 to become the Philippines’ first techglomerate, leveraging resources and cross-company synergies to deliver more value and help tech-up the Philippine economy.
Meanwhile, REPCO NEX is “an asset performance solutions provider across the asset and operations lifecycles in a broad range of industrial markets, including oil and gas, petrochemicals, power and renewable energy, utilities, food & beverage, and general manufacturing sectors.”