Engie is taking one more step towards achieving the strategic objective of digitizing its processes.
On October 11, the Company inaugurated its C.O.G. (Generation Operations Center) for the remote operating of power plants.
Initially, three plants – Ponte de Pedra Hydroelectric Power Plant (on the state divide of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) and the Jose Gelazio da Rocha and Rondonopolis SHPs (Small Hydroelectric Plants), the latter two both in the state of Mato Grosso – are to be teleoperated from the Company’s headquarters in Florianopolis.
In 2017, a further three hydro plants will be included in the system: Cana Brava (Goias), Sao Salvador (Tocantins) and Passo Fundo (Rio Grande do Sul).
“The installation of the C.O.G. and remote plant operations have been developed by focusing on new technologies, digitization and operational security”, Engie Brasil Energia’s Chief Executive Officer, Eduardo Sattamini explains. More than 100 people, most of them the Company’s employees, worked on this first stage of the project, which represented investments of R$ 4 million. Sattamini says that this investment was undertaken to adjust the plants’ different equipment, systems and procedures to being operated remotely, always with the underlying goal of maintaining the generator complex’s high level of reliability and uptime.
Sattamini also points out, “this new Operations Center is in line with one of the pillars of transformation which the Group has been implementing, namely that of Digitization where we seek to increase the automation of our processes, focusing on innovation and cost reduction”. On the other hand, the Company’s Chief Generation Officer, José Laydner, highlights the fact that the Operations Center currently combines the C.O.G. and the C.O.S. (System Operations Center), and is equipped with all that is most modern and robust in terms of soft and hardware.
“The C.O.G.’s infrastructure was designed to ensure data security and operational excellence”, the executive declares, also highlighting the team’s level of skills and training. C.O.S is already responsible for operational coordination with the ONS (the National Electrical Systems Operator) and sector agent.
Additionally, the video system for monitoring the plants, also known as CFTV, has been modernized and expanded by Engie Brasil’s Integrated Solutions business area to ensure the security of assets and the operational safety of the equipment. “To have such a partner for this modernization as part of Engie Brasil itself is indicative of the synergies we are looking for”, Sattamini concludes.