Case Study on Enhancing Internal Rate of Revenue (IRR) of a Solar Plant in Maharashtra, India with Digital Twin Technology.
The objective of the project was to improve the profitability, efficiency, and mean time to detect issues at a 50MW AC solar plant owned by a sizable Independent Power Producer (IPP) in Maharashtra, India, by implementing digital twin technology.
As a background – The IPP faced numerous challenges, including unmonitored inefficiencies, lack of information on energy generation and forecasting, and difficulties in monitoring and maintaining the components of the solar plant. These issues resulted in the wastage of solar energy, affected the plant’s output and profitability, and created difficulties in claiming a warranty for any malfunctioning component.
FutrOS approach takes care of the problem in the following manner:
- FutrOS implemented a digital twin-based analytics engine to closely monitor the solar plant’s performance, track each component, and reduce the mean time to detect problems.
- The engine used real-time simulation to assess the present condition of each part of the grid solar plant, predictively maintain the components installed at the plant, and improve the predictability of all the solar panels in the system.
- FutrOS’s virtual plant also allowed administrators to replicate different scenarios and figure out how the upgraded panels would respond to them, thus improving the plant’s overall efficiency and output.
The results were-
- Enhanced Fault Predictability: Close monitoring boosted fault predictability with high accuracy.
- Efficient Issue Analysis: Time spent on issue analysis reduced by 50%.
- Increased Energy Production: Plant’s energy production improved by 3%.
- Minimized Losses: Auto-generated alarms and benchmarks reduced losses.
- Improved ROI: Reduced downtime enhanced Return on Investment (ROI).
- Streamlined Warranty Claims: Simplified and expedited warranty claiming process.
- Efficient Malfunction Resolution: Navigation feature aided site personnel in locating and resolving issues quickly.
In conclusion, FutrOS’s implementation of digital twin technology successfully improved the profitability, efficiency, and mean time to detect issues at the 50MW AC solar plant in Maharashtra, India. By providing easy navigation and personalized understanding of each component, the plant’s technical site personnel could resolve issues quickly and efficiently. Additionally, the simplified warranty claiming process and improved predictability of the solar panels resulted in an improved ROI for the IPP.
