COTES takes part in a conference on “Power Industry Upgrade: Challenges. Trends.”

Vitaliy Kuchanov, COTES Engineering’s chief engineer, took part in a conference, held by the Ural Turbine Works (ROTEC Holding) and Sulzer Turbo Services Rus from May 30-31 in Yekaterinburg.

Representatives of the Russian electric power industry gathered to discuss modern trends and challenges: power generation companies, manufacturers, engineering companies, service vendors and officials of relevant ministries. One of the key topics included in the agenda was areas of development for the Russian power industry, DPM-2 program (Capacity Delivery Agreement) and the resources necessary for its implementation.

The Conference combined both key stakeholders within the market and the most relevant topics. The issues discussed in the agenda were localization, DPM-2 implementation and digitalization within the power industry. Many reports were about the automation of modern power facilities. Russian companies are tackling the task of switching from imported equipment to fully-localized Russian hardware and software complexes. All innovations, along with Russian developments, must pass mandatory certification and approval by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and by the Ministry of Telecommunications. COTES Engineering is well acquainted with Russian developments, which has allowed for prior successful full-scale DCS design projects.

The conference attendees also visited the Ural Turbine Works’ site to familiarize themselves with the maintenance capacities of Sulzer. Those on the excursion were impressed by the high production culture and the demand for the site’s capacities.

In Vitaliy Kuchanov’s opinion, one of the more interesting speeches was presented by Yelena Medvedeva, deputy director of the Department of operation monitoring and control in the power industry. She named one challenge for the power industry: digitalization through the use of an electronic model of the enterprise (a “digital twin”), in which one may perform emergency drills, forecast equipment failures, and test alternatives for retrofits and upgrades. In Yelena Medvedeva’s opinion, using such models is a real challenge and represents a high-technology future for the industry that would enable operational cost reduction and make the most of changes and costs at the design stage.

“It is a very interesting idea and, though it might seem somewhat farfetched, I shan’t be surprised to see it realised after a couple of years,” said Vitaliy Kuchanov. “COTES Engineering is ready to join in the realization of that task. We have 3D-design and programming experience, our specialists can work with the specialized programs and are open for new and interesting ideas”.