Stromnetz Hamburg 110kv station

Germany: SPIE innovates with Stromnetz Hamburg and Hesotech around new digital maintenance solutions

Published on 15 December 2022

Hamburg, 15 December 2022SPIE Deutschland & Zentraleuropa, the German subsidiary of SPIE, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, Stromnetz Hamburg and their development partner Hesotech have completed a successful year of a pilot project named DigiMon (short for digital facility monitoring) which optimises the operational management of switchgear based on a digital solution. The project has gone so well that it is to be continued and expanded up to the end of 2023.

If an energy network is to operate without any failures, it is essential that its associated high-voltage switchgear functions perfectly. Therefore, their maintenance and servicing are crucial to ensure that potential defects in the installation are spotted before they cause any operational issues - or even full-blown failures. Digitalisation continuously offers useful potentials with this regard. To optimise the operational management of switchgear, cooperation partners Stromnetz Hamburg, SPIE and Hesotech have been trialling a digital solution in the 110 kV-switchgear “Hamburg Tiefstack” as part of a joint project named DigiMon since 2021. There, the system iMaster/Docucam is being employed to take high-resolution pictures and to analyse them via Computervision. The recommendations generated by these tools are integrated into a digital twin which is accessible by all project members.

The initial trial phase is now coming to an end after a year, giving the cooperation partners an opportunity to reflect – and the conclusion is positive.

“At Stromnetz Hamburg, we are always looking for solutions that will allow us to operate our grid efficiently and sustainably at a consistently high level. This jointly developed system has a lot of potential, and we’ve explored and enhanced that potential in practice over the course of the project. The DigiMon project is already a resounding success. I’m looking forward to keeping the collaboration going,” said Ratna Hutabarat, project manager at Stromnetz Hamburg.

We are very proud of what we have accomplished and of our progress on development as part of our project in recent months. Our innovative solution offers excellent potential in terms of predictive maintenance, allowing us to carry out more targeted and effective maintenance on switchgear and thereby make the entire grid more resilient for our customers,” said Katharina Bäuerle, project manager at the High Voltage operational division of SPIE Deutschland & Zentraleuropa.

Guido Sonnen, project manager at Hesotech, was also satisfied with the outcome. “The cooperation with SPIE and Stromnetz Hamburg has been extremely productive and has helped us to keep on making the tool more and more practical and thus better overall.”

During the fourth quarter of 2023, the project team will continue to refine and add new data to the design of the digital twin of the facility. New use cases will also be implemented and tested. The partners are expecting to glean further findings from this solution and to find practical methods for reliable and secure remote maintenance and servicing of switchgear.

Contacts