SI^®/PAM in operation in STEAG’s subsidiary in Brazil

Iqony do Brasil (SESBR) is responsible for operation management and maintenance (O&M) of a total of 25 renewable energy generation plants in Brazil, the largest country in South America. These include 8 hydropower plants, 12 wind farms and 5 solar plants, most of which are located in the eastern part of the country. Depending on the size of the plant, SESBR teams of up to 30 employees are deployed on site. The Monitoring and Remote Operation Center (CMO) in Rio de Janeiro is responsible for remote control and monitoring of the plants. Seven days a week, around the clock, colleagues observe the measurement data and operating conditions. And if they identify deviations or malfunctions, they use the newly installed SI^®/PAM system to initiate any necessary maintenance and repair work in good time.

"The CMO keeps an eye on pending and completed measures for all plants. To this end, the colleagues from Rio communicate continuously with the teams on site. They also report to the customers," explains Harald Spliessgardt, project manager in the Business Services department of Information Technologies at STEAG Energy Services (SES). Until end of 2019, the Brazilian colleagues used an administration tool for their tasks, which they had taken over together with the O&M orders. "Two years ago, SESBR contacted us because the system was too inflexible. The request was to use SI^®/PAM for these tasks in the future", reports Spliessgardt. Through the exchange within SES, they were already familiar with SI^®/PAM as IT solution for operation management and maintenance.

First, an SESBR employee visited the headquarters in Essen at the end of January 2019 and informed himself intensively about the advantages and the possible added value that SI^®/PAM offers for the requirements. "Together, we developed a demo system with first data of a Brazilian solar plant within two weeks. In addition to the presentation of plant data, reports and tasks, SESBR was convinced that they could also use SI^®/PAM on smartphones and tablets for mobile applications," says Harald Spliessgardt.

The special thing about this project: The further procedure was completed without an employee from Essen having to travel to Rio and vice versa. "We were able to carry out the installation and setup remotely, in line with the system's main area of application," says Spliessgardt. With the help of e-mail, WebEx and conference calls, the project participants in both countries agreed on the next steps. Starting in May 2019, work was then carried out jointly in Brazil and Germany on the actual implementation. The system was initially hosted in Germany and the Brazilian colleagues worked on it remotely. In the summer, SI^®/PAM was installed on site in Brazil and the Essen-based SES experts continued the further steps online.

The new system has now been in productive use since December 1, 2019. In preparation, SESBR had trained all employees in the office and on the systems. "The training sessions also included specially produced explanatory videos, the advantage of which is that they can be used without any time constraints," explains SESBR's Managing Director, Juracy Monteiro. "The acceptance of the system is very high overall. The processes and planned data recordings support the colleagues in their work. So far, we only had to adapt small things", Harald Spliessgardt is pleased. "We continue to receive all feedback through regular e-mail exchanges, telephone conferences and WebEx sessions. A visit to Rio is planned, but has been postponed for the time being due to the current Corona situation".

Juracy Monteiro summarizes: "We are very happy that we have introduced SI^®/PAM. This was made possible by the great cooperation of the teams on both sides". "This project with SESBR is a great example of how collaboration using modern media can work smoothly over long distances and different time zones," concludes Spliessgardt.