Hydropower Automation

Automation systems within hydropower plants perform a number of vital technical functions. This includes applications on the machine level such as generator excitation, protection, turbine governor and synchronization, as well as the overall function of unit and plant control and control center systems.

As a leading supplier of electromechanical equipment, ANDRITZ Hydropower offers a full portfolio of automation systems where decades of experience are combined to deliver optimal solutions. For hydropower automation systems, ANDRITZ equipment and services includes hardware and software products and solutions, installation, commissioning, and operator training based on the specific operational strategy of individual power plants. This is based on factors such as plant age, the local energy market, and whether the unit is manned or not. Automation is needed to guarantee safe and secure operations, maximize efficiency and plant life, and keep operational expenditure to a minimum.

With the advent of digital technologies, control, regulation, and automation systems for hydropower plants have been completely transformed. Today, the optimal solution is to bring all the different elements of automatic control and regulation onto a single common platform.

HIPASE – The new generation of integration   

HIPASE is the automation platform developed by ANDRITZ Hydropower and has evolved from both machine-level and overall plant protection and control systems to deliver a single harmonized solution. HIPASE development was driven by integrating the specific requirements of various applications — including excitation (HIPASE-E), electrical protection (HIPASE-P), and turbine governor (HIPASE-T) and grid synchronization (HIPASE-S) — bringing them together with the extended HIPASE-250 control center system under one harmonized product platform.

The HIPASE platform combines software and embedded devices specifically designed for use in hydropower together with a modern control center system and a unified cross-platform engineering tool, thus ensuring a harmonized engineering workflow across the whole platform.

All HIPASE applications are based on a modular and harmonized approach for both hardware and software components. HIPASE optimizes maintenance and life-cycle management and delivers reduced risks, simplified engineering, maintenance, training, and spare part management. Due to the harmonized platform approach, HIPASE not only offers multiple synergies, such as intuitive and efficient operation via an up-to-date user interface, but provides advanced overall cybersecurity measures.

Additionally, HIPASE-embedded devices are optimally protected against unauthorized external and internal access through a comprehensive and consistent hardware-supported security architecture that meets the latest security standards. Regular security updates ensure continuous compliance with future security requirements. 

The HIPASE-250 control center system offers a completely redesigned user interface that has been developed according to the latest state-of-the-art technology in industrial design. It features comprehensive human-machine-interface functionality such as operating, monitoring, and controlling for all plant processes. Scalability has always been part of HIPASE 250's DNA. It is scalable from local touch operation for unit and gate control up to large central control rooms.

First successful deployment

As part of the unified HIPASE platform integrating all these elements, HIPASE-250 has been deployed at the central control center for the Austrian utility company VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH, who operates 117 power plants and more than 300 individual generating units with an installed capacity of more than 8 GW. The main goal of this project was to set up a new central control center to control all the hydropower assets from a central point in Austria. During the project planning phase, it was decided to install an emergency control system in parallel with a new unified and secure platform including the HIPASE-250 control center system. In addition, a centralized engineering tool and a redundant control system were deployed, including independent backup systems for the main and 34 regional fall back control rooms. Furthermore, a separate network infrastructure was installed for the backup system.

This project has enhanced the operational security and efficiency of the company's hydroelectric power plants and serves as an outstanding example of the benefits that can be achieved by hydropower plant operators.

“At VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH, we attach great importance to the standardization of our distributed control systems — especially in the area of human-machine interfaces. The new HIPASE-250 precisely fulfils this requirement: It is a flexible HMI with an adaptable data structure that can be easily adapted to individual customer requirements and is designed to be object-oriented.” states Stefan Summerer, from VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH.

HIPASE-250 marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the HIPASE platform, delivering a unified, scalable, and fully integrated control solution for hydro power automation. Leveraging decades of ANDRITZ’s expertise, it seamlessly connects machine-level systems with high level plant and control center operations. With its multi-hierarchical architecture and comprehensive functionality, HIPASE-250 ensures full control and visibility across all levels of hydropower processes — bringing efficiency, reliability, and harmonization to the forefront of plant automation.

Authors: Markus Egretzberger, Michael Galle, Michael Hager