On the Belt & Road: Q&A with Brazilian hydropower company PCH
Brazil’s electricity market is by far the largest in Latin America. It is also the greenest, with more than 80% derived from renewable sources. Brazil is the second-largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world behind China, hydroelectricity representing 75% of its electric power supply. Brazil’s electricity market is unbundled into generation, distribution, and transmission. Private companies own over 60% of the installed capacity.
Chinese companies have been playing a major role in the past decade, making Brazil a major destination on the Belt & Road. China State Grid entered Brazil in 2010 through multiple acquisitions and investments in the construction of ultra-high-voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission lines connecting remote hydropower plants to the grid. The world’s top three longest transmission lines are all located in Brazil.
In 2019, State Grid Brazil Holding selected Siveco to implement its maintenance management solution across a dozen subsidiaries and majority-owned concessions. Created in 2007, three years after Siveco China, in Rio de Janeiro, Siveco Brazil provides sales, consulting, installation, training and technical support for customers locally. Siveco solutions are fully localized for the Brazilian market. Siveco Brazil and China have enjoyed, for many years, a close cooperation targeting global manufacturing groups and public infrastructures.
Today, in our tradition of customer experience sharing, we welcome local hydropower company Brasil PCH for a short interview about their implementation and usage of Siveco’s maintenance management solutions.
Brasil PCH is a generator of hydroelectricity based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The company operates 13 small hydroelectric plants in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Goias and Espirito Santo in Brazil, with a total estimated installed capacity of 291 MW.
Siveco:
What difficulties did Brasil PCH experience before meeting Siveco?
Brazil PCH:
The company’s first maintenance plan was implemented in a rather closed IT system, demanding, to a large extent, that we adapt to the system and not the other way around.
Siveco:
How did you meet Siveco?
Brazil PCH:
We conducted market research with the objective of evaluating available systems that could meet both the needs of our Operation and Maintenance processes, as well as the criteria established by our IT department.
Siveco:
Why did you decide to trust Siveco and try Coswin?
Brazil PCH:
Mainly for the possibility to develop and customize by our own team.
Siveco:
What challenges did you face during implementation and how did you overcome them?
Brazil PCH:
The main challenge was the need for standardization across 13 different power plants. During the initial phase of the project, the maintenance philosophy was defined, equipment structures were established (both locations and systems), and existing maintenance plans were imported based on the existing practices and procedures of the company.
Siveco:
What results have you achieved using Coswin?
Brazil PCH:
Maintenance scheduling has become easier, as the system allows us to cross-check all necessary information, such as available resources (labor and materials), the history of anomalies and equipment failures, as well as records of the work performed on each machine, information which is now relatively easy to consult.
Siveco:
How did your business improve after using Coswin?
Brazil PCH:
The simplicity of using the system reduced the number of hours spent preparing and documenting field activities.
We thank Brasil PCH and Siveco Brasil for this testimonial! We are looking forward to continue supporting the development of the Brazilian power market!
