Fortum Hydro

Automating the documentation process with the use of artificial intelligence

Hundreds of thousands of drawings, lists and project documents, located in different source systems, have been compiled on Fortum’s 120 hydro power plants, i.e. assets, in Sweden in the course of their many years of operation. New documents are created and existing ones are updated continuously. Investment projects and maintenance activities are good examples of how documentation, such as a building’s drawings, project documentation and failure and maintenance data, is utilized. To support Fortum’s business, the asset information must be up to date, easy to find and reflect the physical hydropower plants.

Multiple benefits from cognitive technologies

Cognitive technologies refer to technologies that simulate human thought processes. Using cognitive technologies to digitalize and connect the asset documentation contained in different source systems with assets and work orders can help filter out the relevant information at the point of need.

Based on the studies, Etteplan believes that relying on cognitive technologies to manage documentation will improve its documentation and information management services. With cognitive technologies, a computer can understand important connections between different documents, work orders and technical documents, as well as how they should be structured, and present them to the plant manager, project manager or maintenance technician when they are useful. This saves considerable time compared to manual data processing.

Aiming for predictive maintenance

Another area discussed in the study is the utilization of cognitive technology to solve and predict technical problems: a computer can, for instance, gradually learn to recognize the causes of recurring problems. This is a step towards cognitive predictive maintenance, where a computer gives recommendations on how to tackle emerging operational deficiencies before they develop into actual failures.

“The cooperation with Fortum Hydro is a good indication of how Etteplan sees major potential in utilizing new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, in its service offering,” Tengstrand sums up.