Digital compass successfully concluded at EWO and EWA

At the beginning of the year, the Digital department in the Engineering division of Axpo's Hydro Energy (HTD) launched the "Digital Compass", an initial service for hydropower operators. The service includes an assessment of the current state of digitalization in the operation and maintenance of hydropower plants. The first two customers were acquired: Elektrizitätswerk Obwalden (EWO) and EWA-energieUri (EWA).

EWO and EWA each operate several regional run-of-river and storage power plants and have many years of experience in operating and maintaining the power plants. Digital transformation is an important future topic for both companies. The "Digital Compass" provided both companies with an independent external view of the current state of digitalization and a comparison with the target state aimed at by Axpo for its hydropower plants.

Accordingly, both companies opted for a broad audit. This includes an extended assessment of the current situation by means of an online survey of selected employees as well as a quantitative assessment of the potential benefits of the further digital transformation of power plant operations.

In close cooperation with the respective project team of EWO and EWA, the "Digital Compass" was carried out in the first half of 2021 and the results were subsequently presented to the management and the power plant employees. HTD was able to identify potential benefits for both companies and, together with the companies, propose concrete measures to leverage the potential and drive forward the digital transformation at EWO and EWA.

The first implementation of the "Digital Compass" was very valuable for HTD and helps to further develop the service in a customer-oriented way. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the contact persons at EWO and EWA for their trust and positive feedback.