Aveva Interview with Rosa Urdaneta and Patxi Sarasola at CGHE in Madrid 2024

Summary

In this interview at Connecting Green Hydrogen Europe, Aveva representatives discuss the company's focus on the green hydrogen market. They highlight the importance of digital continuity and collaboration across the value chain, from design to operations. Aveva's software solutions aim to optimize the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), a key metric in the industry. The discussion covers the company's experience in established markets like oil and gas and power generation, and how they apply lessons learned to the emerging hydrogen sector. The interview also touches on the technical aspects of their software, which supports design, simulation, and operational efficiency, crucial for managing the intermittency of renewable energy sources in hydrogen production.

Takeaways

• 🌿 Aveva is an industrial software company focused on the green hydrogen market, viewing it as a holistic sector from the entire value chain.
• 🔄 The company emphasizes the importance of data sharing and collaboration across the hydrogen industry's value chain, from conceptual design to operations and maintenance.
• 📈 Aveva's solutions aim to facilitate the digital transmission of information throughout the value chain, enhancing the efficiency of plant operations.
• 🏗️ With a legacy spanning over five decades, Aveva brings the concept of digital continuity to the hydrogen market, ensuring information is usable throughout an asset's lifecycle.
• 🛠️ Aveva's software solutions support various stages of hydrogen plant development, from engineering and design to operations optimization.
• 🔋 The company offers tools to help manage the intermittency of renewable energy sources, which is crucial for the cost-effective production of green hydrogen.
• 🌐 Aveva's next-generation simulation platform allows for steady-state, hydraulics, and dynamic simulations, crucial for designing and optimizing hydrogen production processes.
• 🔬 The software provides transparency into mathematical correlations, enabling customization and the integration of emerging technologies into hydrogen production.
• 💡 Aveva's tools can connect with other engineering and operations data, facilitating the development of a digital twin from the earliest stages of a project.
• 💼 Being wholly owned by Schneider Electric, Aveva can provide a single-vendor experience, potentially speeding up project development and execution.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Aveva's industrial software?

Aveva's industrial software is very focused on the green hydrogen market, which is strategic for the company's future.

Why does Aveva consider the green hydrogen market holistically?

Aveva views the green hydrogen market holistically because historically, many actors in the value chain have worked in silos with separated information and data. There is a demand for data sharing and collaboration across the entire value chain, from conceptual design to operations and maintenance.

What is the concept of 'digital continuity' that Aveva emphasizes?

Digital continuity refers to ensuring that information generated can be exploited later in the life cycle of an asset. Aveva strives to provide solutions that allow value extraction throughout the entire life cycle, from engineering to operations and maintenance.

How does Aveva's software contribute to the hydrogen industry?

Aveva's software enables actors in the hydrogen value chain to better design and build plants, optimize the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), and manage the intermittency of power supply from renewables.

What types of customers does Aveva serve in the hydrogen market?

Aveva serves a varied set of customers including EPC firms, engineering firms, OEMs, manufacturers of electrolysers, and owner-operators.

How does Aveva's software help in managing the intermittency of renewable power supply?

Aveva's software provides calculation and simulation tools that can represent the intermittency of power supply and help determine the best installed capacity for electrolysers, storage needs, and other factors to minimize the levelized cost of hydrogen.

What is the significance of the next-generation simulation platform offered by Aveva?

Aveva's next-generation simulation platform allows for steady-state, hydraulics, and dynamic simulations, which are crucial for representing power intermittency and validating control strategies for hydrogen production.

How does Aveva's software provide transparency and flexibility for users?

Aveva's software is transparent, allowing users to see the mathematical correlations involved in calculations, and it offers flexibility for scenario analysis and customization to incorporate emerging technologies.

What is the benefit of Aveva's software in terms of project execution?

Aveva's software helps make projects more agile by allowing information to be transferred along different engineering phases, facilitating a more efficient execution of engineering projects.

How does Aveva's ownership by Schneider Electric benefit its customers?

Being wholly owned by Schneider Electric allows Aveva to provide a single vendor experience, which helps projects develop faster by having a single point of contact for all discussions and needs.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Introduction to Aveva's Green Hydrogen Market Focus

The video script begins with an introduction to the 'Connecting Green Hydrogen Europe' event in Madrid, featuring Johann Wiebe from Hydrogen Standard. He is joined by Rosa Urdaneta and Patxi Sarasola from Aveva, an industrial software company with a strategic focus on the green hydrogen market. Aveva views the market holistically, emphasizing the importance of data sharing and collaboration across the entire value chain, from conceptual design to operations and maintenance. The conversation aims to cover both market trends and technical aspects of Aveva's involvement in the hydrogen sector.

05:01

🔧 Aveva's Legacy and Contribution to Hydrogen Industry

Patxi Sarasola discusses Aveva's legacy, spanning over five decades in the software industry, with a strong emphasis on digital continuity. This concept ensures that information generated can be utilized throughout the asset's lifecycle. Aveva has historically operated in established markets like oil and gas and power generation, and now aims to apply these learnings to the emerging hydrogen market. The company's software solutions are designed to enable better design and construction of hydrogen plants, focusing on optimizing the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), a key parameter for the industry's growth.

10:01

🔋 Addressing Power Intermittency in Hydrogen Production

The conversation delves into the challenges of power intermittency from renewable sources like wind, solar, and hydro, which can impact the cost of hydrogen production. Patxi explains the need for decoupling this intermittency from the hydrogen supply and identifying the best design alternatives. Aveva offers a next-generation simulation platform that allows for steady-state, hydraulics, and dynamic simulations. This tool is crucial for representing power intermittency and aiding in the design of electrolysis plants. It also provides transparency, allowing users to customize calculations and integrate emerging technologies, thus supporting the development of a digital twin from the conceptual phase through the project's lifecycle.

🛠️ Enhancing Project Viability and Efficiency with Aveva's Tools

The final paragraph discusses the benefits of Aveva's software in making hydrogen projects more visible and transparent, which is crucial for assessing project viability and addressing key challenges. The tool's ability to perform scenario analysis and provide transparency in calculations allows clients to make informed adjustments based on specific project requirements. This leads to more agile work and the potential to achieve more with less, streamlining the engineering and operational phases of hydrogen projects.

Keywords

💡Green Hydrogen

Green hydrogen refers to hydrogen produced through the electrolysis of water using renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, or hydroelectric power. In the video, Aveva's focus on the green hydrogen market is highlighted as strategic for the future, emphasizing the importance of sustainability in the energy sector. The script mentions Aveva's involvement in the entire value chain of green hydrogen, from conceptual design to operations and maintenance.

💡Value Chain

The value chain in the context of the video refers to the full range of activities that firms are involved in to deliver a product or service, from the initial concept to the final product. Patxi from Aveva discusses the importance of looking at the green hydrogen market as a holistic value chain, where data sharing and collaboration are crucial for efficiency and effectiveness.

💡Digital Continuity

Digital continuity is the concept of ensuring that information generated at any stage of a project can be utilized throughout the asset's lifecycle. Aveva's legacy in the software industry is rooted in this concept, as it allows for value extraction at every phase, from engineering to operations and maintenance, as mentioned in the script.

💡EPC

EPC stands for Engineering, Procurement, and Construction, which are the key phases in the execution of projects in industries like oil and gas, and now increasingly in green hydrogen. The script discusses how Aveva's software solutions facilitate the handover from the EPC phase to operations and maintenance, ensuring that information is not lost but exploited for better plant operation.

💡Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH)

LCOH is a financial metric used to assess the overall cost of producing hydrogen, taking into account all the expenses over the lifetime of a production facility. In the video, Patxi mentions that Aveva's software solutions help optimize the LCOH, which is a key parameter for the economic viability of hydrogen projects.

💡Intermittent Power Supply

Intermittent power supply refers to the variable and unpredictable nature of power generation from renewable sources like wind and solar. The script discusses the challenges this poses for hydrogen production, as the supply must be managed to ensure a consistent output of hydrogen. Aveva's simulation tools are highlighted as a way to address this issue.

💡Simulation

Simulation in the video refers to the use of software to model and analyze complex systems, such as hydrogen production plants. It is used to predict performance, optimize design, and manage the impact of intermittent power supplies. Aveva's next-generation simulation platform is mentioned as a tool that allows for dynamic simulation, steady-state calculations, and hydraulics analysis.

💡Digital Twin

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical asset, process, or system. In the context of the video, Aveva's software solutions enable the creation of digital twins for hydrogen production plants, which can be used for design validation, operations optimization, and maintenance planning throughout the plant's lifecycle.

💡Customization

Customization in the video refers to the ability of Aveva's software to be tailored to the specific needs of different clients, such as incorporating their intellectual property into the design of electrolysers. This flexibility allows for the rapid development and efficient operation of hydrogen production facilities.

💡Single Vendor Experience

The single vendor experience refers to the advantage of dealing with a single provider for all the necessary services and solutions. Aveva, being wholly owned by Schneider Electric, offers this advantage, which streamlines project development by providing a unified point of contact and integrated solutions.

💡Agile Work

Agile work in the video signifies the ability to work quickly and efficiently, adapting to changes and managing projects in a flexible manner. Aveva's tools are described as enabling more agile work by facilitating the transfer of information across different engineering phases and supporting the rapid execution of projects.

Highlights

Aveva is an industrial software company focused on the green hydrogen market.

The green hydrogen market is strategic for Aveva's future, considering it holistically from the entire value chain.

Historically, actors in the value chain have worked in silos with separated information and data.

Aveva's software solutions aim to facilitate data sharing and collaboration across the value chain.

Digital continuity is a core concept for Aveva, ensuring information is exploitable throughout the asset's lifecycle.

Aveva has a legacy of over five decades in software, with a focus on digital continuity.

Aveva's solutions are designed to optimize the entire lifecycle, from engineering to operations and maintenance.

Aveva's portfolio serves over 10 verticals, including oil and gas, and power generation.

Software solutions from Aveva enable better design and construction of hydrogen plants.

Aveva's tools help optimize the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), a key parameter in the industry.

Aveva's customer base includes EPC firms, engineering firms, OEMs, and owner-operators in the hydrogen market.

Aveva's software allows for customization to incorporate intellectual property and develop new electrolysers efficiently.

Being wholly owned by Schneider Electric, Aveva can provide a single vendor experience for projects.

The intermittence of power supply from renewables affects the cost and design of hydrogen facilities.

Aveva's simulation tools can represent the intermittence of power supply to determine the best design for electrolysers.

Aveva's next-generation simulation platform allows for steady-state, hydraulics, and dynamic simulations.

The platform's transparency allows users to customize calculations and incorporate emerging technologies.

Aveva's tools connect with other data sources to develop a digital twin from the conceptual design phase.

The software enables scenario analysis and provides transparency in calculations for project viability.

Aveva's solutions aim to make projects more visible, transparent, and agile, leading to more efficient work.

Transcripts

[Music]

Hello everyone, we're standing here today at

Connecting Green Hydrogen Europe in Madrid.

My name is Johann Wiebe from Hydrogen Standard

and this event is organised by Leaders Associates.

And with me here today two lovely folk from

Aveva, they are called Rosa Urdaneta and Patxi...

I didn't get the last part, what is the last part of

your name? Sarasola. Patxi Sarasola, welcome guys.

Thank you very much. Thank you, thank you.

Great to have you, AVEVA. We're going to split

this up a little, first we'll talk to you

Patxi, talk a little bit about the general

tendencies of the market, some projects involved and

then we'll move a a little more technical with

you Rosa, right? So maybe you can start Patxi

telling us a little bit about Aveva and what the

business does as an introduction?

Okay. Aveva is an industrial software

company, we are very focused on the

green hydrogen market which is strategic for us

and for the upcoming future and we see this

market as a holistic one and we look at it

from the entire value chain, okay? And why?

Why is that? Because historically we've seen that

these many actors that intervene in the

value chain, have been working in silos and

they've had all the information and data

separated and we see really that

the demand in this industry, this value chain, is

really for data sharing and collaboration and that

involves starting from conceptual design

all the way to operations and maintenance

That is what we foster with our software

solutions that all this digital

information is transmitted downwards in the value

chain so everyone starting from the EPC

sort of handover and the operations and

maintenance phase, everyone can exploit that information and

operate the plant better. Excellent, well

thank you for that introduction. Maybe we can talk a

bit first, before we delve into hydrogen, on

the legacy of the business.

Obviously you guys have been doing this

for a long time and not so much in the

hydrogen market maybe just yet but more in

other established markets. What are

the key things that you learned there and

that you're now trying to bring over to the

hydrogen industry? Yes, indeed it's been over

five decades now which seems a long time for

software and that's what it is, it's a long

history and legacy and really when you look at the

evolution of Aveva throughout the decades you see

that what underlies is really the concept of

digital continuity. Being able

to ensure that information that is generated

can be exploited later in the life cycle

of the asset. We strive to provide

solutions that can allow that value extraction in

the entire life cycle and as I said that

translates into a portfolio in the engineering

phase or capex phase of the projects during the

handover and also in the Opex phase. We've done

this historically in very strong markets,

such as oil and gas obviously and power

generations and eventually that has diversified to over 10

verticals as of today. Plenty happening in

the business then I hear great to know. Let's

delve a little bit into hydrogen and

your view on the market and

the contribution of Aveva in terms of the

developments. Okay what we do offer is

software solutions that really enables these actors

in the value chain to better design and build the

plants. This is essential because

many of the investment decisions that are being taken

on the actual initial capex can turn

the project down, so that is a very important point

and then for those projects that are jumping

into the operations phase and into the optimisation

of the operation phase, we provide solutions

that can really help optimise the LCOH, the levelised

cost of hydrogen which is the key

parameter that everyone is looking at these days.

Excellent so you talk about projects can you tell

a little bit about the projects that you have in

your portfolio? Yes, indeed and actually as

I mentioned we have a varied set of

customers and that covers anywhere from

EPC firms and engineering firms with which

we are very focused on the simulation both in the

power and the process simulation in order

to define the best design of the plant and

Rosa will elaborate more on that when we look at

OEM and the manufacturers of the electrolysers. We do

provide them also with a solution that they can

customise so they can incorporate their own

intellectual property and develop faster and more

efficiently their own new electrolysers which is

a very challenging market. Everyone has

to develop with a given set of

electricity more hydrogen output at less cost and it's a race

that is an interesting market in

itself. Then of course the owner operators and

what they are asking us for is to be

able to provide an entire solution that involves

going all the way from process

automation, energy management systems intelligence software

on top of that. The good thing at Aveva

being also wholly owned by Schneider Electric is that

due to the combination of both, we can really provide

that single vendor experience which

also helps the projects to

develop faster. Having a single interlocution

being able to discuss everything

with a single entity in front of you helps a lot

to speed up projects. Fantastic okay

so, the technical side, power obviously is incredibly important for

servicing any sort of application and

that is not any different with power from electrolysers.

It comes from renewables quite often at least that's

what we want to if we're looking at the

green hydrogen route and the renewables tend to

be intermittent or variable having an implication

on cost, if we're talking about wind, solar and hydro

that sort of stuff. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yes there is definitely a direct

relationship between intermitence of the power supply

and the cost and the hydrogen facilities and if

you would be the responsible for the conceptual

design, the first task you have to do is to

decouple such intermittence from the

final hydrogen supply. And a

second important task is to identify the best design

alternative. To be able to do that, you need a

calculation tool or a simulation tool capable to

represent that intermittence and to put that

into your calculations to

determine what should be the best installed

capacity for the electrolysers. How much storage do you need

for this energy? Could we involve areas to store

electricity in batteries or as compressed hydrogen?

With all these factors these are three key

factors to looking for minimising the levelised

cost of hydrogen. It's the holy grail of how

minimising the levelised cost of hydrogen, widely

discussed. You can do this in various ways I guess

those calculations you refer to, on back of the fag

pack or excel but these days we live in

2024 and there are much more modernised ways in

doing so such as like developing a sophisticated

software system as you have. Tell us a little bit

about the the unique selling points

of that solution? At Aveva, we offer what

we call the next generation simulation platform

and as a process engineer you usually need to

carry out three types of calculations: the first

one is steady state to develop the heat and material

balances of your facility. The second one is

hydraulics to validate distribution networks

and the third one is the dynamic simulation

that will allow you to validate control strategies

and for hydrogen to be able to represent this

intermittence in the power availability.

Those are important because this way you

should be able to represent from time zero, what would

happen with your process and be able to identify

an attractive design alternative. This tool is

also very transparent. It will allow you to look

at the mathematical correlations involved in the

calculations so that you have also an easy way to

do customisation and this is basically unique in

the market so that you can very quickly, as a user,

introduce emerging technologies. You don't need

to wait for the development from our side to implement

your new developments on new technologies

in this sector. The third one is also

the capability the tool has to connect with other

data with all the engineering information and

also operations information so that you can develop

your digital twin that we mentioned earlier from

time zero using as a basis, as a platform

the simulation that you start to develop at the

beginning and through the complete lifecycle of

projects. Okay there's a lot of

technical information and detail in there I think I

understand the majority of it but I have a

follow-up question and that will test if I actually

did. If I understand it correctly, two

of the key features are the flexibility to do

scenario analysis to tweak with the

variables and see what the outcome is. And the

second one is you also provide complete

transparency in terms of how you derive

these calculations, what sort of assumptions

because I assume there are quite some assumptions

used, and allow also for the client

to make adjustments to those assumptions if that

is required for the specific project?

Right, we are now playing in a new area.

There is a lot of development in terms of electrolysers

for example but also on the electrical

side on the process Side. So you need as a

emerging technology as an engineering company

or as an owner-operator to implement that new

information inside your calculation tools

to predict what would happen to your design

or even later on to the operations and ensure

all the time that your produced

hydrogen has the cost expected in the market.

The software particularly obviously has

a lot of benefits but it helps towards

making projects more visible and more transparent and

to what degree a project is viable or what

the key challenges are in terms of eventually

also getting to that final investment decision

in those states correct? Right because you later,

once you have available and identify the

best design alternative in the simulation

tool you are capable to transfer this information

along the different engineering phases to

further develop your projects and to

do a more agile execution of your

engineering projects. If I can summarise it up.

Finally then with your tool

you'll be able to do more for less or achieve more for

less? The more agile Work. More for less and

more agile work. I couldn't have said it better

Rosa fantastic Patxi thank you so much

for being here. Thank you, thank you very much