The Japanese power industry was forever transformed by the Fukushima earthquake. The 2011 disaster, in which a tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulted in one of the worst nuclear meltdowns since Chernobyl. It prompted the Japanese government to pass extensive energy reform laws and shutter most of its nuclear power plants. Reform brought liberalization to the nation’s electrical market. For the Kansai Electric Power Company, Japan’s second-largest power producer, national energy reform brought new challenges as well as new opportunities. Kansai, which had had a regional monopoly, now was competing in a new $200 billion market. To stay competitive, Kansai would have to optimize production. To draw in new customers, it would need to create new value-added services. The key to all these efforts was harnessing data across the enterprise. Kansai turned to the PI System to make it happen.
“The PI System, which enables the collection, storage, and visualization of enormous amounts of data, is an essential data-management system for our solution.”
- Tadahiro Nakazawa,
Manager, Technology Development Group,
Thermal Power Division, Kansai
Challenge
- Kansai needed to operate more efficiently while adding new customer services
Solution
- The company brought all nine of the company’s power plants into the PI System, created digital twins of equipment with Asset Framework
Results
- Savings of $3 million a year in one plant alone; launching of Value Creation Services program for customers
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