“There are many examples of digitalization in Russia”
An interview with Dietrich Möller, President of Siemens Russia and Central Asia, with Kommersant FM.
— Siemens is now actively promoting the concept of 'Industry 4.0', the Fourth Industrial Revolution. What is Industry 4.0 for you? What specific projects are we talking about?
— Industry 4.0. covers a lot as a term. In fact, it includes not only the transformation of industrial processes by means of digital technologies, but primarily the interaction of virtual and physical systems, additive manufacturing, the Internet of things and digital twins. Digitalization is gradually expanding into important sectors of the national economy, such as the energy sector, the railway network and the urban environment. The industrial revolution affects the entire value chain and all decisions involved. These sectors can be considered the most promising in Russia in terms of digitalization. As an example, in 2018 Siemens presented its cloud-based open IoT operating system, MindSphere, in Russia. This system has become the basis for the new Industry 4.0 digital platform, known as 4.0 RU, which is currently being developed under the supervision of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade.
— You claim that through digital transformation a company can get a real and quick competitive advantage. Are there any examples of such successful application of your technology in Russia?
— Yes, certainly. We are implementing a number of projects involving digital technologies. We are talking about introducing the concept of a digital enterprise into Russian business processes and creating digital energy networks, using, among other things, Smart Grid technologies.
Siemens works with KAMAZ on digitalizing their enterprise. This project involves building a single KAMAZ platform for live monitoring and operational management of several production sites. This includes upgrading existing equipment and harmonizing all automation systems. I am convinced that KAMAZ will become one of the leaders of digital manufacturing in Russia.
Another example: we have been successfully running a data analysis and processing centre together with the Russian Railways at the Podmoskovnoe Depot for over a year now. This centre carries out the diagnostics for regular maintenance of Lastochka commuter trains using big data algorithms and data received from the trains. It is therefore possible to predict the condition of trains and transport hubs and increase the proportion of rolling stock availability.
In Ufa and St. Petersburg, Siemens is implementing smart grid projects for the local power supply network. A new Industrial AI system lab has been opened at St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. We provided and installed a supercomputer for this lab. There are many examples of digitalization in Russia.
— Some time ago Siemens got involved in a heated debate over turbines in Crimea. Is Siemens trying to locate their production sites within Russia to avoid sanctions? Is it even possible?
— Siemens has a number of local production and maintenance sites in Russia and we continue to grow and invest in our businesses. By the way, localization was not invented in the 21st century. Siemens had four large plants in Russia back in the 19th century already. And today we remain a reliable partner for Russian customers. The contracts we have recently signed with Gazprom and TAIF are indicative of that. For example, we will supply two gas turbines for the power plant in Grozny and two turbines for the construction of turnkey stations in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this year, we signed another contract with Gazprom Energy Holding. It is an agreement on localization of production of high-tech equipment which will be used specifically for power plant construction. These are vacuum generator circuit-breakers and we are planning to locate this production in Russia. We have even agreed on 50% localization by 2020 and 75% by 2022.
— And how is it going with the turbine blade repair plant in Leningrad Region? Is everything going according to plan?
— Siemens has always paid a great deal of attention to quality maintenance of supplied equipment and it was precisely for this reason that we opened a new shop at our Siemens Gas Turbine Technologies plant in Leningrad Region where we will repair turbine blades. This shop became another step in the development of our servicing network. It will allow us to bring the level of localization of heavy-duty gas turbine maintenance in Russia up to 100%. This will also cut down the servicing period. We are investing approximately 10 million and also creating new high-tech jobs.
Siemens is a business programme partner at the ‘Russian Energy Week’ International Forum which will be held on 3–6 October in Moscow. The programme includes a series of sessions on cutting-edge technologies and their integration. For example, during the discussion on 'The Electric Power Industry: Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution' participants will discuss economic impacts of the introduction of emerging technologies, challenges related to digitalisation of the energy sector facing companies and what assistance governments can be expected to provide.
Special attention was paid to digitalization during the REW 2017 where Siemens was also represented. When talking about the future of the industry Dietrich Möller noted that supply and demand for electric power continue to grow, and it is estimated that until 2040 the global output will be growing at 2.5% per year and at 2% per year in Russia. Developing generation technologies and grid infrastructure is key to emerging challenges.
"Modernization of obsolete power generation infrastructure, transition to new technologies, increase in capacity and returns efficiency. Our benchmark in Russia is the power plant in Kirishi, Leningrad Region, which we have transformed into a combined cycle power plant resulting in an efficiency increase from 38% up to 55% and an increase in capacity from 300 MW to 800 MW. When obsolete power grid infrastructures are modernized, one of the objectives is to reduce the losses, of course. It is also necessary to renovate and expand the grids, they must have larger capacities to take power from more generation sites,” said President of Siemens Russia and Central Asia, Dietrich Möller, at a panel discussion on 'The future of electric power: How energy systems and consumers will change?' at the REW 2017.
