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Voith Hydro Pocket

Partner since 2021

Transforming hydropower through digitalisation

Large hydroelectric dam with multiple spillways and a wide reservoir, surrounded by natural landscape.

Data & AI solutions

Product development

Tech & architecture strategy

In close partnership with Voith, we developed HydroPocket, a state-of-the-art IoT solution that enhances the digital capabilities of hydropower plants for greater efficiency and integration with smart grids. This system-agnostic platform enables plant operators worldwide to optimise operations, manage data effectively and reduce maintenance costs while ensuring operational insights are available in real time. Combining Voith’s technical expertise with Ray Sono’s user-centred design and digital strategy, HydroPocket exemplifies a scalable, innovative approach to modern energy needs.

Need

Modernise hydropower by integrating advanced digital tools to improve efficiency, scalability and smart-grid compatibility.

Result

A system-agnostic IoT platform with real-time data access, empowering operators to optimise performance and reduce costs.

Impact

Optimized hydropower generation with real-time data – flexible, cost-efficient, and a step toward a sustainable energy future.

The challenge

Expanding hydropower capabilities for a digital future

While hydropower plants have long been pillars of renewable energy, integrating them fully into future smart grids requires significant digital transformation. Voith’s challenge was to retrofit diverse legacy hardware with advanced, scalable digital functionality to optimise availability and performance, all while reducing costs. This solution also had to prioritise user experience, meeting the operational needs of plant managers and operators alike by ensuring usability and seamless access to actionable data insights across a range of existing systems and manufacturer equipment.

What we did

Evolving hydropower with IoT

A scalable IoT solution: HydroPocket equips operators to leverage digital tools, streamlining facility operations and efficiency. The system supports robust data storage and processing, helping to optimise plant performance and minimise operational costs.
A scalable hydropower monitoring system: HydroPocket’s manufacturer-agnostic approach accommodates both Voith and other turbine brands, enabling effective scalability across various set-ups.
Live data access – secure by design: HydroPocket empowers users to gain operational insights quickly – anytime, anywhere and on any device. Our certified development process ensures the highest level of security, eliminating the weaknesses and vulnerabilities commonly associated with remote access software.
Customer-centric dashboard: This dashboard represents the essence of user-centric design, carefully tailored to address unique requirements. It monitors performance, analyses data in real time and transforms data into actionable insights.

How we did it

Three key phases to a successful market launch

Our teams, consisting of dedicated Ray Sono experts and a Voith project team, worked in close collaboration throughout the entire development process – from the initial assessment of digital revenue potential to the market launch of the product. This journey followed three seamlessly integrated phases, each building on insights from the last to ensure a strategically driven, customer-focused result. Explore & Understand Through discovery research, UI/UX development, prototype development and testing, business modelling and extensive market research, we dive into all aspects of product creation and market fit. Design & Build Set-up of an integrated and agile experience and tech development team, which organises and implements operations, research and further development in the early phase of product development. Implement & Scale Development and implementation of a go-to-market strategy, including a multichannel B2B marketing approach. Iterative advancement of the product to higher version numbers through a parallel ‘Design & Build’ stream.

The results

The HydroPocket project successfully transformed the digital landscape of hydropower production, enabling operators to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. By creating a system-agnostic IoT application, we provided a scalable solution that allows seamless integration across various turbine manufacturers. The platform’s secure, real-time data access and user-centric dashboard deliver actionable insights, empowering operators to optimise performance. Overall, this innovative approach not only meets the current demands of renewable energy, but also positions Voith as a leader in the digital transformation of the energy sector.

Facts

Project in numbers

16

connected plants worldwide

14

months to develop

20,000

website visitors in 6 months

3

Awards

This project highlights Ray Sono’s greatest strengths. It combines strategic market insights, digital consulting, customer-centric design, technical expertise and operational management to drive impactful transformation in partnership with our client.

Sebastian Krüger

Chief Executive Officer

Ray Sono AG

What we learned

Throughout this project, we acknowledged the importance of aligning business objectives with market demands to create effective solutions. Maintaining consistency with Voith’s strategic objectives enabled a solution that not only met operational needs, but also supported long-term digital goals. Iterative adaptation was essential, as we refined approaches based on evolving insights. Additionally, bringing together a collaborative, cross-functional team proved invaluable in overcoming complex challenges and driving effective solutions that enhance the efficiency of hydropower production.

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