Endesa Incorporates Virtual Reality for Security Training to Generation Business Staff Together With Minsait

• Over 700 professionals across 24 of the group’s thermal generation plants in Spain have started training in de-energising management works (the physical locking of equipment) with a solution developed by Indra.  
• The initiative falls within the framework of Endesa’s digitalization process — through which state-of-the-art technology for digital transformation is being applied — and the recent implementation of the LOTO (Lockout-Tagout) methodology, a new physical locking and tagging procedure which aims to ensure that equipment and facilities are in a safe condition for maintenance operations.
• Reducing the rate of accidents in the workplace, increased motivation for learning and better understanding of procedures without risk exposure are the main benefits provided by the project. 

As of February, over 700 professionals in Spain from Endesa’s thermal generation business, the country’s leader in the electricity sector and the second largest electric market operator in Portugal, will train hazard-free and more efficiently in key operations thanks to an advanced immersive virtual reality solution developed by Minsait, a subsidiary of Indra.

The VIVES project (Virtual, Immersive, Vision, Endesa, Safety) was created with a two-fold objective. On one hand, it is a fundamental tool in the “LOTO” methodology, a new physical locking and tagging procedure recently implemented at Endesa, aimed at ensuring that equipment and facilities are in a safe condition during operations which may pose a risk to the operator. On the other hand, it aims to offer more employee training and motivation by using the most advanced training techniques based on emerging technology, and in turn contributing to the company’s digital transformation project.

Specifically, the LOTO system is a safety procedure to disconnect and isolate the different energy sources of industrial equipment while maintenance, cleaning or repair work takes place. The LOTO procedure protects workers from accidental switching on of power, such as residual energy or an unexpected start-up which could provoke an accident during a maintenance or insulation service (cuts, entrapment, burns, electrocution, etc.)

The training solution for staff at Endesa generation business facilities integrates the advantages of virtual reality and serious games, allowing training of agents in the correct execution of the phases of de-energising (both mechanical and electrical): locking, verification and energisation. At every level, different real situations and interactions are recreated with other actors who intervene in the process. The de-energising agent will have to act on these, applying the procedures associated with LOTO and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). 

The solution faithfully reproduces the facility environment in 3D, using immersive applications and thanks to the thorough preliminary work capturing the images and recording the locking manoeuvres carried out by company experts at one of the thermal generation plants. It facilitates training in both routine and extraordinary situations without putting people or assets at risk, at the same time as significantly reducing the time to adopt theoretical and practical knowledge.

On the other hand, immersive experience and practice also improve the understanding of operations and procedures to be applied in order to maintain safety, and increase motivation in a context of learning and self-empowerment.   

These initiatives are yet another example of Endesa’s commitment to the digitalisation of processes, in line with the strategy followed by the Enel Group, which the company is a part of. State-of-the-art technology is being applied in this digitalisation process, allowing for the digital transformation of industrial assets, the customer relationship and the improvement of the company’s digital capacity. All of this, with efficient management of hazards associated with cybersecurity, substantial improvement of processes and new cost savings.

Minsait, an Indra company, is a leading digital transformation consulting and information technology firm in Spain and Latin America. Minsait offers a high degree of specialisation and sector-specific knowledge, which it complements with a high capacity to integrate the core and digital worlds, its leadership in innovation and digital transformation, and its flexibility. With this, it focuses its offer on high-impact value propositions, based on end-to-end solutions, with considerable segmentation, which allows it to achieve impacts which are tangible for its clients in every industry, using a transformational approach. Its capacity and leadership can be seen in its range of products, under the name Onesait, as well as its broad range of services.

Indra is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies, and is the technological partner for key operations of its clients’ businesses throughout the world. It is a world leading provider of proprietary solutions in specific segments of the transport and defence markets, and is a leading company in digital transformation consulting and information technology in Spain and Latin America, through its subsidiary Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive offer of high-value and highly innovative proprietary products, with an end-to-end approach. In 2017, Indra obtained 3.011 billion euros in revenue, with 40,000 employees, local presence in 46 countries and commercial transactions in more than 140 countries.

Endesa, an Enel group company which operates fundamentally in the electricity and gas sectors on the Spanish, Portuguese and Moroccan markets. To a lesser extent, it markets electricity and gas on other European markets, as well as other added-value products and services.

In power generation, Endesa has a diversified energy mix with a production of 78,648 GWh in 2017 at busbar, and total installed power of 23,678 MW, of which 34% corresponds to classic thermal energy, 24% to combined cycles, 20% hydroelectric, 15% nuclear thermal and 7 % renewables, through the renewables subsidiary, Enel Green Power Spain.