Pipe Inspection & Cleaning at Power Plants

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the startup challenge by

The Iberdrola group is present in more than 40 countries, including Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia, where the company has generation, network, and energy retail operations.

Within the Iberdrola Group, the Generation area focuses on electricity production by building, operating, and maintaining thermal power plants, and purchasing and selling the energy on the wholesale markets. Iberdrola has more than 12 GW of installed capacity in this type of power plant, mainly in Spain and Mexico.

In light of Iberdrola’s commitment to sustainability and respect for the environment, it is searching for and implementing new solutions and technologies to improve the sustainability of these assets.

One basic hallmark of this type of power plant is that their refrigeration circuits use water, which in most cases consists of recirculating water from natural sources such as rivers, seas, and oceans. The plant maintenance tasks include the inspection and cleaning of large pipes through which the water flows around the plant.

These large pipes, which can carry fresh or saltwater and be hundreds of meters long and between one and four meters in diameter, require periodic inspections. They can be made of several types of material, although generally they are manufactured in steel or glass fiber.

If, during the inspection, the pipe walls are found to be dirty, perhaps with organic material, they must be cleaned to prevent blockages that may reduce performance, lead to outages in the plant or harm the environment, by interfering, for example, with the thermal gap between the inlet and outlet water.

Therefore, Iberdrola – through the PERSEO International Startup Program – has launched a new challenge to find innovative solutions for inspecting and cleaning large water supply pipes in electricity power plants.

The innovative solutions have two objectives:

Pipe Inspection

Be able to perform underwater inspections more efficiently while the system is operating, or at least maximize the availability of the system. The aim is to:
1) Have comprehensive information about deposits in specific areas of the pipeline
2) Estimate the amount of dirt adhered to the pipes
3) Know what type of dirt this is (tubularia, sludge, mussels, etc)

Pipe Cleaning

For the cleaning of large pipes, Iberdrola is searching for solutions for cleaning the pipe as efficiently as possible considering that several tones of accumulated dirt have to be removed.

Winning this Challenge will award you with signing a collaboration agreement for the development of a Proof-of-Concept (PoC). The PoC will be developed in collaboration with the technical specialists from Iberdrola’s Generation area. Additionally, PERSEO covers the costs of the pilot activities and provides you with the necessary technical support, giving access to infrastructures and real data to test your solution.

Pilot Project

Sign a collaboration agreement with Iberdrola and/or PERSEO. The project costs are covered & you will get full technical support to test your solution.

New Clients

If the pilot project succeeds, Iberdrola and/or PERSEO will add your solutions to its service territory and relevant companies within the group.

Scaling

If the pilot succeeds, Iberdrola and/or PERSEO may offer you the opportunity to scale up your solution by means of commercial agreements.

Possible Investment

PERSEO, the risk capital vehicle of Iberdrola, might consider investing in the winner’s solution as well.

Timeline

30 November 2021
Applications Open

14 January 2022
Application Deadline

from January 2022

Evaluation

2022

Pilot Project

Contact Iberdrola
IberdrolaChallenge@iberdrola.es

FAQ

See our responses to some of the most common questions or view our Terms & Conditions.

What is the background of this Challenge?

Iberdrola has more than 12 GW of installed capacity in thermal power plants, mainly in Spain and Mexico. In light of Iberdrola's commitment to sustainability and respect for the environment, the Group is searching for and looking to implement new solutions and technologies to improve the sustainability of these assets.

One basic hallmark of this type of power plant is that their refrigeration circuits use water, which in most cases consists of recirculating water from natural sources such as rivers, seas, and oceans. The plant maintenance tasks include the inspection and cleaning of large pipes through which the water flows around the plant. These fresh or saltwater carrying large pipes can be hundreds of meters long and between one and four meters in diameter. They can be made of several types of material, although generally they are manufactured in steel or glass fiber. To maintain these pipes, they require periodic inspections.

If, during the inspection, the pipe walls are found to be dirty, perhaps with organic material, they must be cleaned to prevent blockages that may reduce performance, lead to outages in the plant or harm the environment, by interfering, for example, with the thermal gap between the inlet and outlet water.

Why are Iberdrola and/or PERSEO the right partners for my company?

Iberdrola is no stranger to working with startups and emerging companies - over the last two years, the Group has launched over 14 Startup Challenges.

Moreover, working with Iberdrola presents a unique opportunity:

The Iberdrola group is present in more than 40 countries, including Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia, where the company has generation, network, and energy retail operations. Iberdrola has more than 12 GW of installed capacity in thermal power plants, mainly in Spain and Mexico. This makes them an ideal partner for your solution!

Winning this Challenge will award you with signing a collaboration agreement for the development of a Proof-of-Concept (PoC). The PoC will be developed in collaboration with the technical specialists from Iberdrola Generation.

Additionally, PERSEO covers the costs of the pilot activities and provides you with the necessary technical support, giving access to infrastructures and real data to test your solution.

What solutions are you looking for?

Iberdrola is looking for innovative solutions for inspecting and cleaning large water supply pipes in electricity power plants.

The innovative solutions have two objectives:

1. Inspection: On the one hand, be able to perform underwater inspections more efficiently while the system is operating, or at least maximize the availability of the system. For the inspections, the aim is to:
• Have comprehensive information about deposits in specific areas of the pipeline
• Estimate the amount of dirt adhered to the pipes
• Know what type of dirt it is (tubularia, sludge, mussels, etc.)

2. Cleaning: On the other hand, Iberdrola is searching for solutions for cleaning the pipe as efficiently as possible while having several tonnes of accumulated dirt removed.

What are the Challenge's key benefits for me?

Iberdrola is no stranger to working with startups and emerging companies - over the last two years, the Group has launched over 14 Startup Challenges. Moreover, working with Iberdrola presents a unique opportunity. The Iberdrola group is present in more than 40 countries, including Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and Australia. Overall, Iberdrola has more than 12 GW of installed capacity in thermal power plants - making the Group an ideal partner for your solution!

• Collaboration Agreement & Pilot Test: The prize for the winner consists of a collaboration and test agreement with PERSEO or any other Iberdrola group company. The group will support the cost of the pilot activities.

• Access-all-Areas: Iberdrola will provide the winner with all necessary technical support, as well as a site and real data to test the solution. This includes access to equipment, teams, infrastructure, high technology sites, and shared work areas.

• Scale Your Technology: If the pilot test is satisfactory, Iberdrola may offer the winner the opportunity to scale up the solution by adapting it through commercial agreements.

• Investment: What's more, PERSEO will consider investing in the participating company and/or the winner of the challenge.

What do I need to know about the Pilot Project?

The winner of the challenge will sign a partnership contract with Iberdrola and/or PERSEO and will be able to test their solution in a real environment.

For the collaboration of the pilot project, Iberdrola will:

• assume the costs of the collaboration and the proof of concept
• provide the necessary technical support to test the solution proposed
• give access to equipment, appliances, infrastructure, high technology sites, and joint work areas
• provide a real environment and real data to test the solution

The pilot project will be developed in collaboration with the technical specialists from Iberdrola Generation.

Can I submit more than one proposal?

You are welcome to submit more than one proposal, just make sure to submit a separate application form for each.

When is the application deadline?

The application period for this challenge ends on 14 January 2022.

How will the applications be evaluated?

All proposals will be analyzed by experts from the Iberdrola Generation team. The following value propositions will be considered, among others:
• Maturity and reliability of the solution
• Ease of installation and operation
• Cost of investment and operation
• Scalability of the solution for this and other applications in power plants, such as hydraulic and nuclear facilities
• Improvements to safety at work
• The solutions must be environmentally friendly
• Possible processing and recovery of the waste obtained

It will also be considered whether the solutions:
• Ensure the safety of the inspection and cleaning process
• Optimize cost and duration of current operations
• Maximize the continuity and availability of the system during inspection and cleaning operations