Comprehensive hydropower automation

Advanced control for turbines and hydropower plants

With extensive experience in hydropower control strategies—such as water balance control, frequency support applications, and power plant fleet management—Valmet is well-positioned to provide the ideal solution for modern hydropower plants. The Valmet DNAe Automation System seamlessly integrates these strategies, ensuring efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.

Valmet’s comprehensive hydropower plant automation concept includes:

• Turbine controller
• Automatic voltage regulator
• Vibration monitoring
• Electrical protection
• Field equipment
• Distributed control and information management
• Ability to integrate everything into a single system

Deep expertise in hydropower plant operations

Valmet DNAe automation solutions leverage advanced tools to harness the full potential of both current and historical hydropower plant data. These insights empower plant personnel to optimize operations and maintenance, driving cost efficiency. Key benefits include enhanced production planning, predictable maintenance shutdowns, and improved asset condition management.

Engineered with Valmet DNAe's standard design tools, applications ensure rapid start-up times for greenfield projects and minimized downtime for retrofit installations.

Valmet’s expert team provides comprehensive support for all hydropower automation projects, from retrofitting existing plants to the delivery of new turbine systems.

Valmet DNAe DCS powers reliable and intelligent energy production

Energy production is mission-critical, and control systems must operate reliably 24/7. Valmet DNAe DCS is designed precisely to meet this requirement, delivering high availability, flexibility, and safe operations for all types of power plants. It unifies process control, monitoring, and analytics into a secure, web-based platform that supports smarter, data-driven decisions and improved plant performance. 

🎥 Watch the video to see how Valmet DNAe helps power plants optimize resource efficiency, reduce emissions, and enable intelligent energy production across the entire plant lifecycle, while also supporting operational excellence.

We chose Valmet because of its strong reputation and proven expertise in automation for hydropower projects. The solution ensures long-term reliability and efficiency through robust performance, complemented by competitive pricing. Valmet’s local lifecycle support and collaborative approach with our EPC partner gave us confidence in a successful implementation.”

Nguyen Viet Cuong, Deputy Director of IESC

We have developed a long-term partnership with Valmet across our other hydropower plants. As Valmet has successfully retrofitted hydro turbine automation with Valmet DNA at our Siikakoski hydropower plant, we aimed to implement a similar solution for the Verla plant, too. A unified automation system across all sites, including engineering tools and data collection, ensures that only one system requires future upgrades.”

Jukka Rämä, Senior Vice President, Asset Management, KSS Energia

Higher-level central control boosts hydropower production

Valmet DNA provides PVO-Vesivoima’s hydropower plants on the Iijoki, Kemijoki and Kokemäenjoki rivers in Finland with a clearer, real-time overview of the production process, enhancing operational efficiency and enabling smarter participation in electricity markets.

“With centralized visibility and smarter control, we can optimize production across all plants and respond faster to market changes,” says Tommi Hansen-Haug, Operation and Maintenance Specialist at PVO-Vesivoima. 👉 Read the full customer success story

🎥 Watch the video to see how centralized control enhances hydropower operations at PVO-Vesivoima