Research on evaluation system of intelligent level of hydropower plants based on maturity model

With the rapid advancement of intelligent hydropower technology, the construction and renovation of intelligent hydropower plants have become increasingly prevalent, and evaluating the intelligence level of hydropower plants has emerged as a critical component of intelligent construction. Developing a scientific and practical evaluation system for the intelligence level of hydropower plants, along with promoting the maturity evaluation methodology, has become an urgent priority in the industry. This study establishes an evaluation system for the intelligence level of hydropower plants based on the maturity model. It elaborates on the five developmental stages of hydropower plant intelligence, and constructs a hierarchical model for the maturity of intelligence level encompassing production and management domains, and finally proposes an evaluation index system and a weighted scoring method. The practical application of this method at the Three Gorges Hydropower Plant demonstrates its effectiveness and guiding value. The evaluation concludes that the Three Gorges Hydropower Plant is still in a phase of automation dominating while informatization initiating, its intelligence construction has defects such as scarcity of top-level planning, weakness of infrastructure, insufficient support from platform and backward level of application capability. The proposed approach is applicable not only to the assessment of newly constructed intelligent hydropower plants but also to the intelligent upgrading of existing facilities, providing a scientific foundation and serving as a reference for the intelligent development of hydropower plants.