AWARDS FINALIST: Mercury’s Digital River – transforming hydro operations
Mercury says its Digital River platform is more than a digital twin of the company's Waikato River hydro assets.
The platform combines cutting-edge simulation, real-time data and user-first design to optimise the scheme's assets through smarter, faster and more responsive decision-making.
Better decisions on plant dispatch, maintenance and peaking have lifted production and reduced spill.
Mercury says that through its development, Digital River has delivered more than $10 million worth of gains, and in the past financial year delivered more than 20 gigawatt-hours of extra generation.
At the heart of Digital River's success is its user-centric development process, with Mercury's hydro controllers embedded directly into the design process, the company says.
The controllers helped shape the interface, prioritise features and test functionality - resulting in a tool that feels tailor-made for their needs.
Platform
Mercury says the platform's architecture is equally innovative. It comprises three core components:
A data platform that digitally replicates the river's hydrology, station constraints and lake levels.
A decision engine that simulates and recommends actions based on real-world variables like rainfall, outages and market signals.
A visual interface that provides a live, interactive view of the entire hydro scheme - enabling teams to monitor, plan and adjust operations in real time.
What sets Digital River apart is its custom-built optimisation algorithm, developed in-house to meet the specific demands of New Zealand's energy market, the company says.
Where off-the-shelf solutions struggled with the complexity of the Waikato system, Mercury says its algorithm can simulate a full year's plan in two to four hours - factoring in 39 generating units, inflows, constraints and market dynamics.
Digital River has also introduced a scenario sandbox, allowing teams to model trade-offs and simulate the impact of operational or community-driven changes.
Events
For example, when local stakeholders request specific lake levels for recreational events, the team can model the implications up to a week in advance - allowing them to better balance operational needs with community expectations.
Mercury says the platform has also transformed internal collaboration. Weekly review sessions now bring together hydro controllers, traders and engineers around a shared set of metrics and visualisations which help turn data into action with greater clarity and confidence.
It says the system has unlocked new levels of flexibility across the portfolio and is on track to deliver a year of record hydro efficiency, based on flows through the Waikato scheme's penstocks.
The annual Energy Excellence Awards will be held in Wellington on 13 August. The Innovation in Energy Award is sponsored by Ara Ake.