Valpolicella, Italy Land of sunshine, vineyards, dolce vita and digital water - Unravel Travel TV

In the winemaking countryside of the Valpolicella in Italy, water management is a key issue. The local water utility, the Consorzio di Bonifica Veronese, has now found a way to cut operational costs in its plants by up to 30 percent – thanks to the ABB Ability™ Electrical Distribution Control System.

SCRIPT:
The Valpolicella, in northern Italy. A land of sunshine, vineyards and dolce vita. And key to it all – not least for the region’s numerous wine-makers – is the precious resource of water.

SOUNDBITE 1,
Celestino Gaspari, Owner of Zyme winemakers (Italian, 36 sec):
“The climate has really changed a lot in the last 30 years. // Today, the only thing we really can control is irrigation, whereas in the past land irrigation across the entire area was impossible. Now most of the vineyard is served by an irrigation system. However, irrigation is always carried out with an eye towards water conservation; that is why we have installed a drip irrigation system, which, by means of special drippers, allows us to fully control irrigation."

The consortium responsible for managing irrigation has been working here since the middle ages. Their network of pumping stations and hydroelectric plants is spread across rural parts of the Valpolicella. Until recently, this equipment had to be checked in person for any supervision or maintenance issues. But now, it’s been fitted with ABB Ability software that means it can connect with the cloud, and send data to operators remotely.

SOUNDBITE 2,
Riccardo Tosi, Operations Director, Consorzio di Bonifica Veronese (Italian, 38 sec):
"In the past, before the ABB Ability System, the daily life of the pumping station operator used to be very difficult, because in addition to normal activity, the operator also had to supervise all the power management systems. Adopting ABB Ability has brought about a radical change in the operator's life. As well as increased peace of mind, now the operator can also manage the plants from their own enabled devices, like a smartphone or tablet."

For these plants, that’s brought a 30 percent reduction in operating costs. And giving electric installations eyes and ears has even more far-reaching effects – by harnessing the possibilities of big data.

SOUNDBITE
Nicola Scarpelli, Product Manager, Connectivity and System Solutions, ABB (English, 34 sec):
“ABB Ability Electrical Distribution Control System is, I would say, a groundbreaking innovation because we connect directly our circuit-breakers and all the other electrical equipment inside, from the medium-voltage to the sockets – connect them through Emax 2, our circuit breakers, to the cloud platform, to the IoT. And thanks to this, we get data, we correlate data, we leverage algorithms to provide services, digital services and solutions to help them perform better in their daily activities.” With the data and connectivity now at their fingertips, this consortium can boost energy efficiency and simplify maintenance, while gathering crucial information about how their facilities run. That, say engineers, is what ABB Ability does best. Which means the farmers of the Valpolicella can concentrate on doing what they do best.

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