Negratín, a global energy company based in Spain, has partnered with Telefónica to incorporate IoT connectivity, real-time location tracking, and smart access control capabilities to create a system that provides continuous, centralized and real-time information on activity within the most complex energy projects.

The digitalization system has already been rolled out in Negratín projects in rural locations in Colombia: La Mina, La Tabla and, shortly, Tropezón. As a whole, the projects have a total photovoltaic power generation capacity of 38.4 MWp (megawatts peak), representing around 10% of the company’s activity, according to Telefónica, a Spanish multinational telecommunications company.

While this is currently a pilot in the Latin American country, the plan is to roll out this system progressively across the group’s other energy plants in the future, according to Telefónica.

Digitalization makes it possible to move from manual models to real-time systems that improve visibility and control. The system, supported by Telefónica’s infrastructure, manages 215 devices and assets on site.

Now, Negratín is monitoring the location of equipment, manages access, and controls the movement of critical materials, which optimizes planning and coordination among stakeholders, according to Telefónica.

“The digitalization of on-site operational control allows us to move toward a more efficient, safer, and data-driven execution model,” said David Torrego, energy and installations managing director at Negratín. “Collaboration with Telefónica is key to enabling robust connectivity and real-time management that improves team coordination and strengthens our control capability in complex projects.”

At a time when energy projects have grown more complex and deadlines pressures and efficiency have grown, on-site operational management — including team coordination, materials control and access management — has become a critical factor in ensuring their successful execution.

Thanks to digitalization, Negratín is able to continuously monitor the location of teams in the field, manage access to different areas of the project, and control the movement of critical materials, which results in task planning optimization and improved coordination between the various parties.

“With this project, which arose after seeing a demonstration of the system during a company visit to our LaCabina innovation centre in Madrid, we have taken on the challenge of becoming the best gateway for businesses to digital technologies, offering them more and better services through our cutting-edge solutions so that they can be more competitive and effective in tackling the challenges they face,” said Javier Vizcaíno, director of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises at Telefónica España.

The system, supported by Telefónica’s connectivity infrastructure, is designed to enable continuous data updates. The management of the 215 devices and assets on site generates a volume of data that is integrated into project operations to facilitate decision-making.

In addition to the impact on efficiency, the implementation of the system aims to help improve the traceability of operations and raise safety standards through more accurate monitoring of site presence and material flows.

This development forms part of Negratín’s strategy to integrate digitalization as a key driver in the continuous improvement of its project delivery model, in line with its approach to applied innovation focused on operational efficiency, technical control and risk management in energy projects, the companies said.