Bord Gáis Energy, one of the Republic of Ireland’s leading utilities, has identified a potential cost avoidance of €1.2 million after its Whitegate combined-cycle gas power plant (445 MW) in County Cork became the world’s first CCGT to deploy GE’s Asset Performance Management (APM) software.
Bord Gáis Energy chose to install APM as part of preparing Whitegate to respond to future grid challenges, notably as the Irish government’s 2020 targets aim for 40% of gross electricity consumption to come from renewables. As a result of the upgrade, operators can now not only boost plant availability but also avoid unnecessary maintaining costs – up to €1.2 million can be incurred through a turning gear alert alone.
“We needed an online condition-based monitoring solution that would help ensure Whitegate’s continuous operation with no unplanned downtime,” said Rory Griffin, operations engineer at Whitegate, Asset Operations for Bord Gáis Energy. “We selected GE’s APM solution because it helps us predict potential problems with our equipment and avoid costly unplanned outages.”
In one situation, the APM solution already helped Whitegate engineers to identify and correct an improperly installed component, correcting an overconsumption on supplementary firing gas usage. Powered by Predix, the AEM software is said to be an “agile digital infrastructure built for the Industrial Internet.” In all, the APM solution has maintained the availability of the covered equipment, with GE pointing at and “21 additional ‘catches’ to be monetised.”
Operational anomalies can be detected, and even anticipated with 24/7 digital diagnostic, GE says, claiming that its APM system can also provide a consolidated view of plant performance. Before the APM installation at the Whitegate CCGT, the operator relied on offline condition-based monitoring that required manual efforts to detect failures.
Paul McElhinney, president and CEO of GE Power Services said the project would exemplify how utilities can tap into industrial-scale data analytics to optimise plant availability. He underlined that “with greater availability, Whitegate is better prepared to compete against other power plants for a higher dispatch position.”