Achieving pacesetter status in the power industry

By Cory Engel, PE, Power Industry Solutions Specialist, Vice President of US and Eastern Canadian Operations, Matrikon

THE POWER INDUSTRY is experiencing increasing pressure to improve plant performance and deliver power reliably. The challenge is to reduce operations and maintenance costs, reduce downtime, and reduce spare parts inventory while simultaneously increasing performance, asset life, and asset availability, and all while complying with a wide variety of environmental, safety and security regulations. No easy task!

Two key performance metrics that guide utilities as they navigate these challenges are Equivalent Availability Factor (EAF) and cost of production. And to make matters worse, these two performance indicators are often at odds with each other. A utility that tries to increase EAF often incurs greater operations and maintenance costs as part of their effort. How is it, then, that pacesetter utilities are able to achieve availability greater than 90% while keeping generation costs at a miniumum? Companies that successfully address this dilemma receive the benefits of both high performance and low cost operations, keeping their shareholders, customers and regulators happy.

Matrikon's VisionMAP is a five step process that transforms average utilities into performance leaders by clearly defining a roadmap to pacesetter status.