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Among utility management and technical experts, there is a growing concern about the future of an aging workforce, coupled with inadequate investment in current infrastructure to operate and maintain plant systems. Power plants must also deal with cyber security issues and the threat of natural disasters, increasing theft of copper, and terrorism.
In the utility and industrial power markets, capacity demand, fuel prices, resource issues, and deregulation are driving the need for higher efficiency in power generation, and consequently, more advanced automation strategies. This trend is evident in the development of highly advanced gas turbines, supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants, as well as improved renewable and distributed generation solutions.
With the world's population predicted to grow by 20 percent by 2020, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) forecasts global net electricity consumption will reach 26.018 billion kWh by 2025. Some 59 percent of the projected growth in electricity demand will occur in emerging economies, where electricity use will increase on average by 4 percent per year from 2002 to 2025, compared with 2.6 percent per year worldwide.
Challenges Facing Utilities
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), conducting a 2007 survey of electric power executives and professionals, identified factors impacting the reliability of power generation and distribution operations. This survey provided valuable insights on current conditions along the power pathway -- as well as the future of the industry.
According to NERC, specific challenges facing the bulk power system include:
Aging industrial workforce. Today's aging workforce is a trend that organizations across the power market must address now. U.S. industries have already witnessed the average age of their workforce increase to its current level of 48 years of age. It is expected that the working population over the age of 55 will grow by 38 percent in the next decade, and 75 percent in the next 25 years.
About 40 percent of senior electrical engineers and shift supervisors in the power industry will be eligible to retire in 2009. The loss of expertise in most plants is exacerbated by the lack of new recruits entering the field. Support for university R&D programs, additional outreach, and continual partnership between industry and government are required to address this issue. Innovative training solutions are proactively taking place in areas that have the foresight to plan for their communities, but that does not solve the problem of sheer numbers.
Faced with the retirement of baby boomers comprising a large share of the industrial workforce, and the resulting shortage of skilled labor, power plants with complex, multivariable processes must identify new methods of task and process integration. These facilities require solutions consolidating plant operations and taking the pressure off of on-site resources.
Declining plant infrastructure. As power companies cope with declining investments in the existing electrical infrastructure, as well as a lack of new construction, they must find ways to improve process efficiency and extend asset life. Many facets of the current industrial infrastructure need replacing, and much of what needs to be replaced is at the control-system layer.
Examples of crumbling industrial infrastructure in North America, and the impact it has on the economy and even human life, are easy to find. An outdated infrastructure of field equipment, control systems, and work practices has resulted in severe consequences not only for power industry -- but also for the public. In the process automation market alone, the ARC Advisory Group (Dedham, Mass) estimates there is $65 billion worth of control systems that are nearing the end of their useful life; at least a third of these systems are installed in North America, and most of them are more than 20 years old.
Increased security threats. The vulnerability of the enterprise resulting from "cyber attacks" has made electronic security a major concern for utility operators around the world. The integrity of vital assets, including plant processes, network architectures, and business applications, can no longer be taken for granted. Global access to the Internet has created a new type of security threat that can come from outside the company infrastructure, or from within the plant itself.
In September of 2007, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) launched a staged cyber attack on a power generation facility. Hackers were able to change the operating cycle of a replica power plant and send it out of control. This incident demonstrated the severe implications of cyber attacks to the national's bulk power system.
Changes in Automation Technology
The requirements of plant automation system users are constantly changing. Early needs were to supervise and control process loops only. This has evolved to functions such as advanced control, integrated fire and safety, physical and cyber security, and interfacing with business systems. Users today need to optimize their assets, adhere to environmental regulations, and document operational processes. All this puts greater requirements on modern process control systems. Asset monitoring must be included as part of the physical security in order to prevent copper thefts and the subsequent outages.
Recent years have seen dramatic changes in hardware platforms, operating systems, network structures, and system infrastructures used in power plants. The net result has been a general trend toward "open" systems. The forces of deregulation and competition are also effecting changes in the organization of electric utilities -- forcing them to develop automation and information strategies competitive industries have been using for years.
The adoption of open communication protocols is revolutionizing strategies for process control and data acquisition on the plant floor. As the lines between operations blur, end users can benefit from the flexibility of sharing data among many functional areas within their facility. The ability to move information easily throughout the enterprise using different open computing solutions and platforms, both horizontally and vertically, cuts costs, speeds development, and promotes improved operating efficiency.
Solutions For Improved Performance
Now, more than ever, power industry operations are challenged with maintaining process and resource performance at an optimum level, and protecting investments in older automation systems while moving to new technology. They also have to ensure that all environmental commitments are met.
Increasingly, power plants want automation technology to integrate process control and information systems with both plant and corporate business systems. They're also looking for ways to optimize assets, processes, and personnel to improve their economic performance.
Automation technology measures helping the power industry meet its business objectives include:
Process knowledge systems. With fewer investments in new infrastructure, power companies are seeking greater value from existing operations. A process knowledge system allows end users to capture and manage data, and converts it to useful information to accomplish business goals. This solution focuses on managing assets in real time, supporting continuous improvement and enabling maintenance efficiencies. It is also designed to minimize production disturbances and mitigate the effects of abnormal situations.
The rationale behind this approach is that it integrates data from different plant systems and facilitates sharing knowledge -- allowing a smaller, highly skilled workforce to make quicker, more informed decisions. It also centralizes control room strategies and provides an integrated operator interface helping plant workers to be more flexible.
A process knowledge system is effective in all segments of power generation because it combines the features of a secure SCADA system with powerful controllers and robust process control technology. The system's open architecture makes it easy to integrate into existing information systems without a lot of intervening nodes and middleware.
Asset management programs. As utilities face an aging infrastructure, coupled with fewer Greenfield investments, they must strive to optimize processes and extend asset life. Here, too, automation technology can provide significant benefits, focusing on those assets having the greatest impact on business performance.
During the last decade, process plants adopted preventive maintenance strategies in an effort to reduce their operating expenses, improve reliability, and increase on-stream performance. In order to more effectively and intelligently manage the risks of equipment failure, many end users have migrated from a preventive maintenance schedule to a Predictive Maintenance (PdM) regimen or incorporated PdM as a component of a Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) initiative. With an organization-determined objective of enhanced reliability, accurate and timely diagnostic data from production and safety equipment is essential to increasing productivity, availability, and profitability.
Power plants taking a process-centric view of asset management have the means to target and manage their most critical assets, focusing on areas that have the greatest impact on business results. Software-enabled asset effectiveness solutions work by analyzing asset data, and placing unit data, loop and system performance measurements in context to determine the health of the asset. They also prioritize problem areas and produce a list of recommended actions -- optimizing controllable losses.
Remote diagnostic services. Integrated automation engineering, including remote monitoring and diagnostics services, helps plant managers keep track of both condition and performance monitoring -- freeing on-site resources for other critical tasks. Diagnostic tests can be run from outside the plant, saving time and money on analysis of trouble spots. In addition, integrated main automation contractor and engineering services minimize workforce requirements and reduce project risk.
Equipment reliability strategies improve availability and reduce downtime through comprehensive asset monitoring and early detection of potential problems ranging from corrosion to equipment failure. In addition, new quality control solutions and validation methodologies help plants exceed quality, regulatory, and environmental requirements. Automation equipment suppliers such as Honeywell have responded to their customers' operational challenges by providing real-time asset reliability solutions that help plants avoid unplanned losses of capacity, improve asset health, and achieve more stable control. This includes operating within limits to extend asset life and reduce incidents, and responding faster to abnormal situations. New reliability solutions can also help plants precisely execute infrequent procedures, as well as commonplace procedures like transitions.
As opposed to traditional maintenance management systems and reliability software packages, real-time asset reliability solutions collect continuous condition-monitoring data from both the control system and other sensing technologies. This, in turn, provides engineers, operators, and maintenance technicians with the information they need to better manage asset health on an ongoing basis.
Technology migration solutions. In a demanding market, power plants need solutions providing access to the latest automation technology. In many cases, legacy control systems cannot meet corporate objectives for enterprise-wide sharing of business information. Nor do they provide advanced control capabilities enabling users to increase capacity, reduce costs, and improve regulatory compliance.
Despite the availability of support and spare parts for legacy systems, there are many good reasons for migrating to the latest automation technology. These include:
- System obsolescence
- End-of-life equipment
- Unit expansions
- Repair costs
- Loading issues
- Space limitations
- Security concerns
Technology migration can help users implement a state-of-the-art system architecture that will significantly improve plant performance. An approach based on phased migration, or system upgrade, delivers state-of-the-art control technology without having to replace an entire legacy hardware and software system and run the risk of losing valuable intellectual property.
In addition, a strategy of continuous technology evolution ensures facilities maintain up-to-date process control functionality while reducing the costs associated with system upgrades. Automation suppliers should support their customers' technology investments through replacement of existing products with the same products, as well as "plug and play" replacement of existing functionality with modern electronics, effectively extending the life of the product.
Cyber security strategies. Power plant operators now recognize the potential for devastating attacks by hackers, viruses, worms, and spyware. Security measures appropriate for data networks could be disastrous if a compromised process threatens to damage productivity and capital assets -- and possibly human life.
Major process automation suppliers have identified cyber security as an important issue and made it one of their key priorities. End users need a multi-layered approach that seamlessly integrates multiple technologies ranging from access control and video surveillance, to automated mustering, asset tracking, and cyber security.
The most important step in mitigating security risks is developing an effective plan of attack. Companies should write policies and procedures aligning with corporate security goals, and perform thorough risk assessments that identify plant and business assets, define potential threats, and spell out vulnerabilities across the enterprise.
Conclusion
Today's challenging times in the electric power industry require new, more effective measures that link technical performance with financial results. With the help of modern automation technology, power facilities can achieve their critical business objectives. Electric power plants can improve their reliability, and optimize their performance, by providing operators and engineers with the tools to better manage process information -- and make more effective decisions based on that information. They can also protect their operations by implementing a comprehensive, multi-layered safety and security strategy. Finally, power plants can find an easier financial path to better performance with newer systems thanks to cost-effective migration solutions based on a continuous technology evolution