POWER January 2016 - 32

2016 INDUSTRY FORECAST
I4GEN: EPRI's Power
Plant of Tomorrow
Concept
The Electric Power Research Institute
(EPRI) calls its vision of the
future-a more digitally connected
one-I4GEN (for " Integrating Information
for Insight and Intelligence
for Generation " ).
Susan Maley
T
he power industry is challenged by
many changes in generating portfolio,
operating mission profiles, grid interconnections,
customer engagement, and a
workforce that is losing knowledge and experience
to retirement. A digital world full
of new technologies with vast potential for
addressing most needs via a device in one's
pocket offers an as-yet nearly untapped arsenal
of tools that could meet these challenges
and transform the industry's generating
assets.
Changes Ahead
The power plant of tomorrow is likely to generate
electricity in much the same way it has
in the past, but the way in which the plant is
controlled and operated using digital technology
will change. Whereas today technology
is used to remove bottlenecks, improve asset
management, and increase effectiveness, in
the future, plants will capitalize on the digital
plant to optimize in near real time the cost,
performance, and equipment; predict problems
and faults; and enable preventive work
and a new workforce.
Today's typical large-scale power plants
are equipped with systems, communication
capabilities, and job functions that date back
decades in some cases. Some processes are
paper-based, and communication is through a
variety of disconnected, ad hoc channels such
as e-mail, phone, text, radio, paper, and electronic
data/entry into various software-based
solutions/data management tools. Time is
wasted seeking, assembling, and aggregating
data, as well as in reentering data in disconnected
systems, which limits the amount of
32
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Policy
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Human Factors
IT/OT
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Cycling
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Complexity
Risk Management
IT/OTSafety
Competition
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Cybersecurity
Scheduling Outages
Safety
time available to analyze data and develop a
comprehensive understanding of an issue or
solution.
Many plants operating today use distributed
control systems (DCS) to operate the
plant with control logic stemming from proportional/integral/derivative
(PID) calculations
and control loops designed for setpoint
steady state control. But as plants evolve toward
a more dynamic operating window with
drastically different mission profiles, that existing
process control is challenged to enable
smooth transitions toward a higher number
and frequency of setpoints.
In contrast, the workforce of tomorrow
will use a digital platform in which information
produced in real time is used to compute
estimates of equipment condition, and algorithms
are used to forecast a set of operating
conditions. The connected and integrated
digital networks will automatically integrate
data and produce information for various systems,
functions, analysis, and actions (Figure
1). The computation, communication, and
linking of systems will be embedded with
interfaces that are easy to use but secured at
various levels within the network. An open
architecture modular system will allow for
" plug and play " of new devices, software,
and other algorithms regardless of the developer
or vendor.
These changes are being driven by a number
of forces:
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Reliability
Cybersecurity
Competition
Markets
Scheduling Outages
Customer Choice
Pace Of Change
Equipment Monitoring Risk Management
Safety
Competition
Grid Parity
Cycling
Storage
■ Grid modernization and integration. As
part of an integrated grid, power will be
generated from a range of sources. The
mix of types, sizes, locations, and intermittent
operations adds layers of complexity
to grid control. Dynamic, fully integrated
generation assets are required to achieve
the full benefits of the integrated grid.
■ Cost-competitiveness is critical. Maintaining
the reliability and availability of
power generation is paramount while introducing
new facets of flexible operation.
Quantifiable benefits from implementing
and adapting the I4GEN concept would be
specific to the generating asset, how it is
used within a fleet, and how it is used for
a region's dispatch to the grid, but nearterm
opportunities for improvements exist
in almost every case.
■ Changes in the generation resource portfolio
and the need for operational flexibility.
The resource portfolio for generating
assets is changing. As the portfolio becomes
more diverse with the introduction
of advanced power cycles, energy storage,
microgrids, and other distributed generating
assets, integration of these new elements
with the grid is essential.
■ Changing workforce. Highly skilled and
experienced workers are either retiring or
preparing to retire from the power industry.
The new workforce brings a different
POWER | January 2016
IT/OT
Markets
eliability
uman Factors
ent Monitoring Risk Management
afety
arkets
Storage
IT/OT
Markets
Scheduling Outages
Risk Management Regulations
Business Models
Grid Parity
ata AnalyticsRegulations
Next-gen Staff
Distributed Generation
Storage
Human Factors Regulations
Policy
Resiliency
Markets
Relicensing
Regulations
Resiliency
Policy
Grid Parity
Storage
Storage
Competition
Relicensing
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POWER January 2016

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