POWER September 2016 - 38

TOP PLANTS
POWER POINTS
Winning Attributes
Upgraded turbine hardware and
software to increase output from
1,230 MW to 1,300 MW while
increasing overall efficiency and
flexibility
One of the first plants to
deploy GE's digital power
plant technology (sensor data
monitoring and analysis) to
reduce operating costs and forced
outages, enabling it to remain
competitive in the PJM market
These digital upgrades prompted
development of a remote, multiplant
monitoring and diagnostics
center that benefits multiple
assets
Energy Regulatory Commission in 1997,
PSEG was joined by a long list of other large
utilities, including Commonwealth Edison,
American Electric Power, and FirstEnergy.
Especially with the ISO spending billions
of dollars to upgrade its ability to balance
demand across an ever-wider service area,
competition continued to grow. As gas prices
began to fall in the 2010s, newer, more efficient
CCPPs began operations. In a tight,
fast-moving market, reducing fuel costs and
scheduling outages for the most opportune
times became critical. The pressure grew
as two new CCPPs were added nearby and
were soon competing with Linden for market
share. As both held a competitive advantage
in heat rate, PSEG needed to find ways to
keep Linden viable.
The utility turned to GE, which had supplied
the four 7FA gas turbines and two D11
steam turbines powering the plant. The gas
turbines were upgraded with GE's Advanced
Gas Path (AGP) solution, which improves
flexibility and efficiency through a combination
of hardware and software improvements.
The AGP package gave Linden's
turbines upgraded buckets, nozzles, and
shrouds, as well as new OpFlex controls.
Total output increased from 1,230 MW to
1,300 MW, and overall plant efficiency and
flexibility also improved.
But giving the gas turbines a new lease on
life was only the beginning, because Linden's
competitors were also operating state-of-theart
technology. More would be necessary to
take advantage of the new upgrades.
Looking Ahead
PSEG was looking not just to boost revenue
38
at one plant but also to improve operations
across its fleet of three CCPPs in the area,
and to do it in a way that would allow all of
them to take advantage of market opportunities
as they arose. That meant leveraging
cutting-edge technology in monitoring, communications,
and data science to spot those
opportunities-as well as potential problems-before
they came along. For this, GE
had the solution as well.
The global original equipment manufacturer
had been working on taking its Predix-based
Asset Performance Management tool to the next
level, one that would leverage the " Industrial Internet "
to allow not just constant monitoring of
plant systems and performance but also constant
data analysis to use that information in ways
that have not been possible before-creating
a true " digital power plant. " The data has been
there for a while, but until recently, there have
been few tools to use it to its full potential. (For
more on GE's vision of a digital power future,
see " Big Data and the Industrial Internet Meet
the Power Plant " in the January 2016 issue and
" Disruptive Digital Technologies Are Key to
Power Industry's Future " in the June 2016 issue
or at powermag.com.)
GE announced its digital power plant
initiative in September 2015, but by then
it had already rolled out the new solutions
to a few select customers-one of which
was PSEG.
In July 2015, PSEG and GE agreed to
build an off-site monitoring and diagnostics
(M&D) center that would employ GE's
new SmartSignal software to collect performance
data from Linden and PSEG's other
two combined cycle plants, and use that
data to view plant performance and potential
problems in real time. Rather than relywww.powermag.com
ing
solely on rigid preventative maintenance
schedules, PSEG would be able to detect
and spot degrading components well before
they became problems. Where necessary,
outages could then be scheduled for the
most opportune market times rather than being
forced, and outages could be avoided altogether
for repairs that could be conducted
without taking a unit offline.
Watching Out
Construction began that summer, and the
M&D center was fully online by December
15 (Figure 1). It began proving its worth almost
immediately. The first " saves " - forced
outages that were avoided by early detection-came
within the first two weeks of
operation. The M&D staff are in constant
two-way communications with plant operators
and conduct weekly discussion calls
with staff at Linden and the other plants. In
most cases, the stations are able to address
potential issues with minimal interruption
in operations. PSEG staff worked to reassure
plant managers that the M&D center
was not " taking over " ; rather, it serves as just
another tool to improve operations and make
informed decisions.
Since the M&D center came online, Linden
has been able to run continuously and
reliably, including many days with all four
units running, despite the very competitive
regional market. Though it initially worked
only with the three combined cycle plants,
PSEG extended monitoring to its other fossil
plants. Future plans include PSEG's nuclear
fleet and three new combined cycle plants
that are currently in development. ■
-Thomas W. Overton, JD is a POWER
associate editor.
POWER | September 2016
1. In control. Inside the monitoring and diagnostics center, PSEG Fossil personnel can monitor
the performance of key systems at the company's three combined cycle plants in real time,
predict problems before they occur, and schedule maintenance activities more efficiently, which
reduces costs and forced outages. Courtesy: PSEG

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POWER September 2016

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