Flexible & Reliable: Optimal performance amid variable power generation

The operating environment for power plants is challenged by strengthening environmental regulations, fluctuating fuel prices, labor attrition and supply chain disruption. On top of these factors, load demand variations due to renewable generation is changing the way power generators produce power. Though it may not have been designed for it, your plant needs to operate flexibly – and plant reliability and performance may suffer.

In power plants designed for high steady-state generation, variable operation can cause equipment degradation and negatively affect power plant heat rate. Plant teams need accurate, easy to access data and insights to know where the problem is occurring and how much it is costing. The ultimate goal is ambitious, but necessary — improving both efficiency and reliability, while reducing emissions and supporting increased renewable power implementation for the future.

In conversation with POWER Magazine, GE Digital expert(s) discuss methods to reduce or eliminate the impacts of flexible generation, including software designed to designed to both monitor performance and provide proactive, actionable recommendations for Operations & Maintenance.