Fueling Efficiency: Implementing an Economical and Fast Heat Rate Reduction Solution

A reduction in heat rate can be pivotal for a thermal plant to maintain a competitive position in its market. Heat rate is a critical factor that directly impacts the overall cost of power generation. Fuel often accounts for 60-80% of variable costs to a power plant, and even small improvements in heat rate can have a major impact on plant financials. Traditional methods to improve heat rate typically involve large investments and O&M strategies. However, large investments are not always feasible, and O&M strategies using time-based maintenance often lack real-time visibility to performance degradation issues.

The adoption of predictive and diagnostic software offers power generators the opportunity to more easily achieve improved heat rate while significantly reducing fuel consumption. By reducing fuel, CO2 emissions inherently go down, thus helping in the attainment of emission reduction targets.

What makes GE’s Performance Intelligence software special? The ability to operationalize heat rate management, reducing time to fix performance issues. GE’s advanced, physics-based digital twins, combined with actionable recommendations, empower plant teams to quickly identify performance degradation issues and the optimal timing for addressing them based on plant financials.

Let’s get to the bottom of why advanced performance software is an economical and fast way to reduce heat rate and improve plant financials. Join moderator Aaron Larsen, Executive Editor of Power Magazine with GE Vernova’s Janet Webb and Aisha Murtaza.