power

Clean energy powers on—and is projected to escalate exponentially—in spite of a sluggish economy. According to a new report from Clean Edge Inc., revenues for the renewables industry surged 40% in 2007, with returns for solar photovoltaics, biofuels, and wind surpassing the $20 billion mark for the first time. Global revenues for solar photovoltaic products, wind power, biofuels, and fuel cells collectively shot up from $55 billion in 2006 to $77.3 billion in 2007.

A growing list of nuclear power plants throughout the world face obsolescence problems with their instrumentation and control (I&C) systems. Plants designed a generation ago Struggle to maintain their original analog or electromechanical I&C systems, if they have experienced technicians. Upgrading with advanced, digital-based controls is the obvious solution, but that's not always a straightforward exercise for many stations because of the complexity and regulatory oversight.

Most top plants have predictive maintenance systems (PdM) systems, because they have proved to boost plant availability and safety, pay for themselves when they prevent even a single unplanned outage, and eliminate middle-of-the-night phone calls. Now one utility has taken the next step: It has not only installed PdM systems at six of its plants but also networked those systems. The network leverages—in real time—the expertise of the maintenance analysts using the systems.

By Ricky Lee Badger, Predictive Maintenance Manager, Westar Energy