Control room at the Saras plant in Sarroch. Image courtesy of Saras. 
Control room at the Saras plant in Sarroch. Image courtesy of Saras. 
Control room at the Saras plant in Sarroch. Image courtesy of Saras.
Saras – an Italian energy company active in the refining and power generation sectors that is part of the Vitol Group – has recently undertaken a complete control system modernization project at its Sarroch plant on the southwest coast of Sardinia.
The Sarroch site hosts one of the largest refineries in the Mediterranean area in terms of production capacity (approximately 300,000 barrels per day, which equals around 20 percent of Italy’s refining capacity) and features highly complex processing units (Nelson Complexity Index of 11.7)1. In addition, the site, which is fully integrated with the refinery, also operates an Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power generation plant with an installed capacity of 575 MW. It is capable of producing over 4 TWh of electricity per year, accounting for more than 45 percent of Sardinia’s electricity demand. Given its operational characteristics, the Saras IGCC facility plays a strategic role in ensuring the reliability and security of the Sardinian power grid.
“ABB Care support and assistance service has been central to our long-standing partnership with Saras,” said Charles Bennett, Head of Service & Modernization at ABB’s Energy Industries Division. “For more than 25 years, our teams have supported the refinery in strengthening cyber security, managing critical spare parts, and continuously upgrading and modernizing their control systems. By careful planning and working closely with Saras, we have helped evolve their control system environment while keeping operations running and minimizing risk."
The modernization project, which required approximately one year to be complete, was focused on upgrading the Distributed Control System (DCS) to ABB’s System 800xA version 6.1.1 Long Term Support (LTS), which controls the IGCC plant. This advanced facility combines gasification technology with combined-cycle power generation to produce electricity, while maximizing energy efficiency and heat recovery.
The upgraded control system enhances process optimization and enables a seamless future transition to future releases, while delivering advanced functionality and full compliance with the NIS2 directive. In addition, the enhanced alarm management capabilities improve operator responsiveness and enable more informed decision-making, directly contributing to safer and more efficient daily operations.
ABB also deployed its Extended Operator Workplace (EOW) intelligent consoles alongside a newly designed operator area and the latest ergonomic accessories, ensuring greater efficiency and wellbeing for the workforce. The renewal was completed by a full hardware infrastructure refresh, including modern PCs running the latest Windows OS version, new servers, and networking equipment, as well as a comprehensive security framework covering layered architecture design, system hardening, real-time monitoring, and advanced reporting.
"Our partnership with Saras began in 1999, and this project reflects the trust the company places in ABB's expertise and technical capabilities,” said Michele Mannucci, Local Division Manager at ABB’s Energy Industries Division in Italy. “Saras chose ABB not simply because of our existing systems in place, but because of our proven competence in automation, the quality and reliability of our DCS technology, and the depth of knowledge of our technical team. This combination of technical excellence and long-standing partnership enabled us to develop an upgrade strategy that modernized their systems seamlessly, while maintaining operational continuity and delivering immediate improvements to the control room environment and overall operator wellbeing."
