The Yeniköy thermal plant comprises two generating units that produce 420 megawatts (MW) of electrical power. The plant was built in 1986 /87, and burns lignite coal mined nearby for fuel. It is one of 22 thermal power plants in Turkey, and was recently privatized by the Turkish government. ABB experts in Poland had delivered the distributed control system for the plant’s boiler, and with their broad understanding of the plant’s systems, were also providing some emergency support, if available.
ServiceGrid oncall advice and support
After it was privatized, service experts from ABB Turkey explained to the plant’s new owners the many advantages of expert oncall advice and support, especially in an emergency, and the customer opted for ABB ServiceGrid Select, part of ABB’s comprehensive suite of life cycle support services for power generation facilities.
By choosing ServiceGrid Select, the Yeniköy plant receives 24/7 phone support and remote connection capability, software maintenance updates, set periods of onsite support, discounts on spare parts and training, and evolution upgrades.
Customer need: minimize production losses
The Yeniköy plant needed to improve availability and ensure continuous operations by minimizing the loss of production resulting from failures in the control system. Recent privatization also meant that plant staff were unfamiliar with some plant systems, and the lack of adequate training was compounded by a lack of hardware support as well as lack of security updates, the result of obsolete Windows XP and Server 2003 software.
ABB response: ServiceGrid Select
ABB’s ServiceGrid Select level solution provides complete software, product, application and technical support, professional onsite training and evolution of the existing human machine interface (HMI) to the latest version. ServiceGrid delivers savings and service solutions in four program levels designed to meet the operational and maintenance needs of individual power plants.
ServiceGrid Select level benefits customers by including 24/7 remote support for all aspects of plant maintenance and operation; an up-to-date HMI running on active and supported operating systems; and trained operation and maintenance teams.
24/7 phone and remote connection support
ServiceGrid Select provides the Yeniköy plant with technical product support and technical phone support when troubleshooting, installing, or updating ABB control systems. Technical phone and remote connection support is available 24/365 by ABB support centers locally and abroad during normal business hours, and ABB’s response commitment is the next business day/four hours.
After hours support is also available if the system is down, in danger of going down, or performing significantly below expectations.
In the event no solution is found to a problem involving an ABB product, ABB R&D design level engineers will provide further investigation and diagnosis.
ServiceGrid solution includes Automation Sentinel maintain plus
ABB releases software maintenance updates on a periodic basis, including software error corrections, firmware error corrections, performance improvements, and third party product compatibility updates. The customer may also request upgrades of currently installed software products to the latest version of a platform.
On-site support
ABB provides 32 hours per year to perform control system maintenance services. Service labor time includes diagnostic time, repair time, verification time, time awaiting the delivery of parts, time waiting for access to equipment, and time required to complete the documentation of the service call activities.
Discounts on spare parts and training
ABB ServiceGrid provides a replacement parts discount for ABB DCS hardware at various rates, as well as training discounts to ensure world-class skills development and maximum performance of ABB automation equipment at the plant.
Version upgrade
A ServiceGrid Select contract completely renews existing servers and workstations, upgrading 800xA version to V5.1 which is running on active and supported operating systems. All hardware is supplied by the customer; ABB provides engineering and commissioning.
ServiceGrid transforms routine maintenance tasks and frees resources to proactively focus on power production. It helps customers increase plant performance, extend asset life and protect their financial and intellectual investments.