by Rahul Chillar Principal

Product Manager, Asset Performance Management (APM)

GE Digital's Predix APM and Predix OPM solutions, distributed and supported in Italy by ServiTecno, are helping the main Italian utilities to face in the best possible way a moment of important transformation in the energy sector.

GE is responsible for producing one third of the world's electricity and its software solutions manage 40% of all electricity. The work done in Italy demonstrates GE's commitment to supporting the transformation of the energy sector.

GE Digital supports the transformation of the Italian energy ecosystem

 

The energy is changing. The way we consume energy is changing. And the way energy is produced is also changing.

Also in Italy, as in many other regions of the world, the energy ecosystem is experiencing a significant change. Renewable energies are no longer considered a passing trend, but a pillar of the current electricity mix.

And while Italy tries to prepare its energy systems for the future, utilities are studying new solutions that make electricity production units work differently than originally planned.

According to the European Commission, Italy should increase its share of renewable energy from 17% to 27% by 2030, while by 2025 it should completely phase out coal. As part of this path to reduce carbon emissions, GE is contributing to the creation of digital industrial applications, offering utilities its Asset Performance Management (APM) solution, which allows to increase the flexibility, reliability and efficiency, allowing them to remain competitive.

A2A renews the plants with APM

 

The A2A Group, leading company in Italy, continues its partnership with GE to modernize four of its old power plants, which together supply energy to around 1,1 million Italian homes.

In an effort to adapt to market conditions, while improving its ecological footprint and reducing operating costs, A2A recognizes the importance of digitization to remain competitive.

After the successful implementation of the Predix Operations Performance Management (OPM) solution in 2015, which helped la Chivasso plant to react more quickly to market demands, A2A stands expanding the use of Predix Asset Performance Management to three additional plants to increase reliability and availability, reduce maintenance and operating costs, and implement predictive maintenance strategies.

Predix APM allows A2A to exploit the intelligence of thousands of assets, identify failures before they occur, develop targeted maintenance programs, optimize work times, consolidate operator knowledge, reduce waste and perform other optimizations on a daily basis.

In addition to the Chivasso plant, the A2A plant in Sermide has also completed the implementation of Predix OPM.

Predix OPM leverages entire power plant analytics to achieve cost efficiencies, safely extend production performance, and reduce startup times.

Sorgenia reinvents the way assets function

 

Sorgenia Power SpA., one of the main Italian operators in the gas sector, collaborates with GE Power to make the Termoli combined cycle plant more efficient, reliable and flexible.

Located on the Italian Adriatic coast, the plant aims to leverage big data analytics to improve the performance of its assets and make smarter operational decisions.

Thanks to the implementation of some industrial applications of GE Digital, including Predix APM and Predix OPM, the plant will be able to minimize unplanned downtimewhile reducing operating costs.

Furthermore, GE will help increase efficiency and improve plant reliability with an adjustment of the compressor group to support the significant increase in starts and stops connected with the evolution of demand and the continuous growth of the variability of renewable energies on the national grid.

For Sorgenia, the digitization of the Termoli plant means that the utility is reinventing the way assets function and ultimately how they deliver reliable energy to customers.

Novel implements predictive maintenance

Still as part of the modernization of one of its power plants, Novel SpA turned to GE Power to help improve the plant's competitiveness.

Novel plans to use the predictive maintenance capabilities within Predix APM, as well as leverage the services offered by GE Digital's global monitoring and diagnostics center located in Atlanta to remotely monitor its assets.