There is a very famous saying “all fingers are different”. The meaning applies to power generation plants as well, there are no power stations that are the same neither in infrastructure nor in their environment, however, there are things in common and some of these things constitute particular challenges for each workplace.
I. Build a work team.
First, an organizational chart must be defined in accordance with the type of power plant and once prepared and agreed upon by both NAES and the owner of the asset, the job profiles are defined to begin with the personnel selection process.
The personnel selection process is not the same as building a work team. In the formation of a work team, it must be pursued that those selected can adapt to the NAES work philosophy and also that there is empathy among the members. On the other hand, it is crucial to make the decision on what the percentage of personnel being selected with experience in the field and inexperienced staff is, because a team with experienced staff can hardly be built and the operation and maintenance of a staffed plant without any previous experience would be very risky.
To make it easier to transmit NAES’ philosophy and values to the rest of the team, it is recommended that at least a couple of people have some working experience in facilities operated by NAES.
II. Document Control Transition
During the construction and commissioning stage, the Plant Owner and the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Company (EPC) typically form a group of people to manage all permits on behalf of the Owner before the government entities, that is, federal, state and municipal, which have some conditions that must be fulfilled either periodically during the life of the plant or only once.
At this point, the main challenges are on the one hand to identify the regulatory framework of the project to validate that all permits, plans, agreements, required for the operation of the plant have been managed and, on the other hand, to receive documentation of all permits and the official communication that covers the fulfillment of the conditions.
It is important to establish a file system that facilitates identification and government entity for easy traceability in the case of an inspection visit or an audit.
Finally, using NAES corporate tools, such as the GenSuite Calendar, it is important to schedule the required actions on said platform, which has a Tracking System that includes automated message delivery via email as a reminder to have full regulatory compliance in safety, occupational health and environment matters during the commercial operation of the plant.
III. Development of a comprehensive management system
The development of a Comprehensive Management System facilitates and reduces the man-hours in the life of the Power Plant. A single Management System will be needed to include policies, vision, mission, values, and interrelated procedures if independent management systems for safety and occupational health, environment, quality, administrative, maintenance, operations, social responsibility, etc. were developed.
The expectations regarding what type of certifications associated with the ISO are appropriate for the Project must be established together with the Owner. The commitments or requirements that the owner has must also be considered, like the Equator Principles when the resources of the Project are financed by the banks.
The Comprehensive Management System must consider at least the following:
1. Procedures related to occupational health and safety, that help comply with the objective of zero injuries for both employees and contractors at the plant.
2. The principle of caring for the environment and sustainable development should be the basis for the development of procedures that allow us to comply with both.
3. Description of each system at the power station and the operational interaction between the systems, indicating its principles and modes of operation, as well as the failure modes.
4. The development of operational procedures that include starting prerequisites, alarms, protective actions with integrated procedures for starting, normal stop, emergencies / abnormalities and a chemical program related to the water / steam cycle.
5. Administrative procedures that allow an efficient program of purchases of goods and services, accounts payable, inventory, human resources and accounting.
6. Maintenance programs that strengthen the reliability of the plant based on preventive, predictive and corrective maintenance activities based on a Reliability Centered Maintenance policy and OEM recommendations.
7. Planning of major maintenance on major equipment in a short, medium and long term.
IV. Implementation of a Computer-Aided Maintenance Management system
It is impossible to conceive a modern power plant that wants to meet high standards of production, availability and reliability without having a well implemented Computer-Aided Maintenance Management System (CAMMS).
It is important to evaluate several proposals to make the decision on which System is the most optimal for the Project. Once the system has been selected, consider at least the following 5 points:
1. Collect data related to the CAMMS of the EPC / OEM.
2. Build a structure for the new CAMMS with the data collected.
3. Hardware acquisition that supports CAMMS.
4. CAMMS software configuration.
5. Training of personnel involved in the processes.
V. Training Program
Staff training is crucial, so active participation in training prepared by the EPC and the OEM is ideal. This training prepared by the EPC and the OEM must be consolidated with a specific system for the job qualification site, which involves conducting effective exam systems to ensure adequate levels of knowledge.
On the other hand, it is important to consider NAES’ standard initial qualification for all personnel on safety matters, health at work and the environment, that contribute to the achievement of objectives.
In addition, if a simulator is implemented, it will assist and provide confidence to the operators in the commercial stage.
VI. Participation in commissioning and systems transfer
Support the Owner in the routes’ revision related to systems transfer with the EPC and those in charge of the supervision of the construction, in such a way that the construction punch list is being documented and provide a broader perspective under which conditions the power plant is received, as well as to support in the documents review of the EPC delivery packages.
On the other hand, participate as reasonably as possible in start-up testing activities, taking into account the capabilities of each person and their progress with their qualification of their position, under the supervision and responsibility of the EPC.