Effectiveness of the performance and reliability optimisation model in electricity generation

摘要

Since 2008 the electricity supply in South Africa has at times been unable to fulfil in the growing demand for electricity. Various initiatives were launched to alleviate this situation by increasing the capacity or reducing the demand. One of these initiatives was the introduction of a performance and reliability optimisation (PRO) model at 13 fossil power stations in South Africa. A research project was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the PRO model and to determine whether it was successful in improving plant availability and in reducing energy losses. The expectation was that the PRO model would also increase plant performance through increased preventive maintenance compliance. This paper discusses an analysis of maintenance history from the SAP information system reports and other performance data at the power stations as well as a survey from 70 respondents. The investigation indicated that the plant performance did not improve significantly after implementation of the PRO model although there was a significant improvement in preventive maintenance and schedule compliance. A number of factors that contribute towards poor plant performance were also identified and ranked. The survey indicated that the age of the plant, lack of discipline and production pressure were major contributors.