BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY FOR THE GLOBAL GENERATION INDUSTRY SINCE 1882

Vol. 161 No. 6 June 2017

Compliance and Safety

Best Practices

Coal Is Back
Machine Learning in the
Energy Sector
How to Prevent Circulating
Water Flow Reversal
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 ON THE COVER
Arc-rated/flame-resistant (FR) clothing
can go a long way toward improving
safety. In the past, workers may have
complained about discomfort or poor
fit, but new, lightweight and breathable
fabrics are making FR clothes attractive in
Established 1882 Vol. 161 No. 6 June 2017 more ways than one. Courtesy: Workrite
Clothing Co.

SPEAKING OF POWER
Coal Is Back 6

GLOBAL MONITOR
A Double Whammy for Coal Power in Europe 8
THE BIG PICTURE: Generation Transition 10
Geothermal Drilling in Iceland Reaches Supercritical Target 11
SCE, GE Debut Battery-Gas Turbine Hybrid System 12
IRENA: Solar and Bioenergy See Record Growth in 2016 13
Validation Wraps Up for GE, Ansaldo Gas Turbines 14
POWER Digest 16

FOCUS ON O&M
Youre Never Fully Dressed without Flame-Resistant Clothing 18
PID Loop Tuning Pocket Guide Released 21 12
LEGAL & REGULATORY
Offshore Wind Contract Conundrum Heads to Supreme Court 22
By Rebecca Williams and Ben Lamble, Watson Farley & Williams

COVER FOCUS: WORKFORCE & SAFETY

CONCERNS
How to Develop a Values-Based Compliance Culture 24
Compliance programs come in various shapes and sizes. Some focus on com-
mand-and-control-based principles, while others use rules-based or process-
driven strategies. But a values-based approach has worked well for one big
company, and borrowing some pages from its playbook could work well for
you.
14
Safety Culture: A Common Construct Requiring Commitment from the
Board Room to the Shop Floor 30
An organizations culture has been defined by some as the shared perception
of the groups traditions, values, and socialization processes that endure over
time. When safety is a core component of that culture, it can be a very positive
thing. But how does a group build a strong safety culture? Developing and
consistently reinforcing a set of constructive traits is a good start.

Scaffold Safety in Coal-Fired Power Plants 34

If youve ever walked around a power plant, you know that temporary scaf-
folding is a very common sight. But what you may not realize is how danger-
ous erecting, using, and deconstructing scaffolding can be. If you want to
improve your plants safety program, theres no better place to begin than by
focusing on your scaffolding procedures.

34
|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 1
 SPECIAL REPORT: TECHNOLOGY
Energy Generation from A-to-Z with Machine Learning 38
Machine learning and artificial intelligence may seem more like futuristic
sci-fi movie topics than current power generation matters, but computer al-
gorithms are already being used to produce advanced solar cells, forecast
renewable generation, and operate at least one cogeneration plant. Although
implementing machine learning programs can be a challenge, the effort
might be worthwhile.

OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE

How to Prevent Circulating Water Flow Reversal 42
Piping systems with parallel pumps, or systems that pump to higher eleva-
tions, are subject to reverse flow when a pump suddenly stops. Circulating
38 water pumps used for condenser cooling are especially susceptible to the
problem. Several options are available to alleviate the concern, but choosing
which solution is best requires a good understanding of system operating
conditions and perhaps even some computer modeling.

TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE

Borescope Inspection Saves Time and Money for Gas Turbine Plant 46
Major turbine and generator inspections are important preventive main-
tenance tasks. The work provides the opportunity for minor problems to
be caught and corrected before they become more significant and costly.
Wouldnt it be nice if checkups could be done without tearing an entire unit
apart? In some situations, a borescope inspection can make that possible.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The Deep Dispute over Deep Decarbonization 48
Several scenarios have been developed outlining the power supply mix that
would be necessary to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. The mag-
42 nitude of the task seems daunting and some would argue unnecessary. One
naysayer is President Trump. Under his administration, the prospects for
deep decarbonization seem remote, at best.

ELECTRIC POWER
Power Market Operators and Participants See a Glimmer of Optimism in
Current Chaos 52
The wholesale power market model, the struggles faced by traditional base-
load power plants due to cheap natural gas and the proliferation of renew-
ables, and the rollback of regulations under the Trump administration were
all topics of discussion during the ELECTRIC POWER Conference & Exhibi-
tion this year. The CEOs of North Americas two largest regional transmission
organizations, along with other power leaders, offered insight on how the
industry is being affected.

COMMENTARY
Evolving Workforce and Safety Practices for Wind Farms 64
46 By Jack Rawcliffe, JDR Energy

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Group and the Women in Power
Generation Group
Report: Cheap Natural Gas Poised to Roil PJM Power Market
Trump Nominates Chatterjee, Powelson to FERC
VC Summer Project 64% Complete, SCE&G Says
No Firm Date for Watts Bar 2 Return to Service Yet
Vogtle, V.C. Summer Project Owners Buy More Time to Mull Fate of Nuclear Units
Norwegian CCS Boss: CCS is not BS
D.C. Circuit Halts Clean Power Plan, Mercury Rule Litigation
EPA Guidance on State Coal Ash Permit Programs Is Coming, Pruitt Says
Columbia Study Casts Doubt on Trump Coal Plan
Report: Westinghouse Bankruptcy Raises Fundamental Questions About
Nuclears Future

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POWER June 2017
 Rugged communications
G42223/H892/R:42/X4/9822

for the electric power grid

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 SPEAKING OF POWER
Coal Is Back
lthough Im sure some readers will
A consider the title of this column
hyperbole, coal is back. Its back
in the public discourse, and thats largely
due to the Trump administration.
President Trump was an outspoken ad-
vocate for the coal industry during the
presidential campaign. In his America-
First Energy Plan, he specifically said,
Were going to save the coal industry.
While its still early in his first term, the
rhetoric seems to be carrying over into
his presidency, and that has a lot of peo-
ple with ties to the coal industry breath-
ing a sigh of relief.
Pruitt and Perry Seem Supportive
Speaking on the Fox Business morning
show Varney & Co., Environmental Pro-
tection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott
Pruitt said, We need to have an all-
the-above strategy ... utility companies
across this country need fuel diversity
... you need solid hydrocarbons on-site
that you can store, so when peak demand
rises, youve got solid hydrocarbons to
draw on.
But coal doesnt just offer fuel diver-
sity, its also important from a national
security perspective. During the same
television interview, Pruitt asked rhetori-
cally, What would happen if we had an
attack on our infrastructure when youve
converted to natural gas almost exclu-
sively and you dont have coal there as a
safeguard to preserve the grid?
The EPA isnt the only government
agency focusing its attention on coal.
U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry ordered
his department to initiate a 60-day study
that began on April 19 to explore criti-
cal issues central to protecting the long-
term reliability of the electric grid.
In a memo to his chief of staff direct-
ing the study, Perry wrote, Baseload
power is necessary to a well-functioning
electric grid. We are blessed as a nation
to have an abundance of domestic en-
ergy resources, such as coal, natural gas,
nuclear, and hydroelectric, all of which
provide affordable baseload power and
contribute to a stable, reliable, and re-
6 www.powermag.com
silient grid. But Perry suggested in the
memo that the manner in which baseload
power is dispatched and compensated
may not be fair and that the diminish-
ing diversity of the generation mix could
jeopardize the nations economy and na-
tional security.
The studyintended to analyze the
problems, and provide concrete policy rec-
ommendations and solutionsis expect- Source Performance Standards, and Efflu-
ed to focus on the evolution of wholesale
electricity markets; whether markets are
adequately compensating attributes that
stregthen grid resilience, such as on-site
fuel supply; and the extent to which con-
tinued regulatory burdens, mandates, and
tax and subsidy policies are responsible
for premature baseload plant retirements.
Its easy to see that coal-fired genera-
tion isor has beendeeply affected by
each of those issues. As such, its also
easy to conclude that any recommenda-
tions developed as a result of the study
are likely to offer some benefits for the
coal industry.
Optimism Exists Outside of the
Government
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) has also been evaluating the cur-
rent market structure. On May 12, FERC
held a technical conference to discuss
certain matters affecting wholesale en-
ergy and capacity markets operated by the
Eastern Regional Transmission Organiza-
tions (RTOs) and Independent System Op-
erators (ISOs).
Paul Bailey, president and CEO of the
American Coalition for Clean Coal Electric-
ity, a coal advocacy group, participated in
the conference and spoke before the com-
mission. He highlighted coals ability to
provide grid reliability and resilience as a
key advantage of the fuel source. Specific
benefits he cited include on-site fuel stor-
age, firm fuel contracts, an established
track record, in-place infrastructure, and
24/7 availability. I interviewed Bailey sev-
eral days after the conference and asked
how his message had been received.
We thought we were successful be-
cause what we were trying to do is remind
everyone of the need for baseload elec-
tricity. We think coal has many advantages
over other sources of baseload electricity.
We didnt spend a lot of time talking, but
we think we got that message across,
Bailey told me.
Bailey was optimistic about the future.
He mentioned the unwinding of regula-
tions, including the Clean Power Plan, New
ent Limitations Guidelines, as a reason
for hope. He also suggested that Pruitts
comments on Fox Business allude to some-
thing even grander.
We have Pruitts statement the other
day, which was really an energy policy
statement. Thats one of the more inter-
esting things about itit was not an en-
vironmental statement as much as it was
an energy policy statement, Bailey said.
One power industry leader I spoke to
sees, if not a bright future, at least a sta-
ble one for coal. In an exclusive interview
with POWER on April 24, Paul McElhinney,
president and CEO of GEs Power Servic-
es, suggested that coal-fired generation
would remain vital throughout the world
for many years to come.
Our view is that coal and steam will
continuefor 20 years and beyondto
be significant drivers of power generation
capability across the globe, McElhinney
said.
That being the case, GEs Power Ser-
vices is focusing its business on helping
customers stay competitive and comply
with potential carbon reduction require-
ments by improving efficiency and reduc-
ing emissions.
You can find a 30- to 40-year-old coal
plant where some of the applications be-
ing written on Predix can have a marked
improvement on overall plant perfor-
mance, McElhinney said. We have tech-
nology today that we believe can deliver
double-digit reductions in emissions for
customers, he added.
Even under a pro-coal administration,
enhancing efficiency and cutting emis-
sions arent bad things.
Aaron Larson is POWERs
executive editor.
|
POWER June 2017
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A Double Whammy for
Coal Power in Europe 1. A continental divide. New power plant air pollution limits agreed to by a committee
Coal generation in Europe was walloped of European Union member statesincluding the UKon April 28 could create more head-
winds on the continent for coal power, which has already seen fierce competition from renew-
twicein April. Early in the month, mem-
ables and natural gas. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) noted
bers of EURELECTRIC, a pan-European that member country voting outcome was split between many former Eastern-bloc countries
power sector association of more than that still depend heavily on coalalong with Germanyand the rest of Europe. Courtesy: IEEFA
3,500 companies, announced that it
would cease investing in new coal plants
after 2020. And on April 28, members of
the European Union (EU) approved new
air pollution limits for large combustion
plants that will require utilities to invest
in new technology to retrofit coal plants,
limit operations to 1,500 hours a year, or
shutter facilities by 2021.
The EUs new round of controls on air
pollution, which strengthens its 2011-es-
tablished industrial emissions directive,
are described in a best available tech-
niques reference document (known as
BREF) for large combustion plants.
Backed by 20 countriesand predictably,
opposed by countries that still rely heav-
ily on coal (Figure 1)the BREF includes
new emission limits, expressed as wide,
ambiguous ranges, for sulfur dioxides
(SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), mercury, and
particulate matter. It requires large ther-
mal power plants in Europe to comply with
those limits by 2021.
According to a May 2017 report issued
by the Institute for Energy Economics
and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) scrutiniz- of the report, on May 8. Owners will ei- in new coal after 2020. EURELECTRIC Sec-
ing the impact of the new round of pol- ther have to make significant investment retary General Kristian Ruby said the chal-
lution controls, of 600 installations that and technical changes in just four years, lenge for European policy makers will now
comprise all of Europes main power plants or decide to close the plants altogether or reside in ensuring policies are comple-
that are larger than 50 MWth, and which significantly restrict their operating hours. mentary and advance decabonisation and
burn coal, lignite, and biomass, about 108 Whichever way they turn, additional cost electrification at the same time.
installations (of more than 300 MWth) are is unavoidable. In an interview with POWER in March,
responsible for the majority of SOx and NOx Wynn noted that the regulations could Ruby noted that EURELECTRIC anticipates
emissions in the EU. Nearly all of these further undermine and in many cases that the energy sector will basically
large plants, which are concentrated in shatter the fragile economics of coal transform over a 30-year period through
Eastern Europe but also include plants generation across the EU, which have al- 2050. Yet, he pointed out, the energy
in the UK, Spain, Italy, and Germany, are ready been weakened by natural gas and transition has been costly to generators,
well above the relevant BREF limits and renewables. Major markets, including Po- and it required careful consideration when
will face costly air pollution upgrades or land, and leading utilities, such as ENEL, being implemented. Over the last five
closure, the think tank suggests. Of the EDF, Drax, and CEZ, will more prominently years, we have seen European-listed utili-
600 facilities, meanwhile, Some 69% of face what Wynn called a cough-up, wind- ties write off 115 billion worth of value.
installations were non-compliant with down or shut-down compliance choice. Thats a significant amount of money this
the upper end of the NOx range (175 mil- Even before the bloc voted on the new energy transition is costing, and its basi-
ligrams of NOx per normal cubic metre of rules, however, European power generators cally underscoring the point that this is
flue gases [mg/Nm3]). Some 43%61% were already determined to lead the en- not a walk in the park, he said.
were non-compliant with the upper SOx ergy transition and back [a] commitment One reason for the impact on profitabil-
range (180320 mg/Nm3), it said. to the low-carbon economy with concrete ity is a collapse of wholesale power pric-
The cost of compliance will be prohibi- action, as EURELECTRIC President and es in Europe, he said. Power generators,
tive for many of these installations, given CEO of the Portuguese energy group EDP, he added, were eager to see a balanced
the market outlook and other headwinds, Antnio Mexia, said on April 5, the day regulatory framework that ensures a good
said Gerard Wynn, a London-based IEEFA that the trade group pledged to deliver on mix of investor incentives to make the
energy finance consultant and co-author the Paris Agreement and cease investment right investments in new technologies,

8 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
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 THE BIG PICTURE: Generation Transition
Compared to 2009, in 2016, coal power generation across the U.S. decreased by 510 TWh. During that same period, natural
gas generation surged by 439 TWh and non-hydro renewables generation rose by 195 TWh. However, those changes werent
uniform across the U.S. Source: EIA Electricity Data Copy and artwork by Sonal Patel, a POWER associate editor
WASH.

MONT.
N.D.

VT.
MAINE

COAL
ORE. MINN.

WIS. N.Y.
N.H.
States with the greatest change
IDAHO S.D. MASS.
MICH. CONN. R.I.
WYO.
N.J.

NEB.
IOWA

OHIO
PA.
Pennsylvania: 50,281 GWh
NEV. ILL. IND. MD.
UTAH
W.VA.
DEL.
Ohio: 44,588 GWh
COLO.
VA.

CALIF.
KAN.
MO.
KY. Indiana: 35,611 GWh
ARIZ.
TENN.
N.C.
Georgia: 31,186 GWh
OKLA.
N.M. ARK. S.C.
Illinois: 30,377 GWh
MISS.
ALA. GA.
N. Carolina: 27,377 GWh
LA.
TEXAS
Michigan: 25,811 GWh
FLA.

ALASKA
Alabama: 20,985 GWh
HAWAII
Texas: 17,876 GWh
Kentucky: 17,148 GWh
Change in net power generation between 2009 and 2016 (TWh)

Little to +3.5 0 to 10 10 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 50 to 60
no change

WASH.
MAINE
NATURAL GAS
MONT.
N.D.

VT.
States with the greatest change
ORE. MINN. N.H.

IDAHO

WYO.
S.D. WIS.

MICH.
N.Y. MASS.
CONN. R.I.
Florida: +39,543 GWh
NEB.
IOWA PA.
N.J.
Pennsylvania: +37,881 GWh
NEV.
UTAH
ILL. IND.
OHIO
MD.
DEL. N. Carolina: +34,339 GWh
W.VA.
COLO.
KAN.
MO.
KY.
VA.
Georgia: +32,415 GWh
CALIF.

TENN.
N.C. Texas: +28,686 GWh
ARIZ.
N.M.
OKLA.
ARK. S.C. Virginia: +28,062 GWh
MISS.
ALA. GA. Mississippi: +26,802 GWh
TEXAS
LA.
Alabama: +25,803 GWh
FLA.
Ohio: +24,026 GWh
ALASKA
HAWAII New Jersey: +23,074 GWh
Change in net power generation between 2009 and 2016 (TWh)

Little to 20 to 10 10 to 0 0 to 10 10 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 40
no change

WASH. NON-HYDRO RENEWABLES

MONT.
N.D.
MAINE
States with the greatest change
VT.
ORE. MINN. N.H.

IDAHO S.D. WIS. N.Y. MASS. Texas: +38,641 GWh

MICH. CONN. R.I.
WYO.

IOWA PA.
N.J. California: +25,370 GWh
NEV.
NEB.

ILL. IND.
OHIO
MD.
DEL.
Oklahoma: +16,846 GWh
UTAH

COLO.
KAN.
MO.
W.VA.
VA. Iowa: +12,663 GWh
KY.
CALIF.
N.C.
Kansas: +11,315 GWh
TENN.
ARIZ.
N.M.
OKLA.
ARK. S.C. Illinois: +7,725 GWh
ALA. GA.
Colorado: +6,791 GWh
MISS.

TEXAS
LA. Minnesota: +5,627 GWh
FLA. N. Dakota: +5,082 GWh
ALASKA
HAWAII Nevada: +4,876 GWh

Change in net power generation between 2009 and 2016 (TWh)

Little to 0 to 0.5 0.5 to 1 1 to 5 5 to 10 10 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 40

no change

10 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
but also protections so that existing assets get a fair deal and
are treated in a fair way. EURELECTRIC is working with European
governments to help recalibrate the power market and make it
work better than it does today, he said. One of the things were
looking at is basically to make sure that the services provided by
conventional generation assets are valued in the market.
Ruby specifically urged more European support for hydro-
power, which he said was an attractive source of energy for
the energy transition owing to its cost-effectiveness,flexibility,
and storage capacity. He called attention to the potential for
improving the efficiency of Europes existing hydropower fleet,
and exploiting the continents resources via new large- and
small-scale installations.
But because it was one of the first technologies to produce
power, and its expansion happened in waves throughout the 20th
century,it is generally seen as an older source of conventional
power generation, Ruby said. I think its not unfair to say that
people may have forgotten a bit about it.

Geothermal Drilling in Iceland Reaches

Supercritical Target
A unique collaborative effort by a consortium of Icelandic power
companies and the Icelandic government to determine whether
using supercritical geothermal fluids would improve the econom-
ics of power production from geothermal fields reached an un-
precedented milestone at the end of January: After drilling for
168 days, a team reached a depth of 4,659 metersdeep enough SOME THINK
to reach supercritical conditions.
When it first got its start around 2003, the Iceland Deep LONG-DISTANCE
Drilling Project (IDDP) was armed with only a feasibility study
suggesting that compared to relative output from conventional TRANSPORT IS
geothermal wells (which are about 2.5 kilometers [km] deep),
the use of fluid produced from reservoirs hotter than 450C could INFRASTRUCTURE-
increase power output tenfold. In 2009, the first borehole in a
series of wells in Krafla, northeast Icelanda project dubbed INTENSIVE.
IDDP-1unexpectedly penetrated into magma of between
900C and 1,000C, at a depth of only 2,100 meters (m). It was WE THINK
only the second time anyone in the world had drilled into mag-
mathe first instance was in Hawaii in 2007and the IDDP was
elated by its achievement.
DIFFERENT.
The IDDPwhich includes HS Orka, Reykjavik Energy, Icelands Transporting materials from remote locations has
National Power Co., and the National Energy Authority of Ice- traditionally required signicant infrastructure invest-
landpumped cold water into the hole to fracture rock near the ments in road or rail links, vehicles, personnel and fuel.
magma and create high permeability. Eventually, high-pressure
BEUMER offers an economical, efficient and environmental
steam at temperatures of more than 450C, a measured output
alternative long-distance overland conveying. This gives
that was sufficient for 35 MWe, was allowed to flow out of the
you a dedicated, around-the-clock transport link at the
hole for two years. IDDP-1 was widely lauded because it rep-
fraction of the cost of infrastructure development. The
resented a unique engineered geothermal system that was the
worlds first to supply heat directly from molten magma (for more, reduced noise and air pollution minimises environmental
see Developing the Worlds First Magma-Enhanced Geothermal impact and improves personnel safety. Add to that a high
System in POWERs March 2014 issue). degree of design exibility and customisation and you can
In July 2012, however, repair of surface installations became see why overland conveying makes a big difference to
unavoidable, and the well had to be quenched owing to the operational efficiency and environmental protection.
failure of master valves. According to the IDDP, this ultimately For more information, visit www.beumergroup.com
caused the collapse of the well casing. But while IDDP abandoned
that project, the Krafla project isnt entirely dead. This March,
more than 30 magma and geothermal scientists from 11 countries
convened for a three-day meeting in Paris to work out plans for
the new $100 million Krafla Magma Testbed project, which could
ultimately see another 2.1-km-deep hole drilled into the magma
chamber. And this June, the International Continental Scientific
Drilling Programme plans to pour in $5.5 million to kick start

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 11

2. A deep investigation. A consortium of Icelandic power companies and the Icelandic
government in January drilled a geothermal well that is 4,659 meters deepdeep enough to
reach fluids at supercritical conditionsat the Reykjanes geothermal field, which is a region char-
acterized by high volcanic activity and submarine hot springs. Courtesy: DEEPGS Geothermal
the project, which it says could present a
prime opportunity to investigate magma
properties in-situ.
The IDDP, meanwhile, has switched
gears and pushed on with its own mission,
choosing to explore Reykjanes (Figure 2)
near the southern tip of the Reykjanes
Peninsula, the second of three geothermal
fields it had initially deemed suitable in
its search for supercritical resources (the
third is Hellisheidi in southwest Iceland).
HS Orka, a power generator that operates
and sells power from the 75-MW Svartsen-
gi and 100-MW Reykjanesvirkjun goether-
mal power plants, led drilling at Reykjanes
in close collaboration with IDDP partners
Landsvirkjun, Orkuveita Reykjavkur, the
National Energy Authority, and Norwegian
oil and gas firm Statoil.
HS Orkas Reykjanesvirkjun geother-
mal plant sits in the Reykjanes geother-
mal field, which is a unique field among
Icelandic geothermal systems because its
reservoir fluid is modified seawater and it
uses seawater to cool its steam condens-
ers. IDDP-2 took advantage of an exist-
ing 2,500-m-deep production well for the
plant and deepened it over several months
to 4,659 m, though it was cased only to a
depth of 3,000 m.
The team encountered a number of
hurdles as drilling progressed, including
weather delays and issues with hole sta-
bility that required frequent reaming. It
was also forced to pause again and again
as the drilling assembly got stuck several
12
times. While those issues were ultimately
resolved, the teams biggest roadblock
emerged when it completely lost circula-
tion below 3,060 m. As cementing was
not successful, below 3180 m, drilling
continued without any return of drill cut-
tings to the surface, IDDP said.
On January 25, it reached its record
depth of 4,659 m, and IDDP declared
that all initial targets were reached.
Its goals, it said, were to drill deep to
extract drill cores, measure the tempera-
ture, and search for permeability. The
temperature at the bottom of the well
has already been measured at 427C, with
fluid pressure of 340 bars, drill cores
were retrieved, and the rocks appear to
be permeable at depth, it added. Its
clear that the bottom of the well reached
fluids at supercritical conditionsso that
the main drilling phase objective of the
project has been achieved.
The consortium recognizes the vast im-
plications of its achievement. In [the]
future, our demonstration that it is possi-
ble to drill into a supercritical zone could
have a large impact on the economics of
high-temperature geothermal resources
worldwide, it said. The project also sug-
gests that development of supercritical
geothermal resources could be possible
in any young volcanic-hosted geothermal
system worldwide, such as at Kakkonda in
Japan, Larderello in Italy, Los Humeros in
Mexico, and The Geysers and Salton Sea
in the U.S.
www.powermag.com
By extending the available economic
reservoir downwards, we can extend the
lifetimes of existing producing fields, it
added. Also, fewer turbines may be re-
quired for a given power output as higher
enthalpy fluids have greater power con-
version efficiencies. And, as fewer wells
are needed for a given output, this could
technically increase the productivity of
a geothermal field without increasing its
environmental footprint, it noted.
For now, at least, the IDDP will focus its
efforts on the IDDP-3 project at Hellishei-
di, where work is slated to begin in 2020,
as soon as the IDDP secures funding.
SCE, GE Debut Battery-
Gas Turbine Hybrid
System
Southern California Edison (SCE) put on-
line the worlds first batterygas turbine
hybrid system on March 30 in Norwalk,
Calif., pioneering a new direction in the
way power could be generated and stored.
The LM6000 Hybrid Electric Gas Tur-
bine (Hybrid EGT, Figure 3) integrates
a 10-MW/4.3-MWh lithium-ion battery
energy storage system supplied by GEs
energy technology arm Current and an
existing 50-MW GE LM6000 aeroderivative
gas turbine. The turbine is essentially a
ground-based version of GEs popular CF6
jet enginethe same engine that pow-
ers many Boeing 747s, including Air Force
One, GE noted.
3. Peaker battery. The first of two hy-
brid electric gas turbines started operations
at Southern California Edisons (SCEs) Center
Peaker Plant in Norwalk, Calif., this March.
The system combines a 10-MW/4.3-MWh
battery system with a 50-MW GE LM6000
aeroderivative gas turbine. A similar system is
also under development in Rancho Cucamon-
ga. Courtesy: GE/SCE/Businesswire
|
POWER June 2017
 However, according to GE, the heart pacity surged 161 GW in 2016, marking its notes that Africas renewable installations
of the Hybrid EGT is the groundbreaking strongest year ever for new capacity addi- doubled during 2016 compared to 2015,
control system, which seamlessly blends tions, the International Renewable Energy growing 4.1 GW.
output between the battery and the gas Agency (IRENA) said in a new report re- The report also shows that solar led re-
turbine. The batterys storage capacity leased at the end of March. newable capacity growth, increasing by a
has been designed to provide enough time IRENAs Renewable Energy Capacity record 71 GW in 2016, outpacing wind en-
coverage to allow the gas turbine to start Statistics 2017 suggests that the surge ergy, which spurted by 51 GW. Almost half
and reach its designated power output, was spearheaded by countries in Asia, of the new solar capacity was installed in
GE said. It essentially allows SCE to oper- which accounted for 58% of new renew- China (34 GW). The U.S. added 11 GW, Ja-
ate the turbine in standby mode without able additions in 2016. Asian countries pan increased its capacity by 8 GW, and
using fuel or water, allowing operators to now host 41% or 812 GW of total installed India by 4 GW. Europe also boosted its
dispatch power the second demand surg- global renewable capacity. The report also capacity by 5 GW, mostly all in Germany
es, and enabling an immediate response
to changing energy dispatch needs.
GE and SCE developed the system in col-
laboration with construction firm Wellhead
Power Solutions as a response to the cata-
Hawkeye
Videoscopes
strophic natural gas leak at the massive
Aliso Canyon gas storage facility above
Fast, Reliable, Affordable, Visual Inspection!
the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles in
the fall of 2015. The gas leak left regional
gas-fired generators in a lurch, but rather
than reestablishing gas supplies, the Cali-
fornia Public Utilities Commission in May
2016 expedited the approval of around
100 MW of battery storage in SCE and San
Diego Electric and Gas territories. By the
end of February, most of these contracted
projects had come online, many of which 90 Prism &
were large four-hour systems (for more, Close-Focus
see Battery Storage Goes Mainstream, in tips available!
POWERs May 2017 issue). Sharp, Clear Photos & Video
While the companies announced the Large 5-inch LCD Monitor
first Hybrid EGT project in October 2016,
it was up and running about six months Easy-to-Use Controls
later. We worked with SCE to address a
Annotation Feature
very specific need, but this solution has
applications that go far beyond, noted Rugged Tungsten Sheathing
Paul McElhinney, president and CEO for
GEs Power Services, in April. Interest in
Quality Construction
the project has especially surged in Cali- Precise 4-Way Articulation
fornia, which wants to use renewables for
half of its power consumption by 2030. Starting at only $8,995
SCE President Ron Nichols said that the
solution would provide stellar environ- VIDEO BORESCOPES In stock, ready for overnight delivery!
mental benefits and greater integration Hawkeye V2 Video Borescopes are fully
of renewables. Think of this as a big ver-
portable, finely constructed, and deliver clear,
sion of a plug-in hybrid, he said on April
17 during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. bright high resolution photos and video! The 5
If we dont have to drive very far, we LCD monitor allows comfortable viewing, and
dont have to use gas. If we need to go intuitive, easy-to-use controls provide photo and
further, the gas engine is there to meet Quickly inspect cooling
our needs. It provides ready power to meet tubes inside heat exchangers,
video capture at the touch of a button! V2s have
expected and sometimes unexpected en- turbineblades, and much more! a wide, 4-way articulation range, and are small,
ergy needs. SCE is now looking to add lightweight, and priced starting at only $8995.
Hybrid EGTs at three other existing peaker V2s are available in both 4 and 6 mm diameters.
plants, he said.
TRY
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|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 13

4. A gust for wind. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)
forecasts that wind capacity worldwide is set to grow exponentially
over the next five years despite competition with solar, fueled by more
interest from corporate buyers and a decline in offshore wind prices.
Courtesy: GWEC, Global Wind 2016 Report
and the UK.
Wind capacity increases of 51 GW were led by China (19 GW),
the U.S. (9 GW), Germany (5 GW), and India (4 GW). According
to a separate report released by the Global Wind Energy Council
(GWEC) on April 27 (which suggests wind capacity grew by 54
GW) wind power penetration has also recently surged. Denmark,
GWEC said, is pushing 40%, followed by Uruguay, Portugal, and
Ireland, which all have wind penetration levels exceeding 20%,
and then Spain and Cyprus at 20%. GWEC forecasts that more
than 60 GW of new wind installations will be added in 2017 and
world cumulative capacity could top 800 GW by 2021a nearly
70% increase compared to the 486.8 GW installed worldwide at
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14
the end of 2016 (Figure 4).
IRENA said that hydro capacity increased by 30 GW, driven
by Brazil and China, though it also noted substantial capacity
increases in Canada, Ecuador, Ethiopia, and India. Meanwhile,
bioenergy increased by 9 GWalso marking its best year ever for
growthled by Asian countries. Geothermal capacity also saw
growth of just under 1 GW. Last year, Kenya added 485 MW, Turkey
150 MW, Indonesia 95 MW, and Italy 55 MW.
Validation Wraps Up for GE, Ansaldo Gas
Turbines
In May, GEs Power Services and Ansaldo Energia separately com-
pleted initial validation of two gas turbines designed for high
efficiency and flexibility: the 9EMax and the GT36. GE also an-
nounced first fire of an advanced F-class gas turbine.
GE Puts 9E Upgrade on the Market. GE Power on May 4 said
it completed initial validation of its 9EMax gas turbine upgrade
and has made the solution commercially available to 9E gas tur-
bine customers. The new four-stage 9E gas turbine can operate
at partial loads, making it ideal for power producers looking to
add renewables to their power mix, GE said. It also includes sev-
eral digital solutions to improve operational reliability, improve
combustion operations, and manage emissions. The solution in-
creases turbine output to up to 145 MW in simple-cycle operation
and up to 210 MW in combined-cycle operation. It includes a
flange-to-flange solution to revitalize mature plants and can
boost efficiency about 4% with respect to the previous 9E.03
turbine module.
GE Powers effort to upgrade the 9E platform, one of its most
popular 50-Hz turbines, was based on consultation with 11 cus-
5. Company crowdsourcing. Development of the 9EMax gas
turbine took just three years under GEs FastWork process, where en-
gineering groups around the world worked on upgrade goals in paral-
lel, rather than waiting on one another to complete each stage, GEs
Power Services said. The global nature of GEs team also allowed them
to work around the clock, passing jobs from one time zone to the next.
Courtesy: GE Power/GE Reports
www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
A new generation is born
New products.
New technologies.
New service capabilities.
Ansaldo Energia: a global player
in the power generation market.

www.ansaldoenergia.com

6. A new turbine is born. Ansaldo Energia in May completed initial validation for its
GT36 gas turbine at a test plant in Switzerland. This rendering shows the GT36-S5, a 50-Hz
scaled version. Courtesy: Anasaldo
tomers that expressed a variety of desires.
Some asked for a turbine with more gen-
eration power, some wanted efficiency,
and others wanted a model that could be
directly swapped out for the earlier tur-
bine module, the 9E.03. GE noted that
development of the 9EMax, which is part
of its Fleet360* platform of total plant
solutions, was completed by the concur-
rent engineering (Figure 5) of a team of
300 employees around the world, includ-
ing engineers in the U.S., Poland, India,
and France, ultimately reducing time to
complete the new turbine development
project from four years to three years.
The validation test took place at an
installed unit at an unnamed utility cus-
tomers site in Asia. We completed the
first fire milestone with the unit success-
fully reaching full speed at no load, and it
proved to deliver significantly more power
and efficiency compared to current 9E gas
turbine operations, said Eric Gray, general
manager of Gas Plant Solutions for GEs
Power Services.
First Fire for a New F-Class Model.
GE on May 8 also celebrated first fire of a
60-Hz 6F.01 gas turbine at the Huaneng
Guilin Distributed Energy Project in the
city of Guilin, Guangxi province, China.
The project owned by China Huaneng
Group features an innovative combined
cooling, heating, and power configura-
tion that will be fueled by natural gas
upon completion. The plant uses three
6F.01 gas turbine units, which can achieve
a fuel efficiency of 81.15% and a total in-
stalled capacity of 210 MW, GE said.
GE added that the turbines can deliver a
rapid startup, synchronizing to grid within
as little as eight minutes, achieving to full
load in less than 30 minutes. Gas distribu-
16
tion energy projects are also capable of
generating peak power on demand, allow-
ing for shifting loads for gas and power
supply, it said.
Ansaldo Marks Milestone for GT26.
On May 5, Ansaldo Energia, a company
45% owned by the Italian state-owned
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group and 40%
by Shanghai Electric, announced it had
successfully completed the first phase
of a comprehensive validation program
of its GT36 gas turbine at the Birr Test
Power Plant in Switzerland. Power from
the full-scale simple cycle power plant
completed in 2016 is dispatched to the
Swiss power grid.
Ansaldo said the tests, which included
stress testing of the two stages of the
sequential combustion system, part- and
full-load mapping, transient operation,
and performance testing, fully confirm the
high performance, low emissions over the
entire load range, and resulting very wide
operation window of this engine. The test
results reported for the GT36-S6 (60-Hz
rating) confirmed power output above 340
MW at 41% efficiency, Ansaldo said. In
combined cycle this corresponds to per-
formance exceeding 500 MW at 61.3% net
efficiency in ISO conditions and 720 MW
at 61.5% efficiency for the GT36-S5 (the
50-Hz scaled version), it said (Figure 6).
POWER Digest
India Joins IEA as an Association Coun-
try. India joined the International Energy
Agency (IEA) as an association country
on March 30, marking a significant move
for the country into global energy affairs.
The IEA said in a statement that the
country is emerging as a major driving
www.powermag.com
force in global energy trends, with all
modern fuels and technologies playing a
part. The Indian government said in a
separate statement that it would richly
gain from the IEAs data gathering pro-
cesses, survey methodologies, and range
of energy data, which could enable India
in the near future to set up its own ro-
bust integrated database agency. Asso-
ciation countries arent IEA members. The
organizations membership is comprised
by 29 countries, all of which are part of
the 35-nation Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development. However,
the IEA works with a number of major
energy-consuming nations. Other IEA as-
sociation countries are China, Indonesia,
Thailand, Singapore, and Morocco. With
India as its newest association country,
the IEA said its operations now account
for about 70% of the worlds total energy.
Siemens to New Build Cogeneration
Plant in Berlin. Siemens received an or-
der to build a new natural gasfired com-
bined cycle power plant with district heat
extraction in the Marzahn district of Ber-
lin from Vattenfall Europe Wrme AG, the
company said on May 3. The 260-MW plant
is scheduled to begin operations in 2020.
Siemens scope of supply includes the ma-
jor componentsthe gas turbine, steam
turbine, and two electrical generatorsall
to be fabricated at Siemens manufactur-
ing plants in Berlin, Grlitz, and Erfurt,
Germany. It will also supply the heat re-
covery steam generator. The unit is to be
erected in a multi-shaft configuration and
will achieve a fuel efficiency rating of ap-
proximately 90%. Siemens will also sign a
long-term service agreement covering the
gas turbine generator set.
Indonesian Court Revokes Permit
for Coal Plant in West Java. Objections
from local villagers on April 19 prompted
an Indonesian regional court in Bandung,
West Java, to revoke an environmental
permit for a 1-GW expansion of the 660-
MW Cirebon coal-fired power plant (Cire-
bon 2) backed by Japanese firm Marubeni
and the Japan Bank for International Co-
operation (JBIC). The administrative court
case was filed in December 2016 by
six plaintiffs, including environmental
groups, which argued that the West Java
government inappropriately issued the
permit because it lacked an amendment to
a spatial plan and did not engage with the
community in the environmental impact
assessment process. The JBIC reportedly
led a coalition of banks that signed a loan
agreement to provide $1.74 billion for the
Cirebon expansion. While the decision may
still be appealed, the Cirebon 2 plant was
|
POWER June 2017
slated to begin operation in 2020 as an ultrasupercritical unit de-
veloped by PT Cirebon Energi Prasarana. Marubeni in May 2016
also entered into a memorandum of understanding with Korea
Midland Power, Samtan, and PT Indika Energy Internasional,
to build Cirebon 3, another 1-GW ultrasupercritical plant at the
site in Cirebon.
Indias BHEL Ramps Up Capacity Additions. Indias Bharat
Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) in late March commissioned the
second 250-MW unit based on circulating fluidized bed com- Experts in Heat Exchange since 1920
bustion technology at Bhavnagar Energy Co.s thermal power
project in Gujarat. Like the first unit, which was completed in
May 2016, the second unit uses lignite as its primary fuel. On
April 12, meanwhile, BHEL kicked off commercial operation of
YOU GENERATE
the second 800-MW supercritical unit at the two-unit Yeramarus
Thermal Power Station owned by Raichur Power Corp. in Karna- ENERGY
taka. BHEL commissioned the first 800-MW unit in late March.
BHEL said in an April 5 statement that these projectsalong WE MAKE SURE
with several othersare part of a renewed thrust on accelerated
project execution. The company said that it achieved capacity IT HAPPENS
additions of 45,274 MW of utility sets during the 12th five-year
plan (20122017), comprising 46% of all capacity additions dur- EFFICIENTLY
ing that period. Last year alone, BHEL installed 6,317 MW in the
utility segmentwhich is nearly four times of the next highest Urbanization, the scarcity of resources, and
achievement by any other manufacturer, it noted. climate change present major challenges
Irish CAES Project Gets EU Grant. Irish renewable energy
and energy storage group Gaelectric will get a 90 million grant when it comes to even greater efficiency in
from the European Union (EU) to develop the 330-MW Larne com- generating energy. Kelvion is the experienced
pressed air energy storage (CAES) project near Larne in Northern partner at your side for all heat exchange-
Ireland. The project in 2013 won designation as a European Proj-
related processes in both conventional and
ect of Common Interest under the EUs program to promote trans-
boundary energy infrastructure. It will store energy in the form alternative energy systems with outstanding
of compressed air in specially engineered caverns created within reliability, availability, and an unyielding pur-
geological salt deposits that are unique to the east Antrim coast suit to cut your life-cycle costs to the core.
on the island of Ireland, in other locations in the UK, and on the
European mainland. The project received 15 million in EU grants www.kelvion.com
in 2015 and 2016 for the environmental impact assessment and
planning activities, as well as front end engineering design.
ABB Wins Orders for HVDC Technology in DRC, UK,
and France. ABB won two orders for high-voltage direct cur- Meet the Experts in
rent (HVDC) lines during April and May. On May 4, it won an Heat Exchange:
order worth more than $30 million from Socit nationale Power-Gen Europe,
dlectricit (SNEL), the national electricity company of the Booth: J28
June 27 29, 2017
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for a partial upgrade of
the Inga-Kolwezi HVDC power transmission link to increase its
transmission capacity from 520 MW to 1,000 MW. Refurbishment
of the line, which ABB built in 1982 and upgraded with new
thyristor valves, high-voltage apparatus, and its MACH control
and protection system in 2009, will transmit power from the Inga
hydropower station on the Congo River to the mining district of
Katanga in the south-east of the country. The upgraded 1,700-ki-
lometer link will also export excess power from the plant to power
strapped Southern African Power Pool countries. The contract is
part of the FRIPT project financed by Glencore and managed by
Congo Energy, a subsidiary of Forrest Group International.
On April 7, ABB also won a $295 million order from UK grid Wherever low investment, operat-
operator National Grid and Rseau de Transport dElectricit ing, and maintenance costs are
key, the new plate generation of
(RTE), the French network owner and operator, to provide two the NT series always proves its
HVDC converter stations to a line that will interconnect the worth and thats just one of the
French and UK grids. The 1,000-MW subsea link will run from product solutions Kelvion offers
Chilling, Hampshire, on the southern coast of England to Tourbe the energy market!
in northern France, covering a distance of 240 km across the
English Channel.
Sonal Patel is a POWER associate editor

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 17
Youre Never Fully Dressed
without Flame-Resistant 1. Dressed for success. Wearing properly rated flame-resistant clothing and other ap-
propriate personal protective equipment is a must for workers in the power generation industry.
Clothing Courtesy: Workrite Uniform Co.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is

inconvenient and uncomfortable, and this
will only take a second. Besides, Ive done
this before, and its been fine every time.
Will skipping PPE once really hurt?
These thoughts arent uncommon, but
they can be incredibly dangerous. Accord-
ing to the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), approximately
444 serious injuries and 74 fatalities oc-
cur each year among people performing
work involving electric power generation,
transmission, and distribution. However,
wearing the proper PPE, such as arc-rat-
ed/flame-resistant (FR) clothing (Figure
1), can go a long way toward improving
safety.

Lesson Learned
A power generation plant worker named
Brian experienced the difference FR cloth-
ing can make firsthand. Brian was working
on a 480-V motor control center bucket
and his screwdriver slipped, ultimately
causing an arc flash. He was not wearing
gloves, and although he was wearing an
arc-rated shirt, the sleeves were rolled up.
When the arc flash occurred, Brian suf-
fered burn injuries to the uncovered parts
of his hands and arms, but the areas of
his arms that were protected by the shirt
remained uninjured.
As a result of the accident, Brian was
hospitalized for three days and out of work
for three months. He now shares his story
with other electrical workers to spread the
message that accidents can happen to
anyone and to emphasize the importance
of wearing the proper PPE.
Regulations and Standards Safe-
guard Workers
A variety of standards require the use of
protective clothing during electrical work.
For instance, OSHA 1910.132 requires em-
ployers to assess the workplace for hazards
and ensure each affected employee wears
the appropriate PPE. OSHA 1910.269 pro-
vides additional regulations that apply to
those operating and maintaining electric
power generation, transmission, and dis-
tribution lines and equipment. It requires
employers to ensure that employees who
may be exposed to flames or electric arcs
do not wear clothing that could increase
the extent of injury. It goes on to state
the employer shall ensure that the outer
layer of clothing worn by an employee,
with some exceptions, is flame resistant
under various conditions.
In addition to those OSHA rules, the
National Electrical Safety Code and the
National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety
in the Workplace provide guidance on the
specific types of PPE and arc ratings that
are necessary for various environments
and arc-flash energy exposure levels. The
NFPA 70E standard also outlines four PPE
categories based on the circumstances
and level of protection needed. These PPE
requirements take into account the task
being performed as well as the condition
and type of equipment being used (Figure
2). Meanwhile, NFPA 2112 specifies the
minimum performance requirements for
flame-resistant fabrics and components,
as well as the garment design require-
ments for protective apparel used in envi-
ronments with a risk of flash fire.
When electrical workers choose to forgo
FR clothing, it is not only dangerous, but
also potentially costly for their workplac-
es. That is because OSHA fines, general
liability costs, lost productivity, workers
compensation, reputational damage, and
other losses a burn injury inflicts, can cost
companies millions of dollars.
Choosing the Right
Flame-Resistant Clothing
While safe work practices should always
be considered the first line of defense, FR
clothing can help reduce burn injuries by
providing some insulation against heat,
and either self-extinguishing or resisting
ignition when exposed to flame or electric
arc. However, despite these benefits, FR
clothing is not always worn compliantly.
There are a variety of reasons workers
may choose not to wear FR clothing or
wear it incorrectly, such as rolling up the
sleeves of an FR shirt. These reasons range

18 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017

2. Style and safety. Following require-
ments prescribed in various standards and
regulations helps keep workers safe and can
save companies money. Courtesy: Workrite
Uniform Co.
from not understanding the importance of
PPE to discomfort or disliking the appear-
ance of the clothing. Fortunately, if a per-
son knows what to look for, it is possible
to find FR clothing that addresses many of
the most common complaints.
For instance, a variety of recent inno-
vations in FR fabrics and manufacturing
techniques are making FR apparel more
comfortable than ever. For the greatest
possible comfort, fabrics that are light-
weight (while still offering the appropri-
ate level of protection), breathable, and
built for improved moisture management
should be chosen.
In addition to choosing comfortable
fabrics, workers should look for garment
styles that provide a good fit and support
job performance (Figure 3). For instance,
action backs on coveralls offer more ease
of movement, and extra-long shirttails can
help ensure shirts stay tucked in during
tasks that involve reaching and bending.
Additionally, adjustable cuffs can prevent
loose sleeves from getting in the way
of work or compromising safety. When
it comes to pants, workers should look
for options with ample storage space in
the pockets and leg cuts that are wide
enough to fit easily over work boots.
While the aforementioned features
help improve comfort and functionality
across the board, it is also important to
keep individual differences in mind and
select FR clothing that provides the best
fit possible for each individual. For in-
stance, certain FR clothing manufacturers
now offer workwear designed specifically
to provide a more comfortable fit for
women. The styles include shirts with
vertical darts and contoured seams, as
well as pants with a lower rise and im-
proved fit through the seat, waist, and
thighs.
Regardless of gender, FR clothing
should not be too baggy or too tight,
and wearers should be able to easily bend
down and reach their arms out. In ad-
dition, shirt sleeves and pant legs that
are too long can lead to injuries from
tripping or excess fabric getting caught
on something. If stock sizes do not pro-
vide the proper fit, find an FR clothing
manufacturer that can work with you to
develop custom garments.
Along with improved comfort and func-
tionality, many FR clothing manufacturers
have also developed new styles that are
designed to imitate off-the-job favorites.
For instance, in recent years, significant

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|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 19
Conference: March 19-22, 2018 Exhibition: March 19-21, 2018
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center Nashville, TN

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SPEAKING

AT ELECTRIC POWER?
The ELECTRIC POWER program committee is looking for power industry thought leaders with business and technical
perspectives to help shape the conference.
This is your chance to submit your speaking topic for review by the committee! Abstracts are capped at 300 words,
so it should be quick and easy to share your case study with us via our easy to use online form.

Submit your presentation abstract by July 14!

Operations & Maintenance Digital Solutions and I&C Combined Heat & Power
Fossil plant cycling Automation Permitting
HRSG challenges Hand-held devices Technology advancements
Upgrades and updates Sensors in the power plant Economic benets
Predictive maintenance Analytics Fuel issues
Performance optimization Case studies
And more! Environmental Compliance
with state and federal air, water, Plant Management Best Practices
Fuel Technology Advancements and coal residuals Finance/budget building
Across gas, coal, nuclear Strategies Internal and external
& renewables Technologies communication skills
Latest in gas turbine technology Case studies Regulatory issues
Utility-scale energy storage Vendor relations and negotiations
Workforce Management
SMRs Career path planning
And beyond! Safety
Performance
Stafng
Knowledge retention and transfer
And more!

If sharing your experience, insight and expertise in power

generation is the opportunity youve been looking for, submit your
abstract online at www.electricpowerexpo.com by July 14!

www.electricpowerexpo.com 30093

3. Sharp-dressed man. Long-sleeved
shirts and leather gloves are appropriate safe-
ty gear throughout power plant environments.
Courtesy: Workrite Uniform Co.
strides have been made in the area
of FR denim. A variety of FR denim op-
tions are now available, offering the look
and feel workers have always appreciated
about a good pair of jeanswithout sac-
rificing safety. Beyond these advances in
FR denim, FR clothing manufacturers are
continuously creating a variety of other
new shirt, pant, and outerwear styles to
bring current apparel trends and prefer-
ences to the FR workwear market.
If workers like the way their FR cloth-
ing looks, fits, and feels, they are more
likely to wear it consistently and cor-
rectly. And since PPE is the last line
of defense against painful, potentially
costly injuriesand can even be the
difference between life and deathit is
worth investing in options that deliver
the protection workers need along with
the comfort, functionality, and style they
want.
Mark Saner is FR technical manager
for Workrite Uniform Co. (www.workrite.
com).
|
June 2017 POWER
PID Loop Tuning Pocket Guide
Released
Please visit us:
Proportional-integral-derivative (PID)
Valve World Americas
control is one of the most common types
Houston, June 20 - 21
of automatic control used in the power
Stand 1022
industry. A PID controller continuously
calculates an error value as the differ-
ence between a measured process vari-
able and a desired setpoint.
By tuning three parameters, a PID
controller can deal with specific process
requirements. The proportional term re-
fers to the amount added to the output
based on the current error, the integral
term refers to the amount added to the
output based on the sum of the error, and
the derivative term refers to the amount
subtracted from the output based on the
rate of change of the error.
Even though it has a relatively simple
algorithm, there are many subtle varia-
tions in how the structure is applied in
the industry. This has probably resulted
in confusion for plant engineers and op-
erators, who are often happy to leave
control loops in a suboptimal configura-
tion rather than spend time improving
the process. The mentality can be, Lets
FLEXIBILITY
leave well-enough alone.
According to ControlSoft Inc.a FIRST
provider of advanced process control,
performance monitoring, and process
diagnostic toolsabout 80% of control Electric actuators for all types
loops in plants today are not optimally of industrial valves
tuned. The company says it finds around Reliable and long-term service.
25% of control loops have factory-default AUMA offers a comprehensive
settings in place and some 65% have less
variation in manual mode than they do in actuator portfolio.
automatic. Customised solutions for all
However, there are some relatively types of power plants: from
easy ways to improve the situation. Con- CHP to large-scale power
trolSoft recently released an updated PID
plants
loop tuning pocket guide. The twelve-
page pamphlet includes a short, easy- Variable speed for high
to-use guide for tuning PID loops, along precision control
with updated controller references for Interfaces to all conventional
many of the more common controllers
ieldbus systems
on the market today. The pocket guide
is available for free at: bit.ly/PID-Guide. Service worldwide
Visitors are required to enter contact in-
formation prior to viewing or download-
ing the guide. Discover our solutions for
ControlSoft also markets INTUNE tun- the power plant industry
ing software to assist with PID control
www.auma.com
loop tuning. The tool is said to reduce
the time required to tune PID loops by
up to 70%. It connects to most input/
output devices and their associated con-
trollers using OPC technology. A full year
of technical support is provided with the
software purchase.
Edited by Aaron Larson,
POWERs executive editor.
www.powermag.com 21
 Offshore Wind Contract
Ben Lamble Rebecca Williams
Conundrum Heads to
Supreme Court
he English Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal on the
T long-running dispute in connection with the Robin Rigg
Offshore Wind Farm. The decision promises to be significant
for the offshore wind industry, its financiers, insurers, and service
providers.
At issue is whether E.ON (the employer) or Hjgaard (the con-
tractor) must bear the approximate 26 million cost of remedy-
ing failed grouted connections between monopiles and transition
pieces at Robin Rigg.
Where Does the Fault Lie?
The failures arose because E.ON and Hjgaard agreed that the
design of the foundations should be based on the J101 interna-
tional standard, produced by the independent classification and
certification agency DNV in 2004 for the then fledgling industry.
Although J101 had been demonstrated as viable by use in the
Danish Horns Rev 1 Offshore Wind Farm, as well as in tests con-
ducted by the University of Aalborg, those tests assumed that the
grouted connection between the monopile and transition piece
had sufficient axial load capacity to bear the weight of the tower
and turbines above it.
In 2009, DNV announced that the equations used in J101 had
substantially over-estimated the axial load capacity of the grout-
ed connections. In 2010, the connections at Robin Rigg began to
fail and the transition pieces started to slip down the monopiles.
E.ON argued (on a number of grounds) that, even if J101 had
been correct, Hjgaard had not complied with it. However, one
of those grounds was rejected by the High Court and was not ap-
pealed, while two others were accepted by the Court of Appeal
but with the result that E.ON was held to have suffered no loss
and could only recover nominal damages. Ultimately, the central
issue for determination was distilled as follows: Had Hjgaard
warranted only that it would comply with J101, or, had it taken
on the risk that J101 might be wrong by warranting a specific
outcome, which was that the foundations would achieve a service
life of 20 years or more?
The allocation of risk for an error in underlying design stan-
dards, which the High Court found was neither the fault of E.ON
nor Hjgaard, was bound to produce a harsh result. In the mean-
time, that result could significantly affect the terms of future
deals, the risk assessment of existing deals, as well as insurance
premiums and finance packages available in the offshore wind
sector.
The Fine Print
As is typical in offshore wind contracts, the contract between
E.ON and Hjgaard was detailed and lengthy. It comprised
22 www.powermag.com
nine parts, ranked in order of precedence. Some parts required
Hjgaard to follow J101, other parts required it to design the
foundations for a minimum design life of 20 years, whilst others
still required it to design the foundations to ensure a service life
of 20 years. The obligation to ensure a service life of 20 years was
set out in the technical requirements, which were relatively low
in the order of precedence.
The High Court saw the technical requirements as additional
to, but not inconsistent with, Hjgaards obligations in the other
parts of the contract. It therefore found in favor of E.ON, holding
that Hjgaard was required to provide foundations with a service
life of 20 years, which it had failed to do and would have failed
to do even if it had followed J101 to the letter.
The Court of Appeal, however, took a different view. It held
that a contract could impose a double obligation upon a contrac-
tor, such as to comply with a certain design specification and
also to achieve a specific end result (for example, a service life of
20 years), if that contract was drafted sufficiently clearly. How-
ever, the E.ON and Hjgaard contract did not fall into that cat-
egory and was therefore considered to be internally inconsistent.
The Court of Appeal resolved the inconsistency by checking
the rival interpretations of the contract and investigating their
commercial consequences. This led the court to conclude that
it should not be led astray by the inconsistency. The primary
terms of the contract were directed towards only providing a de-
sign life of 20 years, not to a service life, which had been tucked
away in the technical requirements section. If Hjgaard had re-
ally contracted for an absolute warranty of quality, one would
expect to see it front and center in the parties contract.
For the Court to Decide
This issue is now live before the Supreme Court, which initially
declined to hear the case, before giving E.ON permission to bring
its appeal. It is not clear why the Supreme Court had a change
of heart but, since the law concerning contractual interpreta-
tion has received judicial attention since the Court of Appeals
judgment, the Supreme Court may take the opportunity to set
out detailed rules as to how apparent inconsistencies in complex
construction contracts are to be approached, which could have
ramifications for the UK construction industry as a whole.
The upcoming judgment therefore merits close scrutiny. The
Supreme Courts decision may give parties entering into construc-
tion contracts, as well as their financiers and insurers, cause to
think again about the terms of their deals.
Rebecca Williams is a partner and Ben Lamble is a senior
associate for dispute resolution with Watson Farley & Williams in
the firms London office.
|
POWER June 2017
WHEN THE APPLICATION AND
THE OUTCOME ARE
CRITICAL
DEMAND CAT
ELECTRIC POWER

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identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS

How to Develop a Values-Based

Compliance Culture
Courtesy: GE

A lot of different methods are available to encourage compliance with company

policies and regulations, but some are more effective than others. One that has
worked well for GE and its customers inspires employee engagement and drives a
speak-up culture. When integrity-based compliance programs, such as GEs, are
successful, workers feel empowered and issues can be identified from the bottom
up, making compliance a way of life.
Joseph Suich

C
ompliancewhy do we need it? The
simple answer is that a well-executed
compliance program and do-it-right
culture can help drive business growth; re-
duce business interruption, fines, and repu-
tational damage; andperhaps surprising-
lyfacilitate an empowered and dedicated
workforce. In short, it can be a true business
advantage that should not be overlooked in
todays economy.
Getting there, however, is not easy. The
following case study explains how GE and
its Power divisionrecognized by the Ethi-
sphere Institute as one of the most ethical
companies for the past 11 yearsgot there,
and how others can too.
Compliance Strategies
Most energy companies, big and small, glob-
al or not, have compliance programs. As de-
scribed in LRNs The HOW Report, most
compliance or governance structures fall into
one of three categories. The categories are:
Organizations with command-and-con- avoid major misses or intentional wrongdo-
trol-based principles, policies, and strict
discipline
Rules-based and process-driven organiza-
tions
Values-based organizations that operate
on a set of core principles
Misses often occur when a top-down, one-
size-fits-all approach is utilized, as employ-
ees do not feel empowered to speak up, but
rather, simply follow mandates. In addition,
a program based on rules alone cannot flex to
address grey situations that do not squarely
fit within the rules, and without a strong cul-
tural net behind it, can result in major misses
if employees do not fully understand, wont
follow, or disregard the rules.
Any compliance program will have oc- ness, with approximately $26.8 billion in
casional minor misses, but these are a nor-
mal part of company growth. Program focus,
however, can never waiver in its attempt to
ing. Values- or integrity-based governance
and compliance programs generally have
the highest return on investment (ROI) for
a company (Figure 1). GE uses an integrity-
based compliance program, along with clear
rules and expectations, to drive its speak-
up compliance culture and maximize its
own Compliance ROI.
GE and GE Powers integrity-based com-
pliance program and structure drive a speak-
up culture through a very large and matrixed
organization. For perspective, GE is the
worlds largest digital industrial company
with $123.7 billion in revenue in 2016. It has
more than 300,000 employees and operations
in about 170 countries.
GE Power is GEs largest industrial busi-
revenue in 2016. Headquartered in Sche-

24 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS

1. Values lead the way. This chart, adapted from LRNs 2016 The How Report, shows
that employee loyalty, business results, corporate reputation, and customer satisfaction all ben- POWER POINTS
efit from a values-based compliance program. Courtesy: GE Power with approval from LRN
Command/control Rule-based Values-based
Key Takeaways
100% Large or small, U.S. or global, a
companys compliance culture
90%
driven by its leadersmust stay
80% consistent and expectations
must be clear
70%
A strong program must
60% flexsome aspects call for
centralization while others must
50% remain local
40%
A speak-up culture mixed
30% with a program of prevention,
detection, and response provides
20% benefits well beyond traditional
compliance and is a true business
10% advantage
0%
Employee loyalty Business results Corporate reputation Customer satisfaction
driven solely from GEs code of conduct and
nectady, New York, it has more than 55,000 structurecombined horizontal and verti- compliance principles (called The Spirit &
employees serving customers in more than calto do more with less. The Letter or S&L).
150 countries. As seen repeatedly, many companies with
Within GE Power, there are five sub-busi- Setting Expectations with excellent codes of conduct and good paper
nesses (P&Ls), each operating with its own Employees programs have triggered multimillion dollar
business strategy and model: Gas Power Sys- In addition to the right structure, GEs global fines for noncompliance. At GE, the S&L is
tems, Steam Power Systems, Nuclear, Power program is seated on a consistent expectation important, but it is how the company opera-
Services, and Power Digital Solutions. In that all employees own compliance, rather tionalizes compliance into its everyday op-
short, GE is big, and getting everyone on the than simply a designated compliance team erations, talks about it, makes the tough calls,
same page is no easy task. But it can be done, being responsible. That is one of the keys to and sets expectations in the organization
and a GE-style program could be similarly avoiding a siloed approach, which often re- (starting with its business leaders) that drive a
applied to smaller organizations. sults in misses. And this expectation is not rhythm and culture of compliance (Figure 2).
With such a large organization, the right
structure is keyget it wrong and a gap or 2. Get the message? Compliance starts with clear policies and expectations, but engag-
miss may result from structure alone. In ing employees, leveraging metrics and data analytics, sharing lessons learned, and keeping
training fresh all play a role in successful programs. Courtesy: GE Power
many cases, scale can be leveraged within
GE and GE Power, in areas such as partner
due diligence, investigations, third-party
management, training, communications,
global programs initiatives, monitoring, and
more. GE calls this a horizontal approach
to compliance, and it is similar to how base
cost is maximized via unit operational scale.
In other circumstances, however, the
structure must be localizedtied to and fo-
cused on the risks of a certain division and
its specific go-to-market strategy and busi-
ness model, or to a certain region and its
specific set of risks, such as regulatory risks
in the U.S. For example, GE has chief com-
pliance officers assigned to the five differing
GE Power P&Ls and in select regions, while
Corporate Centers of Excellence provide
training, investigations, and other horizontal
compliance services across the companys in-
dustrial divisions. In short, companies should
be ready to flex. Applying this dynamic ap-
proach, GE Power uses a hybrid compliance

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 25
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
3. It starts at the top. GE Power President and CEO Steve Bolze welcomes new employ-
ees and explains compliance expectations as part of an orientation video. Courtesy: GE Power
4. A leaders guide to integrity. GEs expectations for its leaders are simple, but ef-
fective. Courtesy: GE Power
Culture, more than any rule book or code,
will allow employees to speak up when
something seems wrong, drive compliance
ownership beyond the compliance team it-
self, and help an organization avoid the big
misses that impact financial and reputational
bottom lines. In short, culture can promote
doing the right thing.
Whats more, such a compliance cul-
ture will never get off the ground without
buy-in from organizational leaders (Fig-
ure 3). This is because employees follow
their leaders; this sounds obvious, but it is
often overlooked when rolling out a com-
pliance program. Leaders hire employees,
fire them, promote them, compensate them,
and more, so leaders are powerful forces
for employee motivation.
A leader that speaks about compliance,
but then cuts corners with the law will drive
a similar team. In contrast, a leader that sup-
ports an employee who walks away from
a third party asking for a last-minute deal
graft will resonate through the organization
(Figure 4). As we have seen in the news
26
many times, a few individuals or a small
team, acting improperly with intent, can de-
stroy years of operating profit through fines
and lost business.
Probably the best litmus test for measur-
ing a companys speak-up compliance cul-
ture is its concern-raising program. At GE,
its called Open Reporting. Employees
are strongly encouraged to raise issues, even
potential or unconfirmed issues, via the
Open Reporting program hotlines, ombuds
(about 600 GE-wide), or other channels,
such as human resources, legal, compliance,
or their manager.
Trust is key. Employees will only raise
issues if they believe action will be taken
and that there will be no retaliation for
their inquiry. Failure to do either of these
will quickly sink an open reporting pro-
gram and potentially result in a self-inflict-
ed miss that would have otherwise been
stopped or even avoided.
Keeping It Global, Keeping It Local
GEs compliance program and rhythm, as
www.powermag.com
noted, has both horizontal and vertical ele-
ments. Probably one of the best examples of
a compliance program applied horizontally
within GE Power is what the company calls
the Risk Roll Up (RRU). The RRU can be
accomplished within any organization re-
gardless of size, location, or scope. In short,
the RRU is a risk assessment done from the
bottom up, with various advantages.
How does it work? First, the training team
goes through GEs 16 compliance policies
including anti-bribery, cybersecurity, work-
ing with governments, and competition law,
from the employee code of conduct (as pre-
viously mentioned, GE calls this S&L). For
each topic, the team prepares a one-page
summary, a short two- to three-minute vid-
eo, and a one-page description of a real-life
GE or external near miss or challenge that it
wants employees to be particularly aware of
so it is not repeated. The company also trans-
lates all of its materials.
Next, training is given to GE Powers
roughly 6,100 managers on how to lead RRU
sessions. The managers pick three of the 16
compliance topics that impact their everyday
operations, schedule an RRU session, use the
slides and videos, and discuss the issues with
their employees. In this way, the manager be-
comes the face and message of compliance
for the company, rather than the compliance
team itself.
The manager will answer all questions
he or she feels comfortable answering from
team members. Questions can be forwarded
to subject matter experts (SMEs), if neces-
sary. The SME will respond back to the em-
ployee and manager with the correct answer
or recommended action. Because of employ-
ee recommendations from GE Powers 2016
RRU, managers can now certify their ses-
sions via the GE Power mobile compliance
app (Figure 5).
After the RRU team meeting, the man-
ager will meet with his or her manager, and
that manager will meet with his or her man-
ager, and so on, until the entire division rolls
up the major themes and concerns to the GE
Power division CEOs. By using this bottom-
up approach, employees often identify con-
cerns that are different than were previously
perceived, and even some that may not have
previously been realized, that is, the un-
known, unknowns.
The five GE Power division CEOs and
their staffs then report to GE Powers leader,
President and CEO Steve Bolze, on the major
compliance concerns flagged by employees
and the steps proposed to remedy the prob-
lems. Major compliance issues identified by
employees are then relayed back to workers,
along with an action plan, to show employees
that their input matters (Figure 6). Change
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 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
5. Smart phone, smart compli-
ance. GE Powers mobile compliance app
allows managers to certify their Risk Roll Up
(RRU) sessions and provides on-the-go com-
pliance support. Courtesy: GE Power
happens based on their input.
This process is applied globally. In 2016,
GE Power rolled up about 37,000 employees
with 99% target population participation.
That is an example where, despite differing
regions, states, countries, or business mod-
els, the program works horizontally, drives
the culture, and identifies issues not previ-
ously spotted via the other numerous compli-
ance rhythms and programs. The RRU allows
GE to have a simple, practical, and effective
compliance culture, led by its leadership
team, driven by the managers and employees,
and facilitated by the compliance team.
There are other examples, however, where
it pays to stay local. As part of its overall
compliance rhythm, GE holds regional com-
pliance operating reviews, or CORs. CORs
are unique to each region. The CORs involve
all GE businesses in the regionGE Avia-
tion, GE Power, GE Healthcare, etcetera.
Business leaders from each GE division
in the region are invited to attend and par-
ticipate in a variety of region-specific com-
pliance topics. Attendance is limited and all
invited must participate.
The COR topics are selected by the re-
gional compliance team, but the sessions
are led and driven by the business leaders.
The local business leaders, not the lawyers
or compliance professionals, are expected
28
6. Listening and responding. GE Powers General Counsel Keith Carr and Chief Com-
pliance Officer Joseph Suich relay results and actions of the RRU to all GE Power employees via
a video message. Courtesy: GE Power
to be knowledgeable and engaged on the
compliance topics discussed, and provide
solutions to issues raised. Members of the
corporate legal and compliance team also
attend, providing insight and provocative
questions. These sessions cannot be global,
but rather are effective due to their regional
flavor and engagement.
Is Compliance a Competitive
Advantage?
Compliance matters, plain and simple. It
drives a speak-up culture that has clear busi-
ness value. While compliance programs have
obvious benefits, such as helping to prevent
fines, law violations, and reputational dam-
age, a culture of compliance also allows
employees to feel empowered, challenge the
norm, demand simple and clear programs,
and raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
For example, GEs open reporting pro-
gram has thousands of compliance issues
entered each year. While only a small portion
of the issues raised are confirmed, even the
unconfirmed concerns can result in business
benefits, as they often lead to process, speed,
or cost changes.
GE has been successful applying and
flexing many of these proven compliance
measures used at the companys service,
manufacturing, or office sites to other busi-
ness endeavors, such as its customer proj-
ect sites, where different compliance risks
may arise.
In addition, the benefits of such a culture
go well beyond compliance. A workforce
that feels empowered can also challenge out-
dated business practices, customer relation-
ships, or old designs. It pushes employees to
select at least one or two projects they will
stop doing to allow them to focus on more
important business objectives. While GEs
www.powermag.com
integrity culture is neither perfect nor ho-
mogenous throughout, its program of pre-
vention, detection, and response, mixed with
a speak-up, empowered workforce, provides
both GE and its customers with compliance
and associated business benefits.
Extending the Culture of Compli-
ance Outward
The GE Power compliance program gives
customers comfort that the company is genu-
ine and trustworthy, making compliance a
competitive advantage for both GE and its
customers. To strengthen this partnership,
GE holds compliance outreach sessions
with its customers, where its global team
goes to customer sites to benchmark perfor-
mance and share mutual best practices. Cus-
tomers decide the agenda and the location.
Past agendas have included topics such
as how to create a compliance speak-up cul-
ture, facilitate open reporting and concern
raising processes, conduct investigations,
manage third parties, institute anti-bribery
measures, utilize audits, establish RRU
practices, analyze and monitor data, develop
compliance mobile apps, and more. GE then
brings compliance specialists in from across
the globe for a meeting to share compliance
best practices.
Often, there are follow-ups and custom-
ers may visit GE sites or meet with other
teams to help strengthen their programs.
The company calls this Access GE and
the service is complimentary. All customers
need to do is request a session and GE does
the rest. GE feels success is measured by the
success of its customers, and the Access GE
program helps drive a mutually beneficial
relationship.
Joseph Suich (joseph.suich@ge.com) is
chief compliance officer for GE Power.
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POWER June 2017
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
Safety Culture: A Common
Construct Requiring Commitment
from the Board Room to the
Shop Floor
Courtesy: Energy Nuclear Palisades
An intrinsically motivated safety culture does not usually emerge fully formed. De-
cisions and actions affecting behaviors are often linked to entrenched attitudes and
beliefs within companies. Commitment and accountability are required throughout
the organization to recognize, challenge, and resolve issues, thereby providing true
safety benefits to work groups.
James M. Hylko
A
ccurate workforce performance
measurement requires reliable,
quantifiable, and reproducible per-
formance indicators. Often, the indicators
can be divided into historical (lagging) or
predictive (leading) metrics that provide a
snapshot of performance at a given point
in time.
Accidents, or system failures, which
can appear technical in nature, often result
from an accumulation of weak signals.
Performance indicators might not even rec-
ognize those weak signals, if the immediate
consequences are not serious. However, the
inability to take action because of too much
information, or lack thereof, can yield ma-
jor accidents or system failures.
Simply adding more safety devices, a
standard response to an unanticipated fail-
ure, may paradoxically reduce safety mar-
gins by adding system complexity. That
fact means abandoning a program may not
be justified, but instead, suggests focus
should be shifted to the organization and
its employees.
30
From Organizational Culture to
Safety Culture
Scrutiny increases dramatically after a disas-
trous event, which can flesh out some impor-
tant lessons learned. Using the Fukushima
accident as an instructive example, the prin-
cipal causes that contributed to the severity of
the event, as identified by an independent in-
vestigation commission, were organizational
culture and regulatory systems that supported
faulty rationales for decisions and actions.
The commission said an insular group mind-
set had developed at the site, which resulted
in the larger-than-projected tsunamis signifi-
cance being minimized, allowing flooding
and a station blackout to disable reactor-
cooling functions, leading to disaster.
Organizational culture is considered to be the
shared perception of the organization, including
traditions, values, and socialization processes
that endure over time. Various models have
been developed to explain the phenomenon.
One example is known as Scheins model. It
divides organizational culture into three lay-
ersinnermost, middle, and outermost.
www.powermag.com
The innermost layer represents the core
component of culture, which is invisible and
effectively unconscious. It is inferred from
espoused values (middle layer) and artifacts
(outermost layer). The artifacts are visible
and easily measured, but they can still be
hard to interpret without digging below the
surface to uncover why a group behaves a
certain way.
Organizational climate is used to measure
selected employee perceptions and character-
istics of their environment, that is, an overt
manifestation of culture within an organiza-
tion. These abstract conceptsthat climate is
culture in the making and organizational cul-
ture expresses itself through organizational
climateare often used interchangeably and
risk becoming virtually meaningless unless
properly defined (Table 1).
Organizational culture and climate, spe-
cifically applied to safety, form subsets re-
ferred to as safety culture and safety climate,
respectively. These are common constructs to
discuss safety events (see sidebar).
Safety culture and climate have been ex-
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POWER June 2017

Table 1. Culture versus climate. In his article The nature of safety culture: a review of
theory and research published in Safety Science, F.W. Guldenmund suggests that there are several
characteristic differences between organizational culture and climate. Source: F.W. Guldenmund
Characteristic Organization Culture
Type of Information Qualitative
How information is Administered through observations and
administered and interviews reporting beliefs, values, and
collected patterns about the organization
Company level Reflects senior management
tensively researched creating numerous defi-
nitions, theories, and models, some of which
even conflict. The diversity of the conclu-
sions results from the variable ways in which
safety culture and climate can be framed and
studied. Although no single definition, theo-
ry, or model has been universally accepted;
many of them discuss tentative relationships
following layered models.
Safety Culture Goes Nuclear
The term safety culture as part of the nu-
clear lexicon can be traced back to the Cher-
nobyl-4 graphite-moderated nuclear reactor
post-accident review in 1986. An autopsy of
the accidenta steam explosion and fire that
released radioactive reactor core fragments
and fission products into the atmosphere
determined that the event was caused by the
concurrence of rector physical characteris-
tics; control element design features; an un-
authorized state not specified by procedures
or investigated by an independent safety
body; and communication inadequacies be-
tween operators and regulators, coupled with
a lack of clear lines of responsibility.
The International Nuclear Safety Adviso-
ry Group, an advisory group to the Director
General of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, was tasked with investigating the ac-
cident. It found, The vital conclusion drawn
is the importance of placing complete au-
thority and responsibility for the safety of the
plant on a senior member of the operational
staff of the plant. Formal procedures properly
reviewed and approved must be supplement-
ed by the creation and maintenance of a nu-
clear safety culture. This is a reinforcement
process which should be used in conjunction
with the necessary disciplinary measures.
The Chernobyl accident demonstrated that
lessons learned from the Three Mile Island
(TMI) accident in 1979 had not been imple-
mented. Following TMI, the Nuclear Regu-
latory Commission (NRC) and U.S. nuclear
industry, under the heading of human factors,
focused on improving operator qualifications
and training, staffing levels and working
conditions, man-machine interfaces, emer-
gency operating procedures, and organiza-
tional/management effectiveness. Although
|
June 2017 POWER
Organization Climate
Quantitative
Self-administered questionnaires
reporting characteristics of behavior,
attitudes, and/or job satisfaction
Reflects middle management and
shop-floor employees
not labeled safety culture at the time, the
TMI investigation report concluded that the
principal deficiencies in commercial reactor
safety were not hardware problems, but man-
agement problems.
In the late 1990s, the NRC incorporated
risk-informed elements into its oversight
process. The NRC defines risk-informed as
an approach where risk insights, engineer-
ing analysis and judgment, and performance
history are used to align activities with areas
posing greater risk. That decision led to the
NRCs reactor oversight process (ROP) re-
placing the systematic assessment of licensee
performance (SALP) evaluations that had
been held less frequently.
The ROP makes use of both inspection
information and monitored performance in-
dicators to identify widespread issues rather
than just isolated incidents, and it encourages
licensees to take action before significant per-
formance degradation occurs. Crosscutting
areas, such as human performance, problem
identification and resolution, and safety-
conscious work environment are considered
conceptually related to safety culture. The
framework supports seven cornerstones
reflecting essential safety and safeguard as-
pects of facility operation (Figure 1).
The ROP action matrix has five columns
of increasing oversight. Individual plants are
organized in the matrix based on their ef-
fectiveness in meeting objectives measured
quarterly by performance indicators and in-
spection findings. Findings are color-coded
using green, white, yellow, or red in increas-
ing significance (Figure 2).
Licensees in column one are subject to the
NRCs baseline inspection program. As licens-
ees move to higher columns, they are subject to
supplemental inspections focusing on areas of
declining performance including regulatory ac-
tions ranging from management meetings up to
and including orders for plant shutdown.
The NRC published its definition of a nu-
clear safety culture in 2011. It said, The core
values and behaviors resulting from a collec-
tive commitment by leaders and individuals
to emphasize safety over competing goals to
ensure protection of people and the environ-
ment. It included nine traits important to a
www.powermag.com
WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
Safety Conscious Work
Environment, Chilling
Effect/Chilled Work En-
vironment, and Report-
ing Concerns
Some common terms used to evaluate
workforce conditions, particularly in the
nuclear industry, include: safety con-
scious work environment (SCWE) and
chilling effect/chilled work environ-
ment. The Nuclear Regulatory Commis-
sion (NRC) addressed SCWE by issuing
a policy statement titled Freedom of
Employees in the Nuclear Industry To
Raise Safety Concerns Without Fear of
Retaliation (61 FR 24336) in May 1996.
NRC Regulatory Issue Summary 2005-18
Guidance for Establishing and Main-
taining a Safety Conscious Work Envi-
ronment followed it in August 2005.
The 2005 publication defined a SCWE
as an environment in which employees
feel free to raise safety concerns, both
to their management and to the NRC,
without fear of retaliation. Although
2005-18 stated that SCWE and safety
culture are distinct concepts, the em-
ployees willingness to identify safety
concerns is an important attribute of a
strong safety culture.
Furthermore, if there is a perception
that the raising of safety concerns is
being suppressed or discouraged, the
occurrence is described as a chilling
effect. If the occurrence has created a
work environment where the willingness
of a group of employees, or the entire
facility, is inhibited, it is referred to as
a chilled work environment.
NUREG/BR-0240 Reporting Safety
Concerns to the NRC describes how
concerns are received, evaluated, and
closed by the NRC.
healthy safety culture (Table 2). Stakeholder
feedback later identified an additional trait
decision-makingto be of equal importance
to the NRC-identified items.
Assessing Safety Culture
Safety culture is distinct from compliance-
based control. To explore the relationship
between safety culture and performance
indicators, the NRC conducted a survey in
2010 involving 97% of the operating U.S.
nuclear plants. General results of the sur-
vey, as reported in the article Exploring
31
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
1. Reactor oversight framework. The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRCs) mis-
sion is to protect public heath and safety in the use of nuclear power. The framework shown
here is used to help it meet that objective. Source: NRC
the relationship between safety culture and
safety performance in U.S. nuclear power
operations published by Safety Science in
November 2014, included the following:
Organizations where employees perceived
less of a questioning attitude were more
likely to receive higher numbers of allega-
tions. When employees are more likely to
report safety concerns through the allega-
tion program, it may be an indicator that
they have less confidence in their internal
processes for identifying and resolving
safety issues.
Fostering a questioning attitude may be a
particularly important component of the
overall safety culture of an organization.
Organizations with lower overall scores
were more likely to have higher counts
of unplanned scrams, and have inspection
findings related to inadequacies in prob-
lem identification and resolution.
The correlation between safety culture and
unplanned scrams seemed to be driven by
training quality; and the correlation with
problem identification and resolution was
related to managements commitment to
safety.
Sites with lower scores were likely to re-
ceive substantive crosscutting issues, and
to be in an elevated oversight condition
within the ROP action matrix the fol-
lowing year. Lower scores may indicate
problems that are starting to add up, and
it is only at future points in time that those
problems, if not adequately addressed, re-
quire NRC response and movement in the
ROP action matrix.
The only safety performance measure
not significantly correlated with safety
culture was the industrial safety accident
rate. Accident rates are one of the most
commonly used independent measures of
safety performance. However, many have
noted concerns with using accident rates
32
to represent performance, primarily that
accidents may be few and far between
and do not capture the frequency of mi-
croevents, that is, weak signals, such as
near misses or minor incidents that do not
meet accident reporting requirements. The
industrial safety accident rate seems to be
a less-relevant measure of performance to
an organizations safety culture.
There are no established thresholds for
determining whether a safety culture is
healthy or unhealthy. However, there are
factors mentioned throughout safety litera-
ture that contribute to a positive safety cul-
ture. Such factors include:
Senior management commitment to safety
over production
Participative management leadership style
Shared values and contributions among all
organizational levels
Multilevel communication to elicit varied
viewpoints
Regulatory-driven and conservative prac-
tices for mitigating defined and undefined
hazards
2. Facilities are risk-categorized using color-coded indicators. Under the
reactor oversight process (ROP), the NRC links regulatory actions to performance criteria. The
process uses five levels of response with NRC regulatory review increasing as plant perfor-
mance declines. Source: NRC
www.powermag.com
Procedural adherence
Continuous organizational learning
Corrective actions are implemented in a
timely manner with minimum extensions
Scanning for unintended consequences/
worst-case scenarios
Suspending assumptions about past activ-
ity practices
Recognizing ambiguity, because newly
emerging safety issues may not be clear
Visualizing near-miss situations develop-
ing into accidents
An environment that rewards safety issue
identification
Likewise, many factors have been identi-
fied that contribute to a negative safety cul-
ture. Some of those include:
Failure to include design safety standards
or in some cases even incorporating un-
safe features
Inadequate safety analysis
Insufficient attention given to independent
safety reviews
Operating procedures not founded in safe-
ty analysis
Inadequate and ineffective internal and
external exchange of safety information
between groups
Inadequate worker understanding of plant
safety aspects
Insufficient respect for the formal require-
ments of operational and test procedures
An ineffective regulatory regime that is
unable to counter production pressures
Turning a Culture Around
In December 2016, Entergy Nuclear Opera-
tions Inc. announced its intention to shutter
the Palisades nuclear plant permanently on
October 1, 2018. The plant (shown in the
opening photo of this article) is located in Co-
vert, Mich., on the Lake Michigan shorline. It
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POWER June 2017

Table 2. Traits of a healthy safety culture. The Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) identified the nine items shown in
this table as important traits for developing a positive safety culture.
Source: NRC
Trait Description
Leadership safety values Leaders demonstrate a commitment to safety in their
and actions decisions and behaviors.
Issues potentially impacting safety are promptly
Problem identification
identified, fully evaluated, and promptly addressed
and resolution
and corrected commensurate with their significance.
Personal accountability All individuals take personal responsibility for safety.
The process of planning and controlling work activi-
Work processes
ties is implemented so that safety is maintained.
Opportunities to learn about ways to ensure safety
Continuous learning
are sought out and implemented.
A safety conscious work environment is maintained
Environment for raising where personnel feel free to raise safety concerns
concerns without fear of retaliation, intimidation, harassment
or discrimination.
Effective safety
Communications maintain a focus on safety.
communications
Respectful work
Trust and respect permeate the organization.
environment
Individuals avoid complacency and continually
challenge existing conditions and activities in order
Questioning attitude
to identify discrepancies that might result in error or
inappropriate action.
is expected to continue operating with current staffing levelsabout
600 employeesuntil it suspends operations. The plant will then
transition to a decommissioning crew.
In any work environment, a plant closure announcement can be a
major disruption, impacting a plants safety culture. The management
at Palisades would like to avoid such distractions, because it knows
how difficult it can be to enact change.
In 2012, the NRC placed the plant under an intensified inspec-
tion program following yellow and white inspection findings.
The biggest issue leading to the change in oversight stemmed from
WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
the station had improved since the previous assessment conducted
approximately three years earlier. Overall, Palisades has seen the
number of allegations decrease from 11 in 2013 to two in 2016. Im-
provements were certainly made, and by the end of 2016, the NRCs
end-of-cycle performance assessment concluded that Palisades over-
all performance preserved public health and safety.
In addition, the NRC determined that performance during the most
recent quarter fell within the licensee response columnthe highest
performance category of the NRCs ROP action matrixbecause all
inspection findings had very low safety significance and all perfor-
mance indicators were within expected ranges. Thus, Palisades elic-
ited the lowest level of regulatory scrutiny and only regular baseline
inspections are required.
Palisades has demonstrated how a facility can refocus its efforts on
maintaining the health and safety of the public as its number one prior-
ity, with the expectation for all employees to embrace the Institute of
Nuclear Power Operations traits of a healthy nuclear safety culture.
Palisades employees chose the theme Palisades ProudExcellent to
Elite as a philosophy adopted for the final months of operation.
Its peers currently regard Palisades as an excellent plant, but its
employees are striving to finish with elite status. The idea is that ex-
cellent individuals and organizations have great success, but some-
times stop short of their full potential. The elite are constantly driven
to achieve that next goal with extraordinary results. Over the next 18
months, Palisades hopes that by conducting successful operations and
supporting its employees through the upcoming transition, standard
metrics will confirm that it is an elite organization.
James M. Hylko (JHylko1@msn.com) specializes in safety,
quality, and emergency management issues and is a frequent
contributor to POWER.
Others simply sell you a product
we offer a solution.
OHL Gutermuth
A control and shut off technique you can rely on.

an event in which the left train of the plants direct-current bus lost
power, resulting in a reactor trip in the fall of 2011.
Furthermore, the NRCs allegation program annual trends report in
2013 indicated that a chilled work environment existed in the plants se-
curity organization following the termination of some security supervi-
sors. The NRC determined that members of the workforce perceived the
terminations as retaliation for the supervisors having raised concerns.
Although it appears the licensee did not recognize the breadth of the
condition of the weakening work environment until the NRC brought
the problem to its attention, management had independently engaged a
third-party investigator to reevaluate its actions regarding the termina-
tions, and it had communicated the results to several concerned indi- Customized
viduals. The investigator confirmed that the actions taken against the Valve Design
supervisors were not discriminatory. Nonetheless, in response to the MADE IN GERMANY
NRCs observations, the licensee developed an action plan to further
address the perceptions of the workforce in the areas of communica- alves
tions, training, process improvements, and monitoring activities.
ESD Best V 0
5
Following a safety-conscious work environment issue of concern
SOLAR since r1s
follow-up visit during the last quarter of 2015, no findings were iden- POWER Yea
tified. Interviews and a licensee-initiated safety culture survey indi- OHL Gutermuth Industrial Valves GmbH
cated that most individuals felt free to raise safety or regulatory issues
Helmershuser Str. 9+12 63674 Altenstadt / Germany
without fear of retaliation. Also, the inspectors did not identify any Phone +49.60 47. 80 06-0 Fax +49.60 47.80 06-29
further indications of a chilled work environment. www.ohl-gutermuth.de og@ohl-gutermuth.de
The safety culture assessment survey indicated that the culture of

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 33
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
Scaffold Safety in Coal-Fired
Power Plants
Courtesy: StructSure Scaffold & Insulation
Scaffolding typically ranks near the top of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health
Administrations most-frequently cited standards. However, developing a strong
safety culture and implementing an effective scaffold safety program could help
companies avoid costly fines, and more importantly, prevent deadly accidents.
Matt Skidmore
G
oing to work in a controlled and safe
environment is not an unreasonable
expectation for any power industry
worker. In a power plant, a level of danger
is expected because it is inherent to the job,
but this is only more reason for companies
to take employee safety seriously. The best
organizations are those that understand that
a safe workplace is not only right for their
employees, but also for their bottom line.
The Occupational Safety and Health Ad-
ministration (OSHA) releases a list of the 10
most frequently cited safety and health vio-
lations each year. The list is developed from
nearly 32,000 inspections of workplaces by
federal OSHA staff. One surprising thing
about the data is that it rarely changes; fall
protection and scaffolding are usually near
the top of the list.
Dangers associated with scaffolding
should not be overlooked by the power in-
dustry. It is safe to say that every power plant
in the world uses scaffolding in some way,
shape, or form. It is a critical component
for many maintenance activities where per-
manently installed access is not possible or
practical. Often, plant maintenance personnel
34
1. Tight spots. Scaffold erection in the
are trained to install scaffolding, but it is not
boiler pendant area can require unusual modi-
uncommon for scaffolding contractors to be
fications to account for blown tubes, slag, and
brought in for large jobs too.
other obstructions. Courtesy: StructSure Scaf-
The scaffolding industry as a whole has fold & Insulation
made great strides in improving employee
safety records. This positive trend can be at-
tributed to not only government regulations,
but also to more companies understanding
the importance of building a strong safety
culture. Top performers in the industry real-
ize that implementing a safety program that
becomes imbedded in the culture of the or-
ganization not only benefits its workers, but
also helps the organization become more
competitive in the marketplace.
Hazards in the Workplace
Coal-fired power plants present several oc-
cupational hazards to workers during routine
work activities. Occupational hazards include
extreme heat stress, toxic chemical exposure,
falls, and tight working conditions (Figure 1).
Working in a coal-fired power plant can even
prove deadly in some cases, due to the risk of
fires, explosions, and serious respiratory is-
sues. Because coal dust is combustible, it is
critically important to take safety precautions
www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS

Virtual Reality Improves Power Plant Scaffolding

Traditionally, scaffolding for coal-fired power plant maintenance
2. Complex design. The shape of a boilers V-bottom can
was designed and approved using engineered drawings. In the make designing scaffolds difficult, but virtual reality systems can
1980s, two-dimensional computer-aided design began replacing make it easier. Courtesy: Avontus Software
the drafting board for creating such drawings. Since then, three-
dimensional visualization has become increasingly common, but
the result is still a drawing on paper that doesnt help identify
potential problems before the structure is built.
However, virtual reality (VR) can greatly alleviate the unique
challenges and problems of scaffolding design in the power indus-
try. VRa computer-generated environment that allows a design
to be fully exploredoffers approval and troubleshooting effi-
ciencies even before staging begins. Some of the key efficiency
areas, specifically for power plant boilers, include the V-bottom,
dance floor, pendants, and external staging areas.
V-Bottom. Given the incredible height of most boiler scaffolds,
the loads transferred to the beams in the v-bottom can be tremen-
dous. In some cases, scaffold legs are welded to the floor to pre-
vent those forces from being transferred to the main supporting the region, which can help determine difficult areas before the
members, but often a ladder type of system is used (Figure 2). The scaffold is built.
intricate details of the structure are very difficult to see in 2-D, External Staging Areas. The ability to plan the pre-job stag-
and in 3-D there are a limited number of predefined views that ing of large amounts of scaffolding materials in areas throughout
can be printed and viewed. VR allows the ability to fly through the power plant can result in tremendous labor savings. Individu-
the scaffold. als who will be constructing the scaffold can review and approve
Dance Floor. Commonly referred to as a dance floor, a full these strategic areas, enabling unprecedented labor planning dur-
deck is frequently assembled in a boilers bullnose area during ing the review stage.
major outages. Visualizing the location of this deck can increase VR is a game-changer in power plant scaffolding projects. With
safety, as its main purpose is to prevent debris from falling down the ability to see a plan from all angles, designers can potentially
into the main boiler structure. reduce problems that might otherwise only be found during the
Pendants. Often, the scaffold in the pendants is very complex job. Moving through a design in VR gives workers a way to see a
and requires a sort of improvisational build to make it fit the as- design as close to reality as possible.
found conditions. While a VR tool will not completely eliminate
Brian Webb is CEO of Avontus Software
the need for flexibility, it allows scaffolding designers to navigate (www.avontus.com).

for the protection of the plant workforce and
nearby communities.
Extreme heat exposure is a prevalent issue
for workers. Temperatures can exceed 150F in
some plant locations. Heat from a boiler will
rise to the top of the unit and get trapped by
the roof, creating even higher temperatures as
workers approach the top floor of the facility.
Implementing the correct precautions is im-
portant for anyone working in close proxim-
ity to the boiler and at high levels. Working in
these extreme conditions is a very real threat
to employee safety and health.
Employees can be exposed to danger-
ous chemicals and toxicants including acid
gas and fly ash. Acid gas is a byproduct of
burning coal that is normally removed us-
ing air quality control systems prior to flue
gases and water vapor being discharged to
the stack. However, if a line, duct, or boiler
wall begins to leak, acid gas can escape into
an area that could potentially be occupied
by plant employees and contractors. The
gas, which is several hundred degrees, can
damage a workers lungs, prevent sufficient
breathing, and cause painful eye irritation.
Fly ash poses another health hazard in coal
power plants. Fly ash consists of small par-
ticles of unburned coal or ash dust that mi-
grate through units during operation. Fly ash
can eventually coat some surfaces in the plant
with a small layer of dust, including deck
grating and equipment. Some older or poorly
maintained plants can have ash accumulation
measured in inches in some spots. In addi-
tion to eye irritation concerns and difficulty
breathing, fly ash can result in an increased
risk of slipping or falling. Fly ash is increas-
ingly dangerous, because it is easily agitated
and becomes airborne when stepped on.
Falls are a prevalent hazard for workers and
are among the most common causes of seri-
ous work-related injuries and deaths. The risk
is particularly high when installing, working
on, or disassembling scaffolding. Power plant
employees can be at risk from falling off of
overhead platforms and elevated workstations
or through holes in floors and walls.
Additionally, working in tight proximity
around boilers, piping, electrical cables, and
other power plant equipment presents an oc-
cupational hazard. Contractors, who may not
be familiar with specific plant systems, have to
navigate around these utilities to properly com-
plete assigned repair or maintenance tasks.
In many power plants, the 3-foot-wide
electrical cable trays that carry cables across
the plant obstruct large areas where scaffold-
ing needs to be erected (see sidebar). Often-
times, scaffolding contractors have to build
scaffolding around pipes and electrical lines
in both vertical and horizontal orientations
(Figure 3). Working in tight proximity to the
plant equipment increases the risk of inju-
ries from chemical and heat burns, respira-
tory harm, eye irritation, and electrical shock,
which could result in death.
Safety Protocols and Training
Programs
Implementing a scaffold safety program (SSP)
is one way to promote a safer working envi-

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 35
 WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
3. Tricky geometrics. When constructing scaffolding, workers have to work with the
space they have. Unfortunately, in power plants that space is often full of pipes, electrical lines,
and other obstacles that have to be built around. Courtesy: StructSure Scaffold & Insulation
ronment. However, an SSP cannot be success-
ful unless a company has an effective safety
culture. A strong safety culture is a behavior-
based program that stresses leading indicators
versus lagging indicators. To achieve a suc-
cessful safety culture, it is important to con-
tinuously promote safety values within the
workforce. Below are a few recommendations
for building a strong safety culture:
Implement a standard training and operat-
ing program (S.T.O.P.)
Perform regular jobsite visits by corporate
safety department personnel
Develop a proactive, behavior-based safe-
ty incentive program
Provide regular and consistent messages
from management
Maintain a well-trained and experienced
workforce and leadership team
Employ a firm disciplinary policy
36
The success of a SSP depends on the will-
ingness of top management to demonstrate
a long-term, serious commitment to protect
every employee from injury and illness on
the job. Managers need to display leadership
through effective accountability and recogni-
tion of behaviors and results.
OSHA and the American National Stan-
dards Institute (ANSI) develop and enforce
most of the training and safety regulations
related to injuries from hazardous chemical
and physical exposure. OSHA requires all
scaffolding companies to furnish employees
who erect or work on scaffolds with appro-
priate training. OSHA mandates the devel-
opment and implementation of an effective
formal SSP.
According to OSHAcademy Occupation-
al Safety & Health Training and the Scaf-
fold Safety Program Management course,
employers in the construction industry are
required to provide a safe and healthful
www.powermag.com
workplace, including:
Providing employees with sanitary and
safe working conditions
Assigning safety and health responsibili-
ties
Giving safety and health designees author-
ity to correct hazards
Ensuring employees may voice safety and
health concerns without fear of reprisal
Informing employees of worksite hazards
Coordinating hazard communication with
other employers on site
Posting the OSHA state or federal poster
The regulations set forth by OSHA are
somewhat vague, leaving it primarily up to
the employer to determine when and where
chemical and physical hazards exist and what
type of protection and emergency equipment
is needed. It is also up to the employer to
train their employees on the proper use of
protection and emergency equipment and to
ensure that the equipment is properly tested
and maintained.
Protective Equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers
to protective clothing, helmets, goggles,
cut-resistant gloves, respirators, or other gar-
ments and equipment designed to protect a
power plant workers body from injury, ex-
posure, or infection. PPE addresses physical,
electrical, heat, chemical, biohazard, and air-
borne particulate matter hazards.
When engineering control measures are
not feasible to protect workers from breath-
ing air contaminated with harmful dusts,
fogs, fumes, mists, gases, smokes, sprays,
or vapors, workers must wear an appropri-
ate respirator. The type of respirator required
varies based on the hazards present in the
work environment. In atmospheres that are
immediately dangerous to life or health, a
self-contained breathing apparatus might be
required, while in a less dangerous area an
air-purifying respirator might suffice. Under-
standing the hazards is vital to selecting the
appropriate respirator.
Additionally, eye protection, such as safe-
ty goggles or safety glasses, is used to pro-
vide protection in instances where exposure
to fly ash, acid gas, and other hazards could
cause an eye injury. Safety goggles provide
better protection than safety glasses in pre-
venting eye injuries. To prevent fogging,
safety goggles should have high airflow or
have an anti-fog spray applied.
Fall protection systems are another neces-
sary aspect of worksite protection. Personal
fall-arrest systems should be used for work-
ers on suspended scaffolds. The system usu-
ally consists of a full-body harness, lanyard,
|
POWER June 2017

It is important to note that fall protection
4. Dont look down. Large scaffolds,
such as the one in the boiler shown here,
is only as good as its anchorage. Anchorage
require well-designed support points and ac- points are independent points on structures
curate load calculations. Courtesy: StructSure where lifelines are securely attached. These
Scaffold & Insulation points should be able to support at least 5,000
pounds per employee and preferably 5,400
pounds for a fall of up to six feet or support
at least 3,000 pounds for a fall of two feet.
Preplanning
The preplanning process requires the evalua-
tion of each job on a case-by-case basis to de-
termine the safest possible way to complete
a project. Scaffolding contractors conduct a
job safety analysis (JSA), during which they
examine the job site and make a list of each
environmental factor that could be a potential
harm. JSAs include the identification of exit
routes, eyewash stations, and other safety re-
sources for employees.
Once a JSA is conducted, the safety de-
partment will conduct a safety meeting with
employees and give them the opportunity to
discuss any potential issues directly with the
corporate safety department. Permitting em-
ployee feedback during safety meetings has
proven to be a vital part of promoting an ex-
rope grab, independent vertical lifeline, and cellent safety culture.
an independent lifeline anchorage. Beyond the required JSA, scaffolding con-
POWER is the leading source for power generation news, technology,
and analysis used by more than 65,000 plant managers, engineers,
technicians, and those who support the power industry.
POWER covers the industry across multiple channels:
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June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com
WORKFORCE & SAFETY CONCERNS
tractors should have their own sets of safety
precautions and employee guidelines. The
safety department and company management
should provide periodic training on these
company-wide regulations and for relevant
topics as dictated by the needs of the work
site and any changes in hazards associated
with the scope of work (Figure 4).
Additionally, the project manager and
general manager should maintain regular, pe-
riodic visits to all of the job sites. As with the
corporate safety department, management
should make employee safety observations
and give immediate feedback and corrective
action, when necessary.
Most employees in both the power and
scaffolding industry want to be part of an or-
ganization that invests in a safety program. If
employees perceive that safety is not a prior-
ity for the company, their behaviors and at-
titudes are adversely affected. An investment
in a safety program that focuses on hazard
identification, training, prevention, and as-
sessment will not only help reduce losses and
increase overall safety compliance records,
but it could be the difference between being
an industry leader or just another company.
Matt Skidmore is regional safety direc-
tor at StructSure Scaffold & Insulation.
facebook.com/
POWERmagazine
@POWERmagazine
POWER Magazine and Women
in Power Generation groups
POWER magazine
37
 TECHNOLOGY
Energy Generation from A-to-Z
with Machine Learning
The human brain is an amazing thing, but it has limitations. However, with the
advent of machine learning, the limitations of the human brain no lon-
ger have to be the limitations of civilization. Machine learning has been
integrated into many aspects of human life, including the power sector,
resulting in increased efficiency and ease of operation.
Abby L. Harvey

T
he term machine learning sounds like
something out of a sci-fi novel, but in
reality, this relatively new computer
science, related to artificial intelligence,
stands to improve human life by allowing
progress on many frontsincluding power
generationbeyond what was thought pos-
sible just a few years ago.
Machine learning is a complex term.
Boiled down, it refers to a type of artificial
intelligence that allows computers to learn
from data. As new data is presented, machine
learning models and algorithms self-adapt.
The very broadest definition of machine
learning is using computers and algorithms
to discover patterns within data, Greg
Mulholland, CEO of advanced materials
and chemicals company Citrine Informat-
ics, told POWER. More specifically, Mul-
holland continued, machine learning uses
relatively large-scale data to find highly
complex patterns.
Machine learning itself has been around
for decades and is already being used in
the energy sector in several ways, but there
remains great opportunity for increased uti-
lization for everything from materials opti-
mization, advanced weather forecasting for
solar and wind installations, and predictive
operation of conventional power plants.
Better Materials, Better Operation
When it comes down to it, a product is only as
good as the materials its made out of. Opti-
mizing the makeup of a solar cell or battery is
a long, complex process, a problem perfect for
a machine learning solution.
One of the big problems in the devices
that are on the market today is, and this is true
across everythingwhether its a vehicle, or
whether its a solar cell, or whether its a bat-
teryis youre typically asking the chemistry
inside of those things to do multiple jobs at
once, and a lot of [the] time those jobs are at
odds with one another, Mulholland said.
1. Its whats inside that counts. The internal chemistry of solar cells is extremely
complex, but can be optimized using machine learning. Courtesy: IBM
For example, he noted, the ideal car body Mulholland said. Our products actually
would be light and strong, but typically strong serve to accelerate your ability to achieve
materials are heavy, and light materials are those milestones.
weak. The same thing is true in batteries, Looking at a solar cell (Figure 1), Ci-
you want it to store a lot of power, but you trines machine learning models are able to
want it to be safe, and you want it to recharge ingest massive amounts of data, including the
a lot of times, and you want it to be very ef- chemical formula of the materials in use in
fective over and over again. Same with solar the cell, the processing history of that mate-
cells, you want them to capture a lot of light, rial, how the device is structured, and how
but you want them to get the energy out ef- the cell performs.
fectively, he said. All of that data is then analyzed. We ac-
Since its inception in 2009, Citrine Infor- tually use machine learning to couple those
matics has been working with customers to together, to help identify, to look for patterns
improve their existing products using machine that say [for example] when this particular
learning, quicker than would be possible using crystal structure is there, you keep better per-
traditional means. We actually use machine formance, Mulholland explained.
learning to understand the underlying physics According to Mulholland, using machine
and chemistry about whats going on in these learning has allowed Citrine to help customers
devices, and help identify materials and chem- optimize their solar cells far faster than pos-
istries that are going to push those devices in sible using conventional processes.
the right direction along many fronts, Mul- Its not so much that were trying to set
holland said. a one-time record, were trying to use ma-
Generally, Citrine isnt setting goals for chine learning to actually allow the solar cell
itself but helping customers reach their own manufacturers to achieve their next generation
goals in an expedited manner. If youre a solar cells in about half the time or less, he
solar cell company, you know what your said. In the cases of solar cells weve worked
next solar cell generation needs to look like. in, its been about that. Weve seen about a
You understand your product right now, slightly greater than 50% acceleration, or 50%

38 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017

2. Look to the skies. These cloud cameras, installed on the roof of an IBM lab can mea-
sure the height of clouds to help the companys self-learning weather model and renewable
forecasting technology make more accurate predictions. Courtesy: IBM
reduction, in the amount of time its taken to
get through the development process for a par-
ticular class of materials.
In short, machine learning enables Citrine
to make products better, faster.
Better than a Weatherman
However, even operators of the best devel-
oped solar cells need to know as precisely as
possible what sort of sun theyre going to get.
Thats where IBM comes in. For the past few
years, IBM has been working on advanced
weather prediction using machine learning
(Figure 2). Renewable energy forecasting
obviously has a lot to do with weather fore-
casting in general, because you need to predict
how much sunshine and you need to predict
how much wind, Hendrik Hamann, senior
manager and distinguished researcher in the
physical sciences department at the IBM T.J.
Watson Research Center, told POWER.
IBMs self-learning weather model and
renewable forecasting technology (SMT)
uses machine learning, big data, and analyt-
ics to develop accurate solar forecasts. SMT
analyzes numerous weather models while also
taking into account which model has histori-
cally been most accurate in a given location
under a given situation. So, if a high-pressure
system is coming through a particular area in
Wisconsin in early April, SMT will identify
which model was most accurate last time a
similar high-pressure system moved through
that area of Wisconsin in April.
Weve actually used large-scale big data
processing and machine learning to system-
atically learn the different strengths and weak-
nesses of these different prediction systems,
Hamann said That information we use to do
corrections to the existing weather models, or
to create a blend out of all these models, to
|
June 2017 POWER
provide increased accuracy.
Forecasts developed by the SMT can be
used for solar, wind, and even hydropower
generation. In these particular [hydro] ap-
plications, especially longer term forecasts are
actually of relevance. Sometimes were talk-
ing even about precipitation forecasts out to
30 days, Hamann said.
SMT, unfortunately, suffers from some
of the same obstacles as traditional weather
forecasting. For example, some climates are
just less predictable. In the U.S., Florida is a
particularly challenging area. This is a gen-
eral problem known in weather forecasting.
Tropical conditions are inherently difficult, so
you cannot necessarily expect improvements,
according to Hamann. However, in areas near
the center of the country, New England, and
parts of the West coast, SMT has proven to be
up to 50% more accurate than traditional fore-
casting (Figure 3).
3. Not your average forecast. IBMs self-learning weather model and renewable fore-
casting technology develops weather forecasts using machine learning with greater accuracy
than those developed by conventional means. Courtesy: IBM
www.powermag.com
TECHNOLOGY
IBMs SMT program is funded in part by
the Department of Energys (DOEs) SunShot
Initiative. While the future of the SunShot
Initiative is murky, IBM continues to work
closely with the DOE, waiting to see how the
cards will fall.
SunShot was launched in 2011 during the
Obama administration to try to drive down
costs of solar energy. The program set goals
for 2020 of $0.09/kWh for residential solar,
$0.07/kWh for commercial solar, and $0.06/
kWh for utility-scale solar. Additional 2030
goals were also set. The 2030 goals are $0.05/
kWh for residential photovoltaics (PV), $0.04/
kWh for commercial PV, and $0.03/kWh for
utility-scale PV.
IBM also recently announced a partner-
ship with ABB. ABB offers a digital solutions
product called ABB Ability, which will be
brought together with IBMs Watson technol-
ogy to unlock new value for customers in
utilities, industry and transport & infrastruc-
ture, according to a press release issued on
April 25.
One of the first efforts being pursued under
the new collaboration will focus on smart grid
optimization. ABB and IBM will apply Wat-
sons capabilities to predict supply patterns in
electricity generation and demand from his-
torical and weather data, to help utilities opti-
mize the operation and maintenance of todays
smart grids, which are facing the increased
complexity created by the new balance of con-
ventional as well as renewable power sources.
Forecasts of temperature, sunshine and wind
speed will be used to predict consumption
demand, which will help utilities determine
optimal load management as well as real-time
pricing, the release says.
New Tech, Traditional Generation
Renewables are not the only source of power
generation getting a machine learning update.
39
 TECHNOLOGY
4. Old dog, new tricks. Machine learning isnt only for new power generation sources.
Work has been done to integrate machine learning processes into conventional power genera-
tion sources as well. Boston-based machine learning and data analytics startup NeuCo Inc.,
which GE acquired in April 2016, has used machine learning to improve the efficiency of fossil-
fueled power plants. Courtesy: GE Power
Laurent El Ghaoui, a professor of electrical
engineering and computer science at the Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley),
has developed a machine learning algorithm
to help manage the operation of a cogenera-
tion plant.
While renewables might be a tad flashier
than traditional energy generation sources, tra-
ditional sources should not be ignored when
exploring new machine learning processes
(Figure 4). You know, renewables, no matter
how you slice or dice, its going to be a small
part of tomorrow, medium-term, composi-
tion of energy, El Ghaoui told POWER. So
I think working hard on the traditional sources
and making them more efficient at least allevi-
ates the brunt of the issue with energy.
Working with UK-based EDF Energy, El
Ghaoui has been working to perfect his al-
gorithm for more than three years. The algo-
rithm is not currently in commercial use, but
it is being tested at an unnamed European
cogeneration plant, which serves roughly 800
homes. Using machine learning El Ghaouis
algorithm helps predict the future demand of
the plant.
It starts with a model and then tries to es-
sentially take that model, which is an approxi-
mation of the reality, of course, and also make
predictions about the demand for power and
heat the next day, El Ghaoui said.
The algorithm has proved to be significant-
ly more accurate than human operators in its
predictions. Every hour it makes some bets,
you would say, its like betting in a way, and it
makes bets that are definitely more accurate in
average. It doesnt mean that the human on oc-
casion cannot beat the machine, he explained.
Its just because its day-to-day, every hour,
its consistently a little better, and in the end, it
adds up quite a lot in terms of energy savings.
40
Because the plant runs more efficiently as a
result of the increased accuracy of generation
predictions, energy savings between 6% and
15% have been realized.
While it has only been used at a cogen-
eration plant, the algorithm would be appli-
cable to many other generation types. The
focus is on cogen, but theres nothing about
cogen that is specific. In other words, what
we do also applies to generation of hybrid
energy, including nuclear, coal, hydroelec-
tric, El Ghaoui said.
Sometimes Machines Are Just
Better
Shifting the energy industry to rely more
heavily on machine learning and other forms
of artificial intelligence can be a hard sell. For
ages, the industry has been run on manpower
and change is scary.
The industry is going to move forward,
Mulholland, Hamann, and El Ghaoui all
agreed, because the benefits of machine learn-
ing over reliance on humans are too great to
deny much longer.
Machine learning is always measured
against what was being done before, and the
reality is that in many fields the type of anal-
ysis that was being done before was largely
driven by human intuition and human skill,
Mulholland said. Machine learning does
something much better than humans do and
that is dealing with very, very, very large-scale
data. The human brain is not built to look at
data at an extremely large-scale.
El Ghaoui agreed, comparing human plant
operators to tired drivers who are unable to
process everything going on around them on
the road. If you imagine the difference be-
tween two drivers, one is a little bit asleep and
not very efficient and so on and so forth, and
www.powermag.com
the other is really making sure and [paying]
close attention to everything, definitely the
most conscious driver, in the end, will beat the
more distracted one. Not to say that humans
are distracted, but its very hard for a human to
capture all the complexity.
According to El Ghaoui, developing ma-
chine learning programs is the easy part. Get-
ting the programs put to use is where things
get a bit more difficult. The big challenge is
not essentially the research or the algorithm
because now theres a level of maturity in all
these machine learning algorithms and deci-
sion algorithms. Its not too complicated to
put in place a model that on paper or in simu-
lation that is really better. The big challenge, I
thinkand that touched upon the energy sec-
tor as a wholeis to go to implementation,
he said.
El Ghaoui noted that his team at UC Berke-
ley is trying hard to implement [his algo-
rithm] and push it to production, but its a
complicated situation.
Where to Next?
While the use of machine learning in the en-
ergy sector continues to grow, there remains
a fair amount of low-hanging fruit for devel-
opers to pursue.
Although he advocates for the use of ma-
chine learning in traditional energy genera-
tion areas, El Ghaoui suggests that there is
a great amount of potential for new machine
learning processes in renewables. I think
there might be very good opportunities in re-
newables because what happens is that when
there is a new system being designed, then
[it is] much easier, because its the first time,
so there are much [fewer] barriers, and so I
expect the innovation along those lines might
come from new plants, he said.
Hamann suggested that the timing is per-
fect for the use of machine learning in the en-
ergy sector to accelerate even more. Massive
amounts of data are being collected in nearly
every area, from drilling to generation, grid
operations, and so on. That data, in turn, can
be used in machine learning applications.
In general you have now, of course, much
more instrumentation. We have the smart
grid. Power plants are connected. There are
people that have their own private weather
stations. Theres a lot more instrumentation
in oil and gas exploration. They use very
complex measurements, every drill head is
being instrumented, so you have all this data
from these systems, he noted.
The next [questions are]: What do you do
with that data and can you learn something
from that data? he said. So now we can
actually use machine learning techniques to
learn systematically.
Abby L. Harvey is a POWER reporter.
|
POWER June 2017
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30091
 OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
How to Prevent Circulating Water
Flow Reversal
Flow reversal in piping systems can degrade equipment performance and
cause significant water hammer, potentially resulting in catastrophic fail-
ure. Power plant condenser cooling water systemsor circulating water
systemsare especially prone to reverse flow. The advantages and disad-
vantages of various valves used to prevent reverse flow are presented in
this article to help readers select appropriate solutions to avoid trouble.
Michael F. Czyszczewski

F
low reversal is a serious problem that 1. Two standard configurations. Most power plants use either the cooling tower de-
can occur in piping systems with par- sign or the open cooling design for steam turbine condenser circulating water systems. Source:
allel pumps or in systems that pump Michael F. Czyszczewski
uphill. When one or more pumps trip out
of service, the loss in pressure can cause
reverse flow to form based on the pipings
elevation, slope, flow resistance, and pres-
sure differential.
Circulating water (CW) pumps used for
condenser cooling are normally the largest
pumps at a power station, commonly deliver-
ing flows of 150,000 gallons per minute or
higher. If a CW pump trips, reverse flow, wa-
ter hammer, backwards pump rotation, pump
over speed, pipe over pressure, pipe vacuum
pressure, cavitation, or a forced steam tur-
bine shutdown can occur.
Reverse flow protection requires more
thought than simply installing a conventional
check valve. This article will describe the
problems that reverse flow can cause and
show examples of various effective solutions.

Understanding Circulating Water

Systems
Power station CW pumps deliver cool-
ing water to steam turbine condensers. The
CW pumps are commonly high-specific-
speed, low-head, high-flow designs. Systems
come primarily in two basic configurations
(Figure 1).
If the heated water exiting the condenser
is discharged, the design is known as an
open cooling system. Alternatively, a cool-
ing tower system reuses the heated water.
Both configurations pump uphill. The most
important difference, related to reverse flow,
is that an open cooling design operates with
a lower operating static head and, therefore,
has a lower potential for reverse flow and
water hammer.
Most CW systems have two or more op-
erating pumps. The worst-case scenario is
when all of the operating pumps simulta-
neously trip, such as following a complete
power failure. The sudden loss of CW pump
pressure combined with a low static head
pressure, uphill pumping, and a routing that
has intermediate high points creates a high
potential for water hammer.
A sudden loss in pump pressure generates
a large down-surge (negative pressure wave),
which travels downstream at the acoustic
(sonic) velocity of the water. This wave will
reflect, reverse, and split into more waves at
branches and pipe diameter changes. Soon,
positive and negative pressure waves will be
traveling throughout the system, crashing
into pipe bends and fittings. Pipe overpres-
sure and unrestrained movement can damage
the piping, hangers, and attached equipment.
If the down-surge drops the pressure to the
water vapor pressure (full vacuum), the wa-
ter will start to vaporize. When an up-surge
occurs, the pressure increase will cause the
vapor bubbles to implode. That is known as
cavitation, and it can erode internal piping
and component surfaces.
Stopping Reverse Flow
The most common device used to prevent
reverse pipeline flow is a check valve (also
known as a nonreturn valve or zero-veloci-
ty valve). Most check valves begin to close
when the forward flow velocity is approach-
ing zero and the downstream pressure ex-
ceeds the upstream pressure. The valve disk
opens when these conditions reverse.
A power-assisted valve (PAV) can also be
used to prevent reverse flow. Unlike a check
valve, a PAV does not start closing at the time

42 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017

of flow reversal, but rather, is programmed
to start closing when the pump trips. Once
closed, it does not begin to reopen until the
pump starts.
PAVs and some check valves can be speci-
fied to close at two speeds. For example, the
operator can be programmed to close quickly
to about the 20% open position and then
close much slower through the remaining
distance. The initial fast speed helps to mini-
mize backflow through the valve, while the
following slow speed minimizes the water
hammer potential.
If the valve is opened or closed by a
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
2. Effects of check valve closing time differences. This chart shows the effects
that different check valve closing times have on the pressure wave created in circulating water
systems. In this example, flow reaches zero about six seconds after the pump trips. With no
valve installed, reverse flow peaks in 16 seconds and then slowly stabilizes. When the valve
closes instantly, no reverse flow occurs. However, in the 4- and 12-second valve closure sce-
narios, potentially damaging pressure waves are created in the system. The best real-world
design would minimize the pressure wave while preventing reverse flow. Source: Michael F.
Czyszczewski
No valves
0 sec check valve closure
4 sec check valve closure
12 sec check valve closure

Velocity (ft/sec)
motor operator, a power source is needed.
High-torque applications may require a hy-
draulic operator. In case of a power failure,
a battery power source, a design that fails
closed, or a pneumatically powered system
could be used.
Due to the large diameter of CW piping,
a butterfly valve is typically the lightest-
weight, lowest-cost PAV option.

Equipment Concerns
If an event occurs that trips one or more
pumps, but not all of the pumps, the amount
of reverse flow that occurs while the valve is
closing may be large enough to cause equip-
ment performance problems. Before select-
ing a valve, the following issues should
be considered.
Condenser Vacuum Loss. CW sys-
tems are designed so that sufficient flow to
the condenser is possible with one or more
pumps out of service. However, backflow
through a slow closing valve after a pump
trip will cause additional loss of condenser
cooling water flow. Although temporary, this
loss may be enough to cause the steam tur-
bine to trip on high backpressure.
The minimum acceptable flow rate to the
condenser along with the backpressure alarm
and trip settings (generally 511 inches of
mercury absolute (in-HgA) to alarm and
812 in-HgA to trip at full load) should be
obtained from the steam turbine manufac-
turer. If the allowable flow rate and back-
pressure are not available, an estimate of
condenser performance can be calculated
by using guidelines from the Heat Exchange
Institute Standards for Steam Surface Con-
densers or another heat exchanger design
guide. It is not uncommon for the alarm pres-
sure to be exceeded, but backflow should not
reduce CW flow enough to trip the turbine.
Pump Runout. CW pumps are designed
to remain operating if one or more pumps
are taken out of service. However, backflow
from the operating pumps through a tripped
pump will temporarily further reduce system
resistance, causing the performance of the
operating pumps to runout on their curves to
Deceleration=4/3.75=1.07 ft/sec2
higher flow rates. Higher flows may result
in operation out of their operating range and
off the pump curve, which can lead to cavita-
tion, vibration, and possibly overloading of
the motor.
If pump runout conditions are possible,
valve closing time should be decreased to
minimize backflow through a tripped pump,
or the pump manufacturer should be consult-
ed concerning the runout condition.
Backwards Pump Rotation. Reverse
flow will make an unpowered centrifugal
pump spin backwards. These pumps are not
designed to rotate in reverse, and can be dam-
aged if they reach a backward speed much
greater than their forward design speed.
High-vibration, undesirable stresses, and
detrimental loads on the motor, bearings, and
other components could result.
The Hydraulic Institute, a North Ameri-
can association of pump industry manu-
facturers, publishes allowable back-speed
limits that could be used, if the original
pump manufacturer does not provide lim-
its. Higher specific speed pumps are more
tolerant of high back-speed. If the allow-
able back-speed is exceeded, a shorter
valve closing time should be specified, or
the pump should be supplied with a reverse
speed prevention (ratchet) device.
Pump Restart. If tripped pumps are re-
energized before the flow has been given
time to stabilize, the up-surge in pressure
can trigger water hammer. Any trapped va-
Time (sec.)
por cavities that collected at system high
points will violently collapse due to the
pressure increase. The pressure waves gen-
erated may shake and overstress the piping
and damage it, as well as restraints and con-
nected equipment.
Computer Modeling. Reverse flow is
best studied with the help of a commercial
transient (water hammer) software program.
Applied Flow Technologys (AFTs) Impulse
software was used to create the figures for
this article, but many other software pack-
ages are available. Most programs use the
method of characteristics. Incidentally, the
models for open cooling and cooling tower
configurations were constructed for illustra-
tion purposes only.
Choosing the Right Check Valve
An ideal check valve would close instantly at
the time of flow reversal. Real check valves,
however, take a finite time to close. During
this time, some backflow will occur through
the valve and a pressure wave will be pro-
duced upon valve closure (Figure 2).
No Flow Restriction. This is a baseline
case illustrating unrestricted flow without a
check valve. The velocity steadily drops after
the pump trip and reverses direction after 6
seconds. At the time of reversal, the flow is
decelerating at 1.07 ft/sec2. The reverse ve-
locity reaches a maximum value in approxi-
mately 16 seconds and afterwards begins to
slow and stabilize.

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June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 43
 OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
3. Reverse velocity versus deceleration curves. In general, check valve slam is
not a great concern as long as reverse velocity remains less than 0.5 ft/sec. Source: Michael F.
Czyszczewski
Maximum reverse velocity (ft/sec)
Deceleration (ft/sec2)
Valve Closes Instantly. A check valve
will begin to close when the flow velocity
is zero. An ideal check valve would close
instantly at that time. As shown in Figure 2,
no pressure wave occurs under this scenario.
Valve Closes After Flow Reversal. Real
check valves experience a lag time before
they begin to close, since a minimum pres-
sure differential must first be overcome. To
illustrate more realistic valve behavior, an
example is shown in which closure begins
when the flow velocity drops to zero, but
it takes four seconds for the valve to close
completely. Backflow will occur through
the valve during this time, a pressure wave
occurs at the moment of complete valve clo-
sure. The magnitude of the pressure wave is
a function of the reverse velocity that would
have occurred without the valve closing. A
12-second closing scenario is also shown in
Figure 2.
Manufacturers have devised various de-
signs in an attempt to achieve ideal check
valve performance. Valves can be purchased
with disks that have low inertia, are axially
mounted, or travel only a short distance.
Some valve types can be immediately
excluded from consideration for practical
reasons. A 72-inch swing check valve may
be impossible to find, and if one is located,
it may be too large, slow, and heavy to be
practical.
The moving disk in valves with a long lag
time, or which move slowly, will be subjected
to higher reverse flow velocities. A high flow
velocity will accelerate the disk and slam the
valve shut. This phenomenon is known as
check valve slam and is a common cause
of water hammer.
If there is a possibility of severe check
44
valve slam, specify a design using a damper
or spring to cushion the disk travel just before
complete closure. These valves are known as
silent or quiet check valves. ing the valve close at the predicted time of
In order to help with selecting an appro-
priate valve type, many manufacturers and
water hammer reference books publish ver-
sions of reverse velocity versus deceleration
curves based on work by A.R.D. Thorley,
whose Check Valve Behavior Under Tran-
sient Flow Conditions: A State-of-the-Art
Review was published in the Journal of
Fluids Engineering in 1989. In general, the
curves indicate that check valve slam poten-
tial is not a concern if the valve closes before
the reverse velocity reaches 0.5 ft/sec and
will have only a mild slam potential up to ve-
locities of 1.0 ft/sec (Figure 3).
For example, if a computer model of a
system without check valves indicates flow
deceleration is 20 ft/sec2 at the time of flow
reversal, using the Thorley curves you find
that a split-disk check will allow a velocity
of up to 0.6 ft/sec before closing. That is only
slightly in the zone that indicates a mild slam
potential and could be considered acceptable.
However, if there was a concern, a more slam
tolerant valve type such as a nozzle check
could be selected to drop the potential for
slam into the safe zone. The maximum valve
closing time to use in the computer model
would be the time that it takes to go from
zero velocity to the velocity obtained using
the Thorley curve.
Check valves do not provide positive shut-
off. A check valve will reopen whenever the
inlet pressure exceeds the outlet pressure
enough to overcome the disks lifting veloc- should be staggered to avoid surges. The PAV
ity. Therefore, isolation valves must be pro-
vided downstream of the check valves.
www.powermag.com
The PAV Alternative
The maximum and minimum acceptable
PAV closing times can be found by making
a series of test runs using a computer model
(Figure 4).
No Flow Restriction. This is the base-
line case illustrating unrestricted flow with-
out a PAV. The pump pressure rapidly drops
in about one second. Although the drop is
steep, the pressure always remains above
atmospheric.
PAV Closes Before Flow Reversal.
Closing the valve before the flow reverses,
such as two seconds after the pump trip,
will create a low-pressure zone on the down-
stream side of the valve and a high-pressure
zone on the upstream side. It is very common
for pressure to drop to near full vacuum on
the downstream side as shown in Figure 4 by
the flat line near 0 psia. Full vacuum pressure
will cause the water to vaporize and cavitate.
If significant vaporization occurs and forms
into a vapor cavity, water hammer can occur
when the flow reverses and collapses the va-
por space.
PAV Closes at Flow Reversal. Hav-
flow reversal (six seconds in the Figure 4
example) shows only a small pressure spike.
This case is similar to that of the ideal check
valve, except that the earlier start of valve
closing causes a slight shift in the time of
flow reversal.
PAV Closes After Flow Reversal. The
pressure spike generated at valve closure
increases in magnitude as the lag time in-
creases. In this example, a 6-second lag
between flow reversal and valve closure,
creates a spike of about twice the normal
operating pressure.
PAV Closes When Flow Is Stable. Pre-
dictably, extending the valve closing time
into the period when the flow has become
stable does not produce a pressure spike.
Based on these observations, the mini-
mum PAV closing duration should be the ap-
proximate time of flow reversal determined
by the analysis. The maximum time should
be based on consideration of the equipment
performance issues described earlier. Longer
times are preferable to shorter times, so pick
a time at the long end of the range.
Restarting one or more pumps too quickly
could result in a pressure surge. In general,
a pump should not be restarted until after it
has stopped spinning and its discharge valve
has finished closing. Pump restart computer
simulations should be used to determine the
minimum permissible pump restart time. In
parallel pumping systems, the restart times
opening speed is typically specified to be the
same as the closing speed.
|
POWER June 2017
 OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
The PAV closure time is not critical unless
4. Pressure versus time. The chart shown here compares the pressure-time history
there is a possibility that a pump trip could
near the pump discharge for different pressure-assisted valve (PAV) closing times when all
pumps trip in an open cooling system model. Source: Michael F. Czyszczewski develop an oscillating wave in the sump that
will cause the check valve to repeatedly cycle
between open and closed. If the computer
model shows that type of behavior, the PAV
PAV closed when stable - 40 sec should be specified to close shortly after the
PAV closes after reversal - 12 sec
check valve closes.
Clearly, both check valves and PAVs alone
PAV closes at reversal - 6 sec
are capable of preventing reverse flow. Install-
Pressure (psia)

PAV closes before reversal - 2 sec ing both is somewhat redundant. The redun-
No valves dancy may be justified in situations where the
benefit of having high reliability is important
(Table 1). However, this benefit comes with
greater complexity and component cost.

Other Considerations
When the CW pumps trip, the pressure may
drop to near full vacuum at the pump dis-
charge. Adjustments to the check valve or
PAV closing time are not always sufficient
to raise the pressure above full vacuum and
Vaporization is occurring Time (sec.)
prevent cavitation from occurring. In those
cases, a vacuum breaker (air-inlet) valve is
Table 1. The skinny. This table summarizes valve-timing recommendations when using needed to raise pressure by automatically ad-
check valves, power-assisted valves, or both to prevent reverse flow in circulating water sys- mitting air when a vacuum is detected.
tems. Source: Michael F. Czyszczewski
The pump discharge and condenser outlet
Type Situation Timing are areas prone to full vacuum pressure due
to their high elevation. A computer model
Time of flow reversal plus lag time.
is an ideal tool for determining if vacuum
Time that check valve begins Choose a lag time appropriate to the type of check valve breakers are needed and how to size them.
closing used. Use opening velocity requirements given in Crane 410
However, a discussion of vacuum breakers
Check valve for guidance.
and air valves is beyond the scope of this
As quick as possible appropriate for the valve type. article. If these valves are needed, readers
Time that check valve takes
Chose a valve type based on consideration of slam potential should discuss sizing options with a repu-
to close
per Thorley deceleration curves.
table equipment manufacturer.
Time that PAV begins closing Time of pump trip. There are additional methods for mitigat-
Less than the time of maximum back-flow as determined for a ing pump trip and reverse flow transients
test case run without check valves. that are not presented here. They include the
Short enough so that there remains sufficient flow to the use of surge tanks, changes to the pump mo-
Power-assisted tor inertia, adding pump bypass lines, using
condenser when some pumps remain in operation.
valve (PAV) Time that PAV stops closing. pressure relief valves, or installing surge an-
Short enough so that the operating pumps do not run off their
pump curves due to backflow through the tripped pumps. ticipation valves.
Most options offer some cost and per-
Short enough to prevent excessive backflow from exceeding
formance advantages and disadvantages.
pump back-speed limits.
Some installations have unique configu-
Time at which flow becomes stable (constant velocity and rations or operating conditions that may
Minimum pump restart time
pressure). require investigation of these other alter-
Both
Time that valve stops natives. However, it has been the authors
Same as selected closing time.
opening experience that installing a single-speed,
butterfly-type PAV at each CW pump dis-
Combining Options charge is the simplest and most cost-ef-
Some CW installations have both a check Starting a medium-specific-speed pump fective solution for the majority of cases,
valve and PAV installed downstream of each against a closed valve will reduce the pow- which might be encountered. Computer
pump. This arrangement performs primar- er required to start and will also prevent modeling of complex hydraulic transients
ily like a check valve installation. The check pump runout. If there is a concern that is the best way to evaluate the options and
valve is the first line of defense against re- the motor could be overloaded by running ensure a problem free design.
verse flow, and it will passively react and the pump dead headed against a closed Michael F. Czyszczewski (michael.
close based on the fluid velocity and differ- valve, the pump start can be momentarily czyszczewski@sargentlundy.com) is a
ential pressure. The PAV provides backup delayed until the valve is about 10% open. senior-level mechanical engineer with 40
protection against reverse flow in the event The PAV also provides positive flow isola- years of experience working at Sargent &
that the check valve sticks open. Some other tion required for pump maintenance. No Lundy on the design and specification of
benefits of this design include: manual isolation valves are required. power plant components.

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June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 45
 TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE
Borescope Inspection Saves Time
and Money for Gas Turbine Plant
Inspecting the internal condition of a turbine generator is an important main-
tenance activity, but tearing a unit apart is a long and expensive process.
Borescope inspections offer one way to minimize work while still getting
the information needed to evaluate operability.
Lou Angora

M
ajor gas turbine and generator in-
spections can be very time con-
suming and costly. Equipment can
be out of service for weeks and often in-
spections reveal that the machine is in fine
working condition. If even a handful of steps
can be completed just as effectively but in a
shorter period of time using new tools, it can
shave days off an outage and save owners
many thousands of dollars.
Thats what Corpus Christi, Texasbased
Baseload Power aimed to do for San Diego
Gas and Electrics Calpeak facility in Decem-
ber 2016. Baseload Powerfounded in 2013
by Richard Lowrance and his business part-
ner Robert Walsheis a power generation
parts and services company that provides on-
site original equipment manufacturerlevel
generator maintenance services. Lowrance
and Walshe gained experience working at
Brush Electrical Machines and General Elec-
tric, respectively, but they now provide minor
inspections, major overhauls, electrical test-
ing, training, and emergency outage services,
as well as parts required to complete repairs,
to customers around the world through their
own company.
Routine Major Inspections
Baseload brought in a crew of nine workers
to conduct a major inspection overhaul of the
Calpeak generator. The facility supplies pow-
er to the San Diego area, especially during
hours of peak usage. The plant operates an
FT8 Pratt & Whitney Twinpac package with
two Pratt & Whitney gas turbine engines and
a Brush BDAX 7-290 ER turbine generator.
The rotor weighs about 16 tons and ro-
tates at 3600 rpm. Typically, as part of an
inspection, the rotor must be extracted from
the stator in which it rides. Once removed,
the stator can be inspected and cleaned, and
electrical testing can be conducted. Workers
can also clean the rotor and conduct electri-
cal testing on it.
For the Calpeak job, the team extracted
the rotor from the generator and conducted
1. Keeping cool. This image, taken with the Hawkeye V2 videoscope, shows a cooling vent
from a Brush generator rotor. Courtesy: Baseload Power
a series of borescopic visual inspections
inside the rotor. Borescopes offer one time-
saving measure because visual inspec-
tions can be completed less intrusively.
The slots can be viewed to see if any pas-
sages are blocked, identify insulation defi-
ciencies, locate dirt buildup, and determine
the overall condition of cooling vents.
Were looking to see if there are any abnor-
malities, Lowrance said. We want to be
able to definitively point those things out to
our client.
The goal is to determine if any extreme
deficiencies warrant taking the rotor to a
shop to make internal repairs. If the inspec-
tion identifies only minor concerns, the con-
ditions may simply require monitoring for
further deterioration.
The documentation capability of bore-
scopes comes in quite handy in the moni-
toring process, which can take place over
a long period of time. Once the generator
has operated for a predetermined number of
hours, possibly in the hundreds or thousands
depending on the finding, the team would go
back in and look at the areas of concern to
see if problems have migrated or worsened.
Using flexible, articulating video bore-
scopes to conduct the required inspections
eliminates literally days of labor that it would
otherwise take to tear down a system like
this, Lowrance said.
Video Borescope Offers a
Cost-Effective Solution
In years past, flexible fiberoptic scopes were
the industry standard. However, because of
the nature of fiberoptics, image quality was
not nearly as good as todays video bore-
scopes. After testing and leasing a number
of borescope options, the Baseload Power
group now uses Hawkeye V2 video bore-
scopes. Lowrance said the Hawkeye scopes
are very cost-effective, especially in light of
the savings in labor.
Borescopic inspection allows us to
quickly inspectdeep inside the rotorand
capture photos and video, which become part
of our full report to our client. Every time
we go through a borescope process, we keep
those still pictures and they are added to the
report, he said.
While the most revealing images are
placed in the report (Figure 1), the remain-
ing pictures can be given to the customer on
a USB drive so that they have all the photos
without overburdening the report with hun-
dreds of pictures.

46 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017

2. Taking a peek. This image shows a ro-
tor slot entrance. Courtesy: Baseload Power
3. Going deep. This image shows a rotor
slot with coil locating dowel. Courtesy: Basel-
oad Power
There are very sophisticated video bore-
scopes on the market that sell for $40,000,
$50,000, and even $60,000, Lowrance said.
Over the last 20 years I have used many of
them, but the bottom line to me is thatfor
our needsthere is no greater value to using
those than the scopes we use, which sell for
a fraction of the price. The Hawkeye V2 is
truly a more user-friendly device for every-
day maintenance guys to use.
The difference between the higher-end
borescopes and the Hawkeye is really just
measuring capability, according to Lowrance.
At the end of the day, if you find a nick on
a blade, you can slide a piece of safety wire
inside and get it into the picture. Thats one
way you can make your call, said Lowrance.
I know that seems primitive in todays digi-
tal age, but in many normal maintenance in-
stances, precise, expensive metrology is just
not needed.
Of course, the inspection results dictate
what follow-on maintenance must take place.
There are established tolerances for nicks
in blades, and those tolerances determine
whether or not you have to top case the jet
and blend the blades or if they can remain in
service as is. Having some form of measur-
ing capability may be necessary.
In those instances where measurement
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June 2017 POWER
is needed, we can always rent a metrology
capable borescope for about $150 per day,
and not have to charge the client for an in-
strument like that to be on the job site at all
times, Lowrance said.
When asked if the use of borescopic in-
spection offered a particular advantage during
a major overhaul like the Calpeak assignment
(Figure 2), Lowrance responded, It is most
valuable on these types of major overhauls,
because you have the rotor out and youre
able to look under the caps on the rotor, look
at the insulation, the pegs, the blocking, the
windings, and visually inspect the crossover.
Youre able to see everything internally that
you simply cant see externally.
A Photographic and Video Record
Lowrance noted that because the rotor is a
16-ton piece of equipment rotating at 3600
rpm, there is a lot of centrifugal force and a
lot of different inertias going on inside the
rotor. The borescope examination gives in-
spectors the opportunity to look at every pos-
sible issue and record conditions via photos
and video. With the findings documented and
placed in a report, or saved in a database for
review during the next inspection, owners
have evidence to base decisions on.
That is especially important for major
inspections because they only happen about
once every 10 years. With the historic docu-
mentation, owners can assess the equipments
current condition and track comparatively if
blockage is shifting, insulation is moving, or
deterioration is worsening.
Additionally, images can sometimes be
used to theorize about other indications. For
example, if vibration levels increase, a savvy
technician may be able to review photos and
conclude that a previously observed block-
age is migrating. If a system has been in
operation for 20 years or more, this type of
approach offers the ability to really trend the
machines operation.
In minor inspections, borescopic videos
can be nearly as important. For example, if
an oil line burst on the outside of a machine
and the generator sucks it into the intake,
it may not immediately affect the way that
the generator operates. However, in time,
the greasy film collects dust and grime. The
buildup can diminish airflow, which can then
create tracking or overheating. Those condi-
tions can become a very big problem.
Borescopes save the extraordinary man-
hours required to dissemble panels to get a
look inside. A borescope allows you to im-
mediately see whats going on and acquire
some real-time photographs.
As an example, Lowrance recalled a New
York plant overhaul he was involved in.
There had been some oil and foreign material
www.powermag.com
TURBINE GENERATOR MAINTENANCE
sucked into the generator intake. Using the
borescope, Lowrance was able to see what
appeared to be various metallic and semi-
metallic particles inside the generator, which,
of course, is not good.
For the initial inspection, I went in
with the borescope, saw what was going
on, took some photographs, and was able
to put all of that into a report to give to the
customer and say, Here is what is inside
your generator, Lowrance said. So the
customer was able to see the issues first-
hand, and that, of course, helped them to
make the decision to spend the money to
pull the rotor before the situation became a
much bigger problem.
Useful on All Models
Baseload Power works with a variety of gen-
erators including Brush, GE, Alstom, Electric
Machine, Ideal, Westinghouse, and Toshiba.
At the end of the day a generator is a
generator, Lowrance said. Each manufac-
turer tries to maintain the highest industry
standards. However, we primarily service the
Brush community because they are the most
prolific generator used in the type of power
generation that we specialize in.
Many of the Brush generators are pack-
aged with Pratt & Whitney turbines. The units
have been installed in locations throughout
the world.
In the case of our work, we can see
inside the rotor to inspect the cooling pas-
sage, the lamination to the slots, and the coil
locating dowel [Figure 3], using the bore-
scope, Lowrance said.
Baseload Power inspects the windings or
turns and coils, and the blocking and air vent
gaps. It can also inspect the insulation and
assess the overall condition of the rotor. Hav-
ing the ability to look at different aspects of
the windings inside the rotor is essential to
achieving an understanding of what is really
inside the generators big black body.
At the Calpeak plant, we were able to
give our client some very good news about
the very good condition of their system,
said Lowrance. In a nutshell, we were able
to give the customer a great picture, a story
about what is going on inside the rotor, and
explain what condition it is in today.
Ten years from now, when it is time to
conduct another major inspection, the team
performing the work will be able to look
back at Baseload Powers documentation
with confidence. Either they will find that
the system aged well or that conditions de-
teriorated over time. Whichever the case, the
borescopic inspection will have served a vital
role in the assessment.
Lou Angora is a communications
consultant for Gradient Lens Corp.
47
 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The Deep Dispute over
Deep Decarbonization
It began as an academic argument over how the world could meet a goal of
90% reductions in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, known as deep
decarbonization. Underneath the academic language is a fight among
renewable energy advocates on the one hand and defenders of a role for
conventional generating technologies, particularly nuclear, on the other.
Kennedy Maize

I
n late 2015 in Paris, most of the nations
in the world, including the U.S., commit-
ted to taking measures to reduce carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions enough to prevent
a rise of global temperatures by 2 degrees
Celsius (C). That meant stabilizing the at-
mospheric CO2 concentration at 450 parts
per million (ppm) or less.
The Paris Agreement is remarkably ob-
tuse, abstract, and difficult to parse. Its
ambiguities, of course, allow the various
national governments to agree to the goals
without requiring countries to actually meet
specific targets. The Obama administration
even said it did not view its Paris commit-
ments as a treaty, requiring Senate ratifica-
tion, although it argued that the executive
agreement had the strength necessary to
succeed. The administration knew that a Re-
publican-controlled Senate would not ratify
the agreement as legally binding.
In the U.S., the agreement triggered a
series of academic analyses aimed at figur-
ing out how to reduce CO2 emissions, both
in the U.S. and across the globe, by 70% to
90% by 2050. Thats a dauntingperhaps
impossiblereach called deep decarbon-
ization.
Six European scientists outlined the mag-
nitude of the task in an article published in
the journal Science last March. Heres the
heavy lifting required to hit the Paris target
(Figure 1):
Each decade, the world would have to cut
CO2 emissions from energy use in half.
That may be easy from 2017 to 2020.
It gets much tougher for 2020 through
2030, and even more difficult for 2040
through 2050. This requires enormous in-
creases in energy efficiency, deployment
of large-capacity and long-duration ener-
gy storage, and other energy technologies
not yet known.
Land use emissions from agriculture and
1. What will it take to make the Paris Agreement a reality? A core scenario
proposed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that would be compatible with limiting the
rise in global mean temperature to 2 degrees Celsius by 2100 with a probability of 66% could
require that renewables and other low-carbon technologies make up more than 80% of global
installed capacity by 2050. The IEAs New Policies Scenario assumes climate pledges made as
part of the Paris Agreement are fulfilled. Courtesy: Chapter 2 of Perspectives for the energy
transitioninvestment needs for a low-carbon energy system OECD/IEA 2017
deforestation would have to fall steadily and storage.
to zero, while the worlds population Pushing the all-renewables case is
grows. Feeding a growing world with Stanford professor Mark Jacobson (Figure
diminishing CO2 emissions is a conun- 2) and his The Solutions Project, which
drum. says on its website (www.thesolutionspro-
Technologies to remove and store CO2 ject.org), The world can transition to 100%
(not including geoengineering, see side- clean, renewable energy. The project is
bar), which only exist on a tiny scale to- funded by a range of renewable energy en-
day, would have to explode beyond any thusiasts including the foundations of actor
known growth pattern. Leonardo DiCaprio and entrepreneur Elon
Musk.
While the decarbonization goals ulti- The Solutions Project accelerates the
mately may not be achievable, various hy- transition to 100% clean, renewable energy
pothetical claims have emerged about how for all people and purposes, according to
to meet them in a detailed way. The analyses its website. To achieve this mission, we
of how to implement such deep cuts in CO2 engage the public, celebrate and convene
emissions have led to competing camps. On leaders, and advance partnerships and poli-
one side are advocates of 100% renewables cies to make strides on the road to 100%.
to achieve deep CO2 reductions. On the We implement this integrated model at the
other are those who believe the claims of state level. To maintain our national reach,
the 100% group are impractical and costly. we develop inspired content, amplify sto-
They want to preserve technologies that are ries and media, and create opportunities to
not just wind, solar, hydro, and biomass, but celebrate and activate leadership across the
also nuclear, and fossil with carbon capture country.

48 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Is Geoengineering the Answer?

The competing scenarios of how to reach near-zero carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions by 2050 all explicitly exclude geoengineering (see
Geoengineering: A Practical Climate Work-Around or Just Plain
Crazy? in the July 2014 issue of POWER). Many experts in the
field dealing with how to respond to climate change view geoen-
gineering with considerable skepticism.
The daunting task of reducing CO2 emissions to near zero may
require chemical and physical approaches that tackle the mecha-
nisms that produce global warming, not just ways to reduce emis-
sions in the first place. These include measures to prevent sunlight
from hitting the planet, either blocking it or reflecting it back
into space. A recent BBC broadcast said the world might need a
Plan B for responding to global warming.
David Keith of Harvards School of Engineering and Applied Sci-
ences, a geoengineering guru, in a 2013-published book A Case
for Climate Engineering(MIT Press, 2013), says: Geoengineering
complements emissions reductions. Cutting emissions reduces
the long run risk by stopping the accumulation of carbon, while
geoengineeringif it works as expectedwill reduce risks in the
short run (in the slow moving world of carbon and climate short
run means the next half century).
Keith was a speaker at a March 2017 Forum on U.S. Geoengi-
neering Research at Washingtons Carnegie Endowment for Inter-
national Peace. Harvards Solar Geoengineering Research Program
and the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment
at the University of California, Los Angeles, hosted the event. The
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funded it.
Among those suggesting a role for geoengineering as a decar-
bonization backstop is Jesse Jenkins, a doctoral candidate in en-
gineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is
affiliated with the Breakthrough Institute. Whether we can re-
verse the atmospheric concentration or warming will depend on
whether we can develop cost effective negative carbon technolo-
gies, carbon capture and storage and biomass, or even geoengi-
neering to directly address warming, Jenkins said.
Geoengineering research also has deep-pockets backing it, in-
cluding Microsoft founder Bill Gates, British billionaire Richard
Branson, and Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom.
Many environmentalists oppose geoengineering technology
as too risky. They argue that fooling around with the way the
atmosphere responds to sunlight could change rainfall pat-
terns and other weather features. They also say engineered
approaches to fixing the climate could undercut emissions re-
ductions programs. A 2010 United Nations resolution called
for a moratorium on all but very small-scale geoengineering
experiments.
Nevertheless, the daunting task of deep decarbonization could
lead to climate engineering if the world definitively determines
that a 2-degree-Celsius rise in global temperatures is an existen-
tial threat to the planet.

2. A renewables optimist. Mark Ja-

cobson, a professor of civil and environmental
engineering at the Stanford Woods Institute
for the Environment, has developed road-
maps to transition states and countries to
100% renewable energy. Courtesy: Stanford
University
While many modelled scenarios have been
published claiming to show that a 100%
renewable electricity system is achievable,
there is no empirical or historical evidence
that such systems are in fact feasible.
B.P. Heard, et. al. in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
Vol. 76, Sept. 2017

over-building of renewables in order to ac- as wind and solar, it would be significantly

Jacobsons aggressive renewables agenda
has sparked opposition. Opponents claim
his analysis understates the problems of
widespread reliance on intermittent and
undispatchable resources, and the need for
widespread transmission construction. It
also ducks the issue of how to provide an-
cillary grid services. The renewables-only
strategy, the critics charge, requires massive
commodate their low capacity factors.
There are two branches of research on
how to get deep decarbonization, Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology researcher
Jesse Jenkins told Utility Dive. One looks
at how to get high renewables penetrations.
The other looks at how to reduce [green-
house gas emissions (GHGs)] in the power
sector. The second group foresees diverse
resources, not just renewables.
Jenkins is coauthor of a study with Sam-
uel Thernstrom for the Energy Innovation
Reform Project, which looks at the current
literature on deep decarbonization. They
conclude, While it is theoretically pos-
sible to rely primarily (or even entirely) on
variable renewable energy resources such
more challenging and costly than pathways
that employ a diverse portfolio of resources.
In particular, including dispatchable low-
carbon resources in the portfolio, such as
nuclear energy or fossil energy with carbon
capture and storage (CCS), would signifi-
cantly reduce the cost and technical chal-
lenges of deep decarbonization.
So far, Jacobsons all-renewables argu-
ment is not making much progress beyond
the activist community. In an article in the
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
journal, a group of four Australian scientists
probed the deep decarbonization literature.
They found, While many modelled scenar-
ios have been published claiming to show
that a 100% renewable electricity system

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 49
 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
is achievable, there is no empirical or his-
torical evidence that such systems are in fact
feasible.
The Roots of Deep
Decarbonization
The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC)adopted
in 1994 as a result of the 1992 Earth Sum-
mit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazilstarted the
world on the path to the 2015 Paris Agree-
ment. Climate policy analyst Roger Pielke
Jr. observed that the UNFCCC serves as
the overarching framework under which the
Paris Agreement was negotiated. The UN-
FCCC has as its ultimate objective the sta-
bilization of greenhouse gas concentrations
in the atmosphere at a level that would pre-
vent dangerous anthropogenic interference
with the climate system.
Pielke offers the metaphor of a bathtub,
with water flowing in faster than it flows
out. He says the danger is that the water in
the metaphorical bathtub overflows and
floods the house. When will that occur with
regard to CO2? Most experts target about
450 ppm, which could lead to a 2 degree
C increase in global temperatures. Current
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration estimates put the current level of
CO2 at about 400 ppm.
To prevent this concentration, global
emissions (not just from the U.S.) must fall
to close to zero. Reducing global emis-
sions by 20% or 40% or even 60% is not
enough, Pielke writes, just as reducing the
rate at which water is flowing into a bathtub
by those amounts would not end the risk of
the tub overflowing. It would just delay the
inevitable.
The UNFCCC, which won unanimous
U.S. senate approval and the signature of
President George H.W. Bush, led to interna-
From 1994 to 2014a period under which
the [UNFCCC] was in effectthe worlds
total energy consumption increased by
50%, but the proportion of that consump-
tion from carbon-free sources increased only
from 12.8% to 13.7%. At that rate, it will
take about 1,700 more years for the worlds
energy supply to become more than 90%
carbon free.
Roger Pielke Jr., climate policy analyst
50
tional negotiations in Japan in 1997, spear-
headed by former Vice President Al Gore.
The Kyoto Protocol, where developed coun-
tries pledged to meet legally binding emis-
sions reductions, was the result. It was never
ratified by the U.S. and was acknowledged
as a worldwide failure, as was a 2009 con-
ference in Copenhagen, Denmark, aimed
at developing a more inclusive agreement.
That led to the Paris conference in 2015.
The Paris deal abandoned the legally bind-
ing policy illusion, calling on nations to
make nonbinding, and in many cases hor-
tatory, commitments to do something to
prevent a 2-degree-C temperature increase.
Specificity would come later.
That commitment ultimately requires the
90% global reduction of CO2 emissions.
The world stands very far away from this
level, writes Pielke. According to the BP
Statistical Review of World Energy, in 2014
more that 86% of the worlds energy con-
sumption came from fossil fuels. From
1994 to 2014a period under which the
[UNFCCC] was in effectthe worlds to-
tal energy consumption increased by 50%,
but the proportion of that consumption from
carbon-free sources increased only from
12.8% to 13.7%. At that rate, it will take
about 1,700 more years for the worlds en-
ergy supply to become more than 90% car-
bon free.
The Paris Agreement nations met in Mar-
rakech, Morocco, in November 2016, just
as U.S. voters elected climate skeptic Don-
ald Trump as president. A group of Obama
administration environmental staffers pre-
sented the Obama plan for implementing the
Paris Agreement, even though it was clear
that the election could derail the proposal.
It was titled United States Mid-Century
Strategy for Deep Decarbonization.
The stillborn Obama plan said the U.S.
www.powermag.com
would reduce CO2 emissions by 80% by
2050. Renewables would make up 55% of
the energy supply, and nuclear 17%. The
remaining 28% would be fossil-fueled en-
ergy, with 20% of that cohort using CCS. A
carbon price with an unspecified mecha-
nism to collect it would incentivize the U.S.
private sector to cut its carbon dioxide emis-
sions. Many skeptics viewed the outgoing
administrations plan as impractical and
costly.
Even then, the Obama plan said, the mea-
sures it proposed wouldnt be enough to
achieve deep decarbonization, so the plan
called for reforestation on a massive scale
to suck CO2 out of the air, more efficient use
of cropland, and bioenergy with CCS. The
price tag for the U.S. would be in the tril-
lions of dollars by many estimates.
Decarbonization in the Trump Era
That Obama decarbonization plan was then.
Donald Trump is now. What will a Trump
administration mean for plans to slash U.S.
(and worldwide) CO2 emissions to the bone,
at the expense of fossil fuels?
It doesnt look promising for those who
want to see deep decarbonization, and par-
ticularly for those who want to see a 100%
renewables future. While Trump has not re-
jected the Paris deal, he has made it clear he
does not view global warming as a national
or international problem.
During his campaign, Trump claimed,
hyperbolically, that global warming is a
hoax, invented by the Chinese to damage
the U.S. economy. He also said his admin-
istration would revitalize the coal industry,
while supporting domestic production of
oil and gas. His Office of Management and
Budget chief, former South Carolina Repub-
lican congressman Mick Mulvaney, said the
Trump administration would not be spend-
ing money combating global warming.
In November, just days after Trump won
the presidential election, the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency (EPA) issued
a request for applications for research on
deep decarbonization. The notice was titled,
Anticipating the Environmental Impact and
Behavioral Drivers of Deep Carbonization.
The closing date for the solicitation was
February 10.
In typical bureaucratic verbosity, EPA
said it is seeking applications proposing
research that will contribute to an improved
ability to understand and anticipate the pub-
lic health and environmental impacts and
behavioral drivers of significant changes in
energy production and consumption in the
United States, particularly those changes as-
sociated with advancing toward the deep de-
carbonization necessary to achieve national
|
POWER June 2017

and international climate change mitigation
objectives and avoid the most significant
health, environmental, and economic im-
pacts of climate change.
POWER requests to the EPA to comment
Many experts say that U.S. CO2 emissions
will continue their recent steady decline,
despite the intentions of the Trump
administration to boost fossil fuels.
Thats a function of bottom-up market
forces, trumping any top-down initiatives
from Washington.
on the status of this project have not re-
ceived a response. But it doesnt look good
for the future of the EPA initiative, given
the Trump administrations view of global
warming and its desire to cut deeply into
the EPAs budget. An internal EPA memo,
|
June 2017 POWER
obtained by the E&E news site, from acting
Chief Financial Officer David Bloom, said,
To provide additional clarity on priorities,
as well as deliberation on options and im-
pacts, I am asking you to provide details
on those activities that will be supported,
reduced and eliminated at this level of fund-
ing relative to [fiscal year] 2016 activities.
These responses will be provided to leader-
ship for review and concurrence or follow
on discussions, as appropriate, to support
www.powermag.com
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
the development of the budget request.
The White House doesnt determine the
EPAs budget. Thats a matter for Congress
to determine. Its unlikely that the draco-
nian cuts that the Trump administration has
signaled in its preliminary budget plan will
persevere. But it is likely that a Republican
legislature will cut the EPA budget signifi-
cantly, and that the agencys climate pro-
grams will be a major target.
Many experts say that U.S. CO2 emis-
sions will continue their recent steady de-
cline, despite the intentions of the Trump
administration to boost fossil fuels. Thats a
function of bottom-up market forces, trump-
ing any top-down initiatives from Washing-
ton. But the decreases wont come close to
the targets set in the Paris Agreement.
And that means deep decarbonization
doesnt have a realistic chance of imple-
mentation, at least not in the U.S. and prob-
ably not anywhere else. Those policies were
a long shot before the Trump election. Since
Trumps ascent to the White House, deep
decarbonization may have become a dead
end.
Kennedy Maizeis a long-time energy
journalist and frequent contributor to
POWER.
51
 ELECTRIC POWER
Power Market Operators and
Participants See a Glimmer of
Optimism in Current Chaos
The conversation at the ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition, as
underscored by comments made in its keynote address and at the an-
nual events executive roundtable, was optimistic yet cautious, owing to
regulatory uncertainty and turmoil in power markets.
Sonal Patel
C
ompared to just five years ago, todays
U.S. power landscape has been trans-
formed. Low natural gas prices, mar-
ket dynamics, technical issues, and policies
that favor renewables precipitated the closure
of five nuclear reactors since 2013, seven
others are slated to shutter soon, and at least
five will remain open owing only to state
programs that deem them too economically
and environmentally significant to close.
Concerns about the long-term viability of the
wholesale market model in the face of politi-
cal intervention are drawing to a crescendo,
prompting the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC)which may finally
have its quorum restored following President
Trumps nomination of two candidates to fill
vacant leadership seatsto set up a technical
conference as an outlet for these issues.
Havoc has been unleashed in some tradi-
tional markets too. The Westinghouse finan-
cial debacle has left the future of the four
costly AP1000 nuclear projects uncertain.
And while the Trump administration has be-
gun rolling back key Obama-era rules along
with key climate policies, average annual
net generation from coal-fired unitswhich
reached an annual high of 2 billion kWh in
2007plunged to 1.2 billion kWh in 2016.
In 2016, notably, natural gas generations
share of the U.S. mix soared to 33.8%, for
the first time surpassing coals share, which
was 30.4%. Also, for the first time, non-
hydro renewables share of total U.S. genera-
tion surged to 8.4%, surpassing hydros 6.5%
share in 2016 (Figure 1).
A Silver Lining
At the ELECTRIC POWER Conference and
Exhibition in Chicago in mid-April, concerns
about wide-ranging uncertainty afflicting the
power sector were echoed by several speak-
ers and attendees. Yet, Bryan Hanson (Figure
2), president and chief nuclear officer of Ex-
52
1. Changing power profile. In 2016, for the first time in history, the U.S. consumed
more electricity generated from natural gas than from coal, and more from non-hydro renew-
ables than from hydro. Source: EIA
Percent share
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
2011 2012 2013
elon Nuclear, who gave the annual events
keynote speech on April 11, provided a glim-
mer of optimism. Despite recent setbacks
that have rattled the nuclear industry, he said,
the future of the sector was sound.
Facing stiff competition from cheap gas
power and an influx of renewables, U.S.
nuclear generators in competitive wholesale
markets are forced to grapple with rising
costs and falling wholesale power prices,
along with more stringent regulatory man-
dates, and a lack of federal and state energy
policies that value our product, said Hanson.
And then, there are the political and legal
issues but Ill stop there.
Exelon, he noted, stakes the core of its
business on its nuclear fleet, generating 20.2
GW of nuclear power from 23 reactors at
more than a dozen plants scattered across Il-
www.powermag.com
Net generation (GWh)
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000
1,200,000
1,000,000
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0%
2014 2015 2016
linois, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York,
and Maryland. Over the years, its profit-mak-
ing strategy has been transformed alongside
efforts to modernize, which have required in-
novation and technology, and new approach-
es to operation and maintenance to improve
efficiency and reduce costs to make its fleet
as competitive as possible.
Yet, Exelons reinvention efforts would
have fallen flat if measures it backed on the
public policy front hadnt succeeded, Hanson
said. As early as 2014, we were looking at
potentially having to shut down more than
a third of our nuclear fleet simply because
the plants were losing money. Two stations
in Illinois (Clinton and Quad Cities) and two
more in New York (Ginna and Nine Mile
Point) were at risk, he said. The prospect
of shutting the plants downand putting
|
POWER June 2017

2. Optimism on the nuclear front. Bryan Hanson, senior vice president for Exelon
Generation and president and chief nuclear officer for Exelon Nuclear, gave the keynote speech at
the ELECTRIC POWER Conference and Exhibition on April 11. Source: POWER/ Mark Campbell
thousands of our talented, hard-working em-
ployees out of workbroke my heart. Policy
reforms were the only thing that could save
them, he said.
Thats why Exelon embarked on a hard-
fought campaign to underscore nuclear pow-
ers value to local stakeholders, state policy
makers, elected officials, and state legisla-
tors, and with the crucial backing of a broad
coalition of more than 200 business, labor,
environmental, and even religious groups,
the company managed to help enact the Fu-
ture Energy Jobs Act in Illinois in December
2016. A similar measure had previously been
adopted in New York to preserve the at-risk
Nine Mile Point and Ginna reactors upstate.
For Hanson, the measures were pivotal for
Exelon and the larger nuclear industry. We
had to take action, he said.
But the fight isnt over. The states mea-
sures are being challenged in court by a con-
sortium of non-nuclear merchant generators,
including Dynegy, Eastern Generation, NRG
Energy, and Calpine Corp., which argue that
they interfered with FERCs jurisdiction over
wholesale electric rates and unlawfully in-
terfered with interstate commerce. Even so,
Exelon is confident about the future, Han-
son said. One driving factor certain to under-
score nuclears value is that The transition
to a lower-carbon economy is irreversible,
he said. Market forces, technology advance-
ments, and consumer preference show an
overarching shift towards energy that is
clean and affordable, Hanson added.
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June 2017 POWER
An Era of New Threats
Yet, according to Andrew Ott, who is presi-
dent and CEO of PJM Interconnection, a re-
gional transmission organization (RTO) that
operates a competitive wholesale electricity
market within 13 states and the District of Co-
lumbia, competitive markets are working.
PJM has seen 30 GW of new gas-fired ca-
pacity come online over the past six years,
85% of which was on competitive invest-
mentand most are without long-term
power purchase agreements, said Ott, who
was one of three panelists at the ELECTRIC
POWER executive roundtable (Figure 3) on
April 11. What were seeing ... is a fairly
significant fuel swap, where we have in that
same period about 24,000 MW of coal plants
retiring, he said. Its more than just a fuel
swap. Its actually a technology swap.
Today, PJM has about 300 MW of grid-
scale storage, and an assortment of resources
and provided services, like frequency regu-
lation, that is requiring it to interact and co-
ordinate with the distribution system or
distribution companies, he noted. The rapid
ramp up of gas capacity in PJMs system
from 4% in 2008 to 30% todayhas actu-
ally served to boost fuel diversity in the PJM
space rather than being a liability. Ott added:
I think the legitimate question is if this is a
sustainable approach. Will we build ourselves
into a problem? A report PJM compiled to
answer that, he said, basically says, We think
we are fine from a reliability perspective.
For now, PJMs biggest worries are rooted
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ELECTRIC POWER
in critical infrastructure exposure. More se-
rious than the organizations past concerns,
which were centered on weather-related out-
ages or equipment failure, are cyberthreats
and terrorists, he said. Ott later revealed
that the organization is so concerned about
system corruption that it created a second-
ary, constantly updated energy management
system that it calls its Golden Image, and
which it keeps in a dark room.
If we find our control systems are un-
manageable because theyre corrupted and
we just cant use them anymore, we have
the ability to jettison that whole system and
bring on the [Golden Image] system within
an hour within the current online structure,
he said.
But Ott also suggested there was palpable
anxiety about how exposed fuel delivery and
power systems are, and, inevitably, about
how sturdy efforts to restore systems can be.
Theres a lot more risks that were facing as
a power industry, he said. The question is
Are we really accounting for all those risks
in our operations?
One way to do it is to factor in resiliency,
which in the context of the power system in-
cludes the ability to harden the system against
and rapidly recover from high-impact, low-
frequency events. We need to look at resil-
ience, Ott said. We need to start pricing
resilience and flexibility into our markets.
Resiliency should also be a factor driving
transmission planning, he said. But rather
than rely on state action, such as Illinois
measures to prop up its nuclear plants as
an environmental and economic measure,
that action should occur on a regional level.
Its certainly more logical that if were see-
ing regional benefits to these types of assets
we should price it in. Of course, the most ef-
ficient way to do that is through a regional
carbon price, he said. That may not be
politically attainable but we think there are
ways to look at the way energy prices are
formed, look at the way certain aspects of
resources are valued.
One example would be to think about
pricing commodities. Maybe we should
price flexibility separately and maybe we
should price energy dispatch and balanc-
ing of supply and demand a little bit differ-
ently, he said. The commodity itself then
would price out based on just the supply and
demand balance.
The Complexity of Regional
Operations
For John Bear, president and CEO of the
Midcontinent Independent System Operator
(MISO), another panelist on the roundtable,
the recent state nuclear incentives posed a
conundrum: Weve got kind of this crazy
53
 ELECTRIC POWER
3. Executive roundtable. This years executive roundtable, titled Making the Connec-
tion was moderated by Barry Worthington, executive director of the United States Energy
Association (far left). Its panelists (left to right) were Andrew Ott, president and CEO of PJM
Interconnection, John Bear, president and CEO of the Midcontinent Independent System Op-
erator, and Cindy Crane, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Power, a Berkshire Hathaway
Energy company. Source: POWER/ Mark Campbell
incentive trend today going on where you
have incentives for renewables, which is re-
ally causing some strain on the nuclear fleet.
Then youll have state incentives to support
those nuclear fleets, he said. How do we
balance those things out?
He also pointed to federal and state sub-
sidies, which pose complications for opera-
tors of regional markets. Wind generators,
for example, get incentives to stay running,
despite oversupply. We put some things
in place to try to incentivize them not to
do thatwhich is another market mecha-
nismbut then a state will come in and say,
This is disadvantaging.
Bear noted that the RTO he heads serves 15
U.S. states and the Canadian province of Mani-
toba, and while it constructively competes
with PJM, the two grid operators are inextri-
cably linked, he said. MISO is largely verti-
cally integrated, with the exception of southern
Illinois. Like PJMs, MISOs power mix has
shifted considerably, driven primarily by public
policy and economics, Bear said. Since 2011,
coals share of MISOs total capacity has fallen
from 56.7% to 35%, while gas-fired capacity
rose from 30.4% to 41%. Renewables have also
more than doubled from 6.1% to 13%. Wind
capacity, specifically, jumped from 0.6% in
2011 to 9.3% in 2016, and, according to Bear, it
will double from the current 16 GW to 31 GW
by 2025 or 2026.
Thats a significant change in our port-
54
folio, Bear said. Its forced us to go back
and look at our queue and interconnection
processes to make sure that as all these re-
newable resources are interconnected to our
system, we have the ability to do frequency
control, voltage control, all those kind of
things are there and we can do them reliably.
One issue plaguing MISO, for example, is
that it doesnt have the right transmission
system for its projected power mix as indus-
trial load ramps up in the south and slight-
ly shrinks in the north.
But MISO, too, is grappling with new chal-
lenges, including cybersecurity and threats.
At the same time, it is looking to modern-
ize its IT platforms, looking to monitor and
manage many more points on the grid, and
processing a whole lot more data that will
require a whole lot more computational pow-
er that our systems need to provide.
For MISO, price formation and prices
are also priorities to make sure folks that
own unitsor the resource thats providing
thatcan actually be there for them, Bear
said. And like PJM, it would prefer to resolve
issues at a regional level.
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One issue plaguing MISO, for example,
is that it doesnt have the right transmission
system for its projected power mix as indus-
trial load ramps up in the south and slightly
shrinks in the north. It still also grapples with
resource adequacy,though were learning a
lot from [PJM] and whats going on in New
England, Bear said. Ensuring adequate gas
supplies has prompted MISO to look at re-
source adequacy on a seasonal basis, he said:
What does it look like in the winter and
whats it look like in the summer and how do
we accredit assets across those two dimen-
sions and make it work?
The Western Perspective
Cindy Crane, president and CEO of Rocky
Mountain Power, joked that she was the
panels token generator representative, and
the only one from the West. Her utilitys par-
ent company Berkshire Hathaway Energy,
she noted, also owns Nevada-based NV En-
ergy, Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Co.,
and PacifiCorp, which covers Washington,
Oregon, California, Idaho, Wyoming, and
Utahall vertically integrated utilities. For
PacifiCorp, that means we have to appease
six different state regulatory commissions in
addition to FERC with everything we do.
Its also different from the rest of the
country, because What is unique in the West
is that we actually have 33 balancing authori-
ties ... so a lot of coordination needs to occur
and a lot of self-balancing, she explained.
PacifiCorp is also unique in that it hasnt
had a general rate case increase in any of its
states for several years, and it doesnt plan
to over the coming four years either, she said.
Rocky Mountain Power was actually able to
announce rate decreases and will again this
year, she said. [Its] a trend were trying to
stay with there, Crane said. [To] very much
focus on the customer and the economy and
doing our part managing our business to
make sure were living within our means.
Among the firms most prominent chal-
lenges isas with PJM and MISOcyber-
security, Crane said. But in the West, the
company is also tussling with profitability
risks posed by customers who want to by-
pass the meter and generate power for them-
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POWER June 2017

selves. While smaller self-generators may
rely on solar, some of the firms larger indus-
trial customers are mulling self-generation,
which has become more economical with the
But in the West, the company is also
tussling with profitability risks posed
by customers who want to bypass the
meter and generate power for
themselves.
flood of cheap natural gas, she said. Thus
the reason rates are so important and critical
to us.
The Regulatory Fog
The panelists addressed a number of policy
issues poised to upend the industry. One spe-
cific concern was that the Trump adminis-
tration had not filled three vacancies at the
five-person FERC, months after the commis-
sion lost the quorum it needs to issue major
decisions. FERC had been hobbling along
with only two members, both Democrats,
since Commissioner Norman Bay resigned
on February 3. President Trump formally
submitted nominations for Neil Chatterjee
and Robert F. Powelson to fill two seats on
May 10. Another seat will open when Colette
Honorable steps down on June 3.
I think as time goes on itll become more
and more difficult, so certainly as we look
forward, if it continues for many months into
the future I think it will become more and
more critical that we dont have the ability
to get a new action, or new activities, or fil-
ings, Ott said. Bear lamented the uncertainty
that the lack of leadership poses: I think the
thing we cant understand is the uncertainty
of the long-term plan because we dont know
what the priorities are going to be. All we
know is that there will be a new chair, so
[Cheryl] LeFleur, the acting chair now, prob-
ably wont be the chair going forward.
For Bear, a bigger concern is that the new
administration had slowed down the Clean
Power Plan (on April 28, the D.C. Circuit
stayed litigation on the Obama-era rule for
60 days while the EPA reviews it). We dont
know in which direction it will go, what the
priorities are going to be going forward, and
that uncertainty is concerning, he said. To
that, Ott responded that, while the Clean
Power Plan was likely dead, gas generation
was already driving a significant reduction
in carbon emissions. But sustaining that mo-
mentum will require both cost guarantees
and revenue certainty, especially for genera-
tion assets exposed purely to the market.
|
June 2017 POWER
He also suggested that getting pipelines
built and built quickly would be pivotal to
those efforts.
Crane agreed that the Clean Power Plans
apparent demise would have little impact,
though she noted that it eliminates com-
plexity in the management of our business
because the rule allowed states to choose be-
tween curbing carbon emissions by rate or by
mass, and there was no real consensus that
the states in Rocky Mountain Powers foot-
print would elect the same method.
State policies were having a more pointed
impact on Western generators, Crane said,
and it was likely that Western states would
continue clean energy policies in defiance
of Washington. She also said that her com-
pany was used to seeing negative prices when
hydro runs in the Northwest, but starting last
year they arrived earlier than usualin Feb-
ruary rather than in spring or early summer
affecting all three western markets. The
way we dealt with that is ... we literally took
five of our coal units down. Then we had to
deal with voltage support issues in the Salt
This year, the company is armed with
new tools to assess the energy and
balance market, and it has found ways
to flex that coal fleet like theyve
never flexed it before.
Lake Valley, Crane said. But we learned a
lot from the process, she added. This year,
the company is armed with new tools to as-
sess the energy and balance market, and it
has found ways to flex that coal fleet like
theyve never flexed it before.
Still, from the standpoint of a regulated
utility, Crane added that once a FERC quo-
rum is established, she hoped that the com-
mission would work to repeal or reform
the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act
(PURPA), a 1978 law that requires utilities
to buy power at a fixed rate from qualifying
facilities that otherwise do not have access to
a competitive market.
www.powermag.com
ELECTRIC POWER
The System Reliability Challenge
Asked by the moderator whether the U.S.
power system was introducing too much
risk by increasing its reliance on natural
gas and renewables rather than on baseload
coal and nuclear plants, Crane observed that
We have continued to be amazed and sur-
prised at the true resiliency that our system
already has. We just never tested it as ex-
tensively as were testing it today. She also
noted that her firm is today seeing a true
value of capacity. Even with an exponen-
tial ramp up in rooftop solar, for example
in Utah, Berkshire Hathaway Energy was
finding efficiencies and ways to manage, all
while achieving emission reductions with-
out being saddled with mandatory ways
to comply. It may not be the same in the
California market, she cautioned, because
theres just not enough redundancy in the
gas supply chain and because gas leaks have
restrained the system.
Ott and Bear both responded that their
operations are rooted in a mission to pro-
vide reliability at the lowest possible cost.
Essentially, the point is, are we looking at
those operational risks and are we manag-
ing the system to account for it? Ott asked.
Because, again, blackouts dont happen be-
cause of an n minus one. They dont happen
because of an n minus two. Its usually the
event you never thought of.
Ott pointed to a September 2016 blackout
suffered by South Australia, an Australian
state which recently shuttered all of its coal
plants owing to a ramp up of renewables (for
more, see After Blackout, South Australia
Wrests Control of Its Power Security in
POWERs May 2017 issue). The event was
prompted after two tornadoes damaged a
single circuit 275-kV transmission line and
a double circuit 275-kV transmission line,
some 170 kilometers apart, causing them to
trip, and the system decayed too quickly,
Ott noted.It sounds like an issue where that
same vulnerability can happen anywhere
because all of us are seeing change on the
system, where traditional resources react a
certain way to faults and to disturbances.
Sonal Patel is a POWER
associate editor
55
 EUROPE
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

The Czech Republic: The heart of Doosan

Groups global steam turbine R&D
Creating the latest models of steam turbines and
the most resistant materials, precise components,
and more accurate software all of these projects are
being realised in Doosan koda Powers cutting-edge
experimental laboratory in Plzen, Czech Republic,
Central Europe. Jir Fialas team tackles complex
research projects on steam turbines, for the whole of
the parent Doosan Group.
For four years now, Doosan koda Powers R & D centre has been
carefully monitoring global trends in steam turbine development
to be able to lexibly respond to the customers and the markets
requirements. he information obtained is the basis for the strategic
plan of research, in which Doosan koda Power invests approximately
3% of its turnover, says Jir Fiala, head of the Global R&D Centre at
Doosan koda Power.
he Plzen-based R&D centres business can be summarised in
several categories. One of them is the design and development of the
new types of steam turbines, which are in high demand on the market.
We design new smaller steam turbines for industrial use as well as large
turbines featuring super-critical parameters of inlet steam and outputs
of up to around 1,000 MW. hese already are requirements for high
parameters, for example, pressures of 250 to 280 bar and temperatures
of 600 to 620C, he adds, describing this activity.
Another line of research involves the development and application
of new materials that must withstand ever higher operating
parameters. he recently developed welded rotor is made ofmaterials
capable of coping with inlet temperatures of up to 700C. Material
research also covers new surface
inishing technologies, such as those
for steam valve spindles and, most
recently, those for coating inlet blades
of turbines to help the blades better
resist the impact of the mechanical
impurities contained in steam.
A very important part of research is the development of
components for steam turbines, in particular the development of
new high-eiciency blade types. It is said that the sophistication of a
steam turbine manufacturer can be told by the longest last-stage blade
that they are able to develop successfully. To date, the most challenging
project for this R&D centre has probably been the development of a
unique last-stage blade of titanium with a length of 1,370 millimetres.
For the sake of illustration, each blade will be loaded by a centrifugal
force of approximately 550 tonnes in operation. his is approximately
the same as the take-of mass of the well-known Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet,
Jir Fiala explains. Turbine component development does not only
include blades but also the development and testing of bearings and
special types of contactless seals and glands.
But research is not just about engineering diagrams and
drawings. R & D experts also develop software for a more accurate
and quicker calculation and design of their turbines. Most of the
newly developed components are tested in the experimental
laboratory on the companys own test stands.
You can read more on http://www.doosanskodapower.
com/en/intro/researchdevelopment.do

AUMA Foundation Fieldbus actuators

support record-breaking CCPP
EDFs new-generation AUMAs actuators are
combined-cycle power plant certiied and registered
(CCPP) in Bouchain, France, with FieldComm Group,
deploys electric actuators from and comply fully with
AUMA for its challenging valve the Foundation Fieldbus
automation tasks. With a record H1 protocol. A Device
thermal eiciency of 62.22 percent Description (DD) facilitates
the plant was rated the worlds DCS integration. Parameters
most eicient gas-ired power can be set or read remotely,
plant by Guinness World Records. and the full diagnostic
he plant uses a single GE 9HA capabilities provided
gas turbine and has a generating by AUMA AC intelligent
capacity of 605 MW. actuator controls can be
exploited, thus enhancing AUMA supplied the electric
To achieve such high eiciency, valve actuation technology to
GE deployed an advanced process monitoring and
EDFs record-breaking Bouchain
distributed control system based increasing plant availability. combined-cycle power plant.
on Foundation Fieldbus (FF) communication. AUMA actuators with he devices are also able to
FF interface seamlessly integrate into this environment. In addition, act as Link Active Schedulers
EDF had already gained positive experience with AUMA actuators (LAS) within the network.
in its combined-cycle plants in Blnod, Martigues, and West Burton AUMA has supplied electric actuation solutions to the power
(UK). sector for more than 50 years. In addition to FF, AUMA provides a
Before installation, AUMA engineers worked closely with GE to comprehensive range of interfaces including, for example, Proibus
adapt the electrical connections to the speciic requirements of the DP, Proinet, Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP/IP, and HART.
plant. AUMA also provided extensive training to EDF staf. www.auma.com

56 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
 EUROPE
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

The Experts In Heat Exchange -

Since 1920
Kelvion is a globally active manufacturer of industrial heat
exchangers for a highly diversiied range of market segments. For
the energy industry numerous product solutions help to generate
and to transfer energy, and to increase use of renewables. In solar
thermal power plants heat exchangers like feed-water preheaters
and condensing systems, such as surface condensers and aircooled
condensers, play a signiicant role. hese condensing systems are
designed to recover the exhaust steam from its vapor to its liquid
state at certain under atmospheric pressure, and also, to remove
non-condensable gases present in the steam cycle. he heat
exchangers achieve optimal energy yield and maximum eiciency.
Kelvion manufactures customized package solutions for each
particular customers needs including thermal and mechanical
design, basic and detail engineering, procurement, manufacturing,
testing, delivery and commissioning of turbine exhaust steam
condensing units, and their materials are selected depending on the
environment. Our standard supply includes the condenser (surface
condenser or aircooled condenser), the steam duct (including
compensator), the steam dump connection, the lash tank, the
vacuum unit system, as well as the pressure-safety devices (rupture
disc and relief valve). he complete solution likewise encompasses
the condensate pump system, the control system, and a pipe-
cleaning system (only for surface condensers).
www.kelvion.com Kelvion Surface Condensor

Tailor-made valves for power

industry applications
Founded in 1867, OHL Gutermuth has been supplying valves to
the industry for more than 150 years. he company manufactures
valves with nominal diameters of up to DN 4000, withstanding
pressures of up to 200 bars and more, as well as handling
temperatures ranging from 196 to 1,300C. Shut-of valves, butterly
control valves, customized valves, other valves and accessories
belong to the range of products.
For example, KX Safelex are metal-seated butterly valves
with triple eccentric design for shut-of and modulating service.
hey combine properties, functions and a variety of uses that are
particularly cost-efective. KX Safelex ofers the highest standards
of operational reliability and safety, as well as longevity under high
pressures, temperatures and dynamic strains. Leak tightness from
very hot to very cold is absolutely assured. class 2500#. he company also operates two sales oices in Beijing,
he valves seal ring is a massive, rotation-symmetric seal
made from stainless steel. A frictionless release of the metallic seal
by immediate lifting from its seating guarantees a maximum of
operational reliability, safety, and longevity.
In the early 1970s, the companies SNEA in France and Lurgi in
Germany developed a new process for luegas desulphurization.
he so-called Sulfreen process was tested for the irst time in the
Lacq region in France. he reactor valves had to be robust and metal
seated and equipped with a heating jacket, in order to be able to heat
or cool down the processes. An additional requirement was bubble-
tight shutof. OHL Gutermuth developed the valves for the prototype
plant to meet these
specifications.
his successful
start lead to the
introduction of
the world-famous
CAM, CCM, and CDM valves, which are now available in sizes from
1 to 80 in.
Today, the company employs 95 people in its German
Headquarters in Altenstadt. heir more than 20,000 m headquarters
in the Hessian city of Altenstadt includes oice buildings, machine
shops, a storage area, and mounting and testing facilities with
crane lifting capacity of 30 ton, and pressure-testing facilities up to
China and in Moscow, Russia.
Continuous further development is based on the experience
gained from reference plants located all over the world. he inal
products are subjected to permanent stress tests, reviewed and
developed further on the basis of the latest indings. his ensures
the continuous optimization of performance and adaptation to the
latest technological innovations.
Find out more about the companys substantial
solutions for the power industry at Valve World
Americas (Houston; June 2021) at Booth 950.

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 57
 EUROPE
S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N

Ruggedcom RX1400: Modern Network

Solutions
he Ruggedcom RX1400 from Siemens is helping companies
to cope with yet another round of rising expectations such as the
smart grid, next generation networks, digitization, the Industrial
Internet of hings (IIoT) and Big Data analytics.
he Ruggedcom RX1400 is a rugged, compact Layer 3
integrated switch and router that is ideal for large scale,
hierarchical networks, capable of transporting data from both
modern Ethernet-based Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) and
from legacy or low cost serial IEDs. It can utilize iber and wireless
connections simultaneously. he Ruggedcom VPE1400 extends
the functionality of the Ruggedcom RX1400 multiprotocol router
by adding a virtual machine environment. he addition of this
layer of virtualization enables users to run the Linux operating
system (OS) and a wide range of applications on the device at the
network edge. he RX1400 also supports MindConnect, for direct
connectivity to MindShere - the cloud-based, open IoT operating
system from Siemens -that lets you connect your machines and
physical infrastructure to the digital world, to harness big data
from billions of intelligent devices.
Learn more about the Ruggedcom RX1400
and the benefits for your network at
www.siemens.com/rx1400

From waste to energy

he utility company Linz AG relies on a BEUMER Group Pipe
Conveyor to transport household and industrial waste as well as
sewage sludge from the treatment plant to its power station. his
conveyor is not only highly energy eicient, but due to its closed
design, it is also possible to convey waste products through public
spaces without afecting the environment. he result is: no material
loss, no unpleasant smell, and most importantly no pollution to the
environment. he Pipe Conveyor can also be optimally adapted to
the routing due to its ability to navigate curves.
BEUMER Group supplied and installed a Pipe Conveyor with a
centre distance of 475 metres. It conveys up to 40 tons of material
per hour. he system is running around the clock, seven days a week.
Due to the system design and the required system capacity, the Pipe
Conveyor has been designed with a diameter of 300 millimetres.
he diference in height between the feeding and discharging point
is 24 metres.
he conveyor belts are very durable and were specially
manufactured for the Pipe Conveyor. Based on many years of
experience, BEUMER has developed proprietary calculation
programs that help to dimension all relevant parameters such as
curve radii, conveying capacity and all other customer requirements.
Another advantage of the BEUMER solution is the reduced noise
emission that the system provides. his is achieved by using special
idlers, low-noise bearings, and the correct conveying speed. he Pipe Conveyor transports the material from the storehouse to
www.beumergroup.com the power plant, no material is lost and the environment is protected
against odour emission.

58 www.powermag.com |
POWER June 2017
Attend the industrys most invigorating
event focused on solving critical power
generation challenges
Core conference topics include:
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> Equipment Development
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> Fleet Management
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One
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Two
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& Renewables
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Practical Ideas for the Design, Operation,
and Maintenance of Plant Energy Systems
Renewable Energy Guidebook
Safety in the Power Generation Workplace
Smart Grid & Energy Storage Guidebook

Compilation of POWER Magazine Articles
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Industry Guidebook
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Managing Industrial Controls Steam: Its Generation and Use- 42nd
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26032

|
June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 61
 ADVERTISERS INDEX

Page Page
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POWER PROFESSIONALS

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June 2017 POWER www.powermag.com 63
 COMMENTARY
Evolving Workforce and
Safety Practices for Wind
Farms
Jack Rawcliffe
he renewable revolution has been a catalyst for the wind
T energy market during recent years, with the global wind
market growing at an incredible pace. Its estimated that
over 1.1 million people work in the sector, with the role of wind
turbine technician said to be the fastest growing job in the U.S.
and Australia.
The World Embraces Wind Energy
The job growth is hardly surprising. The Global Wind Energy
Council recently reported that 28 countries worldwide have more
than 1 GW of installed wind capacity, and that number is still
on the incline. The next couple of years are looking positive
for installations, especially across the U.S. and Mexico. Thats
despite market trepidation caused by the Trump administrations
potential effect on the renewable energy sector.
Several developments are worth watching. For example, Vestas
has a number of manufacturing, and engineering, procurement,
and construction projects on its plate in the U.S. The recent
merger between Gamesa and Siemens should be interesting given
Gamesas strong offshore fleet and Siemens position in the wind
energy market. In addition to these, there are a lot of larger
owners, operators, and developers looking more dominant, like
EDP Renewables, which plans to add between 400 MW and 500
MW of power each year to both new and existing facilities for the
next four or five years.
As a result of the market success so far, the U.S. has seen
carbon emissions fall by 3% and the economy grow by 1.6%. The
wind sector is poised for more growth, particularly now that tax
credits for both solar and wind are being extended until 2020.
There is also a positive outlook globally, with the likes of India
and Turkey dubbed important markets to watch this year, and
cost reductions for 3-MW turbines on the horizon, which could
spur future projects.
Developing Strong Safety Practices
As the industry grows, so do the risks. In a once self-regulating
environment with few legal requirements, the wind sector has
evolved. Working on wind projects is now classified as a high-
risk job. Maintenance employees are in the vicinity of both high-
and low-voltage equipment, and many turbine technicians are
required to perform heavy-lifting activities on a regular basis.
With continual changes in legislation and the constant intro-
duction of innovative emerging technologies, the implementa-
tion of health and safety procedures across wind farms is clearly
business critical for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs),
especially as projects stint towards more rural areas. How can we
approach safety standards as a means of minimizing these risks?
64 www.powermag.com
Ultimately, its about a shift in attitudes, working to instill a
culture of workforce wellbeing in order to prevent injuries uni-
versally. Weve already seen a number of major players in the
industry begin to offer training and certifications, and as this
safety culture becomes a more weighted priority, requirements
for OEM certifications will become more and more competitive.
This has come as a direct result of trade associations actively
pushing legislation and procedures as a means of improving
health and safety on wind farms.
Whilst many health and safety regulations are subject to lo-
cation directives, such as the European Framework Directive on
Safety and Health at Work adopted in 1989, there are a number
of ways to safeguard employees working on wind farms aside
from what may seem to be the obvious, personal protective
equipment.
As previously discussed, endorsing training standards are fast
becoming one of the more effective ways to ensure that health
and safety procedures are adopted internationally, enhancing
health and safety awareness throughout workforces, and instill-
ing the safety culture that is becoming more significant to the
wind sector.
The prominence of emergency response training for the re-
newable industry is on the rise with the industry working with
governments, regulators, and emergency services to ensure that
they are fully prepared for emergencies that may arise. A prime
example of this is the basic obligation for BOSIET (basic offshore
safety induction and emergency training) for global offshore
projects. The training program not only consists of emergency
response training and offshore safety instruction, but it also de-
tails safety assessment requirements. The program has, in turn,
driven up demand for the skillset.
All companies seek to deploy fully qualified safety profession-
als across wind farm projects as a means of mitigating hazards.
From maintaining all relevant documentation to writing incident
reports and eliminating or controlling hazards, the specialists
manage safety practices throughout the entirety of the project.
These roles are integral to wind farms, creating a safe working
environment and ensuring safe work practices for construction,
manufacturing, and operations and maintenance activities.
As the sector progresses to keep up with the emerging en-
ergy economy, health and safety procedures will evolve too. The
winds of change may be causing a stir across the energy world
as it stands, but what we know for sure is that the industry will
remain committed to delivering a safe and sustainable environ-
ment for its workforce, regardless of these transformations.
Jack Rawcliffe is managing director of JDR Energy,
an international manpower provider for the energy sector.
|
POWER June 2017
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