Emergency response that ‘didn’t seem possible’

The challenge

Executing a major coal plant outage is, in and of itself, a complex undertaking that requires advanced planning and the right combination of resources. When an adjacent turbine generator unit at the same site suddenly shuts down unexpectedly, that creates an entirely new level of concern for any operator. Such was the case at a major coal facility in the eastern U.S. that asked the GE Steam Power team to both complete an ongoing planned outage within its scheduled cycle, AND initiate an emergency response at the same time to restore the downed unit to operation as quickly as possible.

The solution

With GE Steam Power’s service team already on site, the operator was given a proposed work scope, budget and schedule within 48 hours of shutdown. Given the extent of work outlined to repair the unit, the team then took things to the next level.

First, some members of the ongoing planned outage project were redeployed to start preparing the second unit for repairs. Next, additional GE Steam Power field experts were mobilized to site along with the needed tooling and other resources. Finally, acting as a true service partner, the GE Steam Power team helped identify multiple vendor repair sites that could simultaneously tackle the range of component repairs to limit the overall project timeline.