TransAlta Avoids Operations Surprises with Advanced Monitoring & Diagnostics and SmartSignal

Canadian power generation company TransAlta is modernizing how it monitors and operates its wind and hydro fleets to aim for “no surprise” operations. Through a close partnership with GE Vernova’s Industrial Managed Services, the company reinvigorated its Advanced Monitoring & Diagnostics (AM&D) capability and use of SmartSignal® Predictive Analytics to move from signal detection to action.

TransAlta was an early adopter of M&D in the early 2000’s but after initial success the program eroded and was eventually dismantled after becoming a costly silo that sent email alerts with no accountability, little action, and no discernible or effective outcomes. Unmanaged, the program also generated excessive false positives causing internal skepticism that undermined the ability to effectively move from pattern recognition to effective predictive maintenance strategy.

TransAlta rebuilt its monitoring strategy with executive-level support from the EVP of Generation, who championed the need for data-driven asset management. To set up a framework for accountability at the onset, the team defined its reporting, communication, and change management processes before reimplementing software. The program was positioned internally not as a new, complex technology, but as a digital evolution of established condition-based maintenance practices, which accelerated buy-in.

In addition, TransAlta built a deep, trust-based relationship with GE Vernova not just as a software vendor, but as a collaborative partner focused on mutual success, roadmap alignment, and business case development.

To help build a business case for M&D transformation, the team identified opportunities to improve underperformance and availability shortfalls of $13 million in its hydro fleet and $9 million in its wind fleets. By targeting availability – a key metric for profitability – their efforts could have measurable ROI. Further, by connecting monitoring data to operations, TransAlta could better prioritize maintenance, focusing on more critical assets and preventing failures, rather than reacting to alerts without contextual insights.

Within six months, the AM&D program results included:

As part of a five-year strategic roadmap, TransAlta's vision is to achieve "no surprise operations" with a fleet-wide predictive reliability capability. This will ensure that all teams operate from the same real-time data to optimize performance, maintenance, and commercial decisions.