Alstom forms new Energy Management Business

Alstom Power has set up a new Energy Management
business. Complementing Alstoms portfolio, the new
business is in line with its clean power and Plant IntegratorTM
strategies to provide state-of-the-art, optimised solutions for
plant management and grid connection. The new business unit encompasses Alstoms existing Plant Automation
and Control business as well as extending beyond the plant to
provide management of energy delivery to markets. 

In line with market needs 

Solutions developed by the Energy Management
business will bring greater efficiency to the overall energy
ecosystem, from generation and transmission right through to
demand. This is increasingly important as electricity markets
become more complex through deregulation and the growing impact
of CO2 legislation. Laurent Demortier, Senior Vice President of
Alstoms Energy Management business, commented: A
power plant can no longer be seen as a separate item. It is part
of a dynamic network. A utility has to decide which plant to put
on to the grid according to market and price conditions, and it
is becoming increasingly challenging for utilities to manage
their assets to their best advantage.

Developing a comprehensive portfolio of products and
services 

The Energy Management business is focusing its
expertise on four key areas of technology: 

• automation including plant DCS,
  machine control & instrumentation
• plant management including plant
  & dispatch optimisation, asset condition monitoring and
  simulation
• grid connection & substation engineering
  including isolated phased busducts
• power electronics including
  excitation, automated voltage regulation and reactive power
  control.

In todays market, these areas are
covered by various companies scattered around the world -
companies not necessarily dedicated to the power business. As a
Plant IntegratorTM, with products across the whole range of power
generation technology, Alstom is in prime position to tailor
energy management solutions to meet the specific expectations of
their utility customers. When developing solutions, Alstom can
draw on its expertise as a consultant for plant operation and
efficiency, as well as its comprehensive abilities as a
manufacturer of soft- and hardware.

Adding value 

EMB offers turnkey energy management solutions
to optimise energy efficiency across the entire energy value
chain. Added value will be created in three areas:

• Plant efficiency increased through
  effective automation and control of the plants as well as new
  suites of power plant management software applications to
  manage plant scheduling, plant asset management as well as
  real-time plant simulation.
• Plant availability increasing plant
  operational flexibility to provide the right amount of power
  at the right time to the grid. This means providing the
  ability to ramp power up and down several times a day.
• Power quality enabling customers to
  deliver the desired power quality, whether related to grid
  frequency (active power) or voltage management (reactive
  power).

Today, our power production customers
are looking for a competitive price, not only on the project but
for support over the lifetime of the plant, explained
Laurent Demortier. They want performance-related solutions
that will enable them to compete in selling power. The more
deregulated the market, the more critical the choices about how
to sell and dispatch your plant efficiently. They need
sophisticated solutions to help them integrate the production
asset within the energy infrastructure. They may need to supply
clean power, minimise losses, switch rapidly etc. Only a
specialist in power generation can provide them with the right
solution.

With a major engineering centre in New Delhi,
India and a global base of experts, Alstom already offers
cost-effective engineering and process development.

Alstom has just completed a full reworking of
its ALSPA distributed control systems, which comprise
state-of-the-art service-oriented technology, and has seen a
rapid increase in the number of systems sold. This new platform
offers a single window approach to plant operators,
combining real-time data from the lowest elements of every plant
process towards highest plant performance and financial
information. Its excitation and voltage regulation product range
is manufactured in Belfort, France, as is electro-mechanical
equipment like busbars to connect the substation to the grid.

Alstom will also be targeting large industrial
customers that use energy intensive processes such as the oil
& gas or mining & metal industries, in which efficient
management of energy and its associated environmental impact is
critical. Alstoms preliminary focus, however, will be
plant automation and energy management. We have a
competitive DCS and a comprehensive offering at the plant
information level that enables most sophisticated energy and
emission optimisation, explained Laurent Demortier.

Clean power 

Future developments will further strengthen
Alstoms position as market leader for clean power
generation, via the introduction of new technologies to monitor
and control air quality in real-time in conventional plants and
new clean coal plants that may be equipped with carbon capture
and storage. With the development of carbon trading schemes,
plant management solutions will require flexible integration with
carbon registries and markets. We are working on
integrating instrumentation, monitoring emissions as well as air
quality control up to emission tracking and consulting for plant
efficiency.

Our Energy Management business will support both our
clean power and Plant IntegratorTM strategies, commented
Laurent Demortier. As a full service provider, EMB is well
positioned to capture a major portion of this 12 billion
market, and is on track to become one of the leading suppliers in
energy management for the utility market, he
concluded.

*Alspa is Alstoms power automation brand, including
all the operation, management, maintenance, automation and
safety functions that a modern plant control and automation
system needs. 

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