Wartsila introduces remote monitoring system for Indian power plants

Wartsila will launch a remote monitoring station in India to popularize its flexible decentralised power plants.

“This monitoring station allows surveillance of power installations to make sure they are operating optimally and to prevent any possible failures or breakdowns. The first phase will monitor 14 plants (285 MW) out of our total installed capacity of 3500 MW in India,” said Rakesh Sarin, Managing Director, Wartsila India Ltd.

Sarin added that it also allows companies to set up power plants in remote locations without worrying about accessibility or the initial capex involved in periodically sending experienced personnel to check the plant.

“Theoretically, this station here in Chennai has the capability of monitoring all of our power plants – which we will do in a phased manner” he said.

According to James Rajan, vice president of Wartsila India, sensors in the power plants will communicate the health of the machine to the company's data centre. The data will be analysed by the company's personnel and appropriate suggestions would becommunicated to the clients on real time basis.

Wartsila India also announced that it will add another 500 MW capacity to its operations and maintenance portfolio bringing the division's total power capacity to around 2,000 MW.

"We are in the process of adding 500 MW gas based power plants to our O&M portfolio. The plants are located in south India," said Rajan.

The company has a total installed capacity of around 3,500 MW in India, of which over 1,500 MW is under O&M contract.

While RMS will be an added feature for Wartsila India's O&M division, the company is yet to decide on offering the remote monitoring service to those who have not signed up with it for maintenance.

According to Rakesh Sarin, managing director, a flexible hybrid energy solution is what is needed to meet the peaking power demand in the country and gas based plants is an ideal fit for that.

"Base load power demand could be met by thermal power stations. However, the peaking power demand during certain periods of the day could be met with gas-based plants as they can kick in and out at short intervals," Sarin said.

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