technology and plant level implication
Answers
Explanation:
The primary reason for management to move forward and integrate plant-level and enterprise-level systems is to provide itself with the information resources needed to operate and manage assets in a manner that consistently generates improved profits in a deregulated, dynamic marketplace. For the electric power industry, the term “plant”, as used in this paper, is a major asset such as a power generating unit or station, a transmission and distribution (T&D) substation, or a network management facility. The “enterprise” is the corporation, which may be a utility, an independent power producer (IPP), or an independent system operator (ISO). This paper defines the business case for integration, discusses the basics of data / information system architecture, and discusses factors too be considered during implementation. The basic conclusions are: 1. Effective integration of plant-level control and data systems and enterprise-level information systems is essential for implementation of an integrated asset management strategy that balances operational and business concerns. 2. A powerful market-based reason to proceed with integration exists now: potential loss of competitiveness and ability to sell to the intended market. 3. The technical means exist to accomplish integration with available technology. However, broader implementation of Internet technologies is fundamentally changing the way users access data and lower-level subsystems communicate to higher-level plant and enterprise systems. 4. The “basic solution” for integrating plant-level and enterprise-level systems is an open-architecture, distributed system with best-in-class integrated applications that are effective at mining, integrating, visualizing, sharing, and reporting data. 5. Each plant-specific solution requires customization of the “basic solution” to meet the enterprise’s unique operational and business needs while maximizing the benefits from the existing investment in IT systems and infrastructure.