Deliver Reliable Power Projects - Webinar June 16 2015
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This document summarizes a webinar about managing power projects more effectively using digital collaboration tools. It discusses challenges facing the power industry like integrating renewable energy and aging infrastructure. It also profiles a large transmission project by Minnkota Power that faced various regulatory and environmental hurdles. The webinar demonstrated how Minnkota used Aconex's collaboration platform to improve communication across teams, ensure compliance, and save an estimated $500,000 on a $350 million project compared to traditional methods.
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Deliver Reliable Power Projects - Webinar June 16 2015
- 1. 1 Trusted by the world’s largest projects Deliver Reliable Power Projects “Estimated savings of US$500,000” A webinar with Minnkota Power
- 2. Agenda Introduction Rich Giska – Industry Management Consultant Industry Success Jennifer Johnson, Minnkota Solution Demo Hannah Hosch, Aconex Q&A
- 3. Industry landscape – emerging issues Rich Giska, 40-year industry veteran and management consultant • Critical: replacement of aging fossil-based plants, reduced emission • Complex: influence of deregulated market on capital investments • Evolving: increased use of renewable sources for generation • Impacts: grid stability challenges with intermittent power sources • Needs: expanded transmission capacity and energy “storage” • Operational Readiness: improve transition from construction
- 4. Challenges of renewables • Regulatory authorities expanding requirements for renewable power sources • Regional transmission grid operators (ISOs) challenged to manage continued increase of renewables and intermittent power supplies • Remote siting of renewables driving new transmission to bring power to end users
- 5. Challenges of current trends • Multiple entities (Consortium) with distinct division of responsibilities • Early engagement by owner operators • Stringent information handover requirements • Project management and delivery
- 6. 6 Bigger projects have bigger impacts Effective process management can improve both cost and schedule Percentage of projects exceeding budget and cycle time by over 10% Source: Booz Allen Hamilton
- 7. 7 Jennifer Johnson Engineering Services Supervisor Minnkota Power
- 8. 8 Power project challenges - A traditionally stable industry now in constant change - Projects requiring multiple design and construction disciplines - Extremely short project timelines - Imposed regulatory requirements - Planning for long life of asset operations - Aging workforce with high employee turnover - Ensuring knowledge transfer as people move from the project
- 9. 9 Minnkota project: Center to Grand Forks transmission line • 345 kV / 250 miles / 1,334 structures • Cost of $350M • Start Date: January 2009 • In-Service Date: August 2014 • 4.5 years from project kick-off to completion
- 10. 10 Project challenges – mini projects • US Fish and Wildlife concerns – whooping crane • Landowner concerns – fencing, stray voltage, view, tree removal • County / Township concerns – road damage • Mother Nature -- unpredictable
- 11. 11 Whooping crane migration area #1 concern Installing bird flight diverters on new and existing lines.
- 12. 12 Landowners – fences to contain cattle, tree removal and replacement program Trees, farmingEMF Fencing became an issue
- 13. 13 Airport concerns – installed lower profile towers Limited clearance due to flight path 60’
- 14. 14 Counties and townships – installed lines with tractors and helicopters to be less disruptive Retaining the integrity of the roads
- 15. 15 Mother Nature – causing schedule and cost impacts Blizzard conditions Excessive rain
- 16. 16 Project snapshot 1334 Structures 250 miles 11 counties 2 substations 4 regeneration stations 16 highway crossings 440 landowners 100s of workers 1000s of trees
- 17. 17 • Project Management (2) • Procurement (3) • Right-of-Way (3) • Environmental (1) • Engineering (4) • Construction Management (2) • Communications (2) • Legal (1) The small Minnkota team: 22 people working “mostly” full time on the Project, but still maintaining existing operations.
- 18. 18 We had to bring in and collaborate with an extended team How many other people worked on the project? Consultants: Design, Environmental, ROW Vendors: Pole, hardware, substation equipment Contractors: Foundation, fencing, construction Outside Agencies: RUS, USFW, PSC Other Utilities: distribution cooperatives At least 15 more “teams” added to the Project
- 19. 19 Power project challenges • Geographically dispersed teams • Large number of companies on the project team • Large project team • Scope change • Delivering critical operations • Regulatory requirements • Pre handover testing • Planning for long life of asset operations • Ensuring knowledge transfer as people move on
- 20. 20 The solution? Aconex Document management - Upload and distribute files - Manage revision control - View any type of document Project communication - Visibility into project mail - Track progress - Nothing is deleted – complete audit trail deleted, audit trail
- 21. 21 How we managed processes before & after Aconex Challenge Manual process System process Information exchange Email, FTP, error prone Single secure auditable system File size and compatibility issues Inability to email or open files No file size limits and integrated viewer Time spent searching for and tracking documents Email, internal drives, paper archives Full version history and all communication tracked within a central system Security Email is not secure and files can be forwarded All communication happens within a secure environment Transmitting documents Manual sending of multiple versions to multiple parties Everything needed is in one central location available from any place, anytime Disputing incorrect/ undelivered docs Searching through sent boxes & transmittal logs Clear audit trail with accountability
- 22. 22 Selection criteria: Information Management System Flexibility • Should support YOUR project processes • Manage documents, communication and models • Support PC, mobile and offline access Project-wide • Support ALL users from all organizations equally • Not behind anyone’s fire wall • Secure workspace for each company Ease of set up and use • Must reflect industry-specific processes • Facilitate cross-project implementation and adoption
- 23. 23 Results – Awarded Constructech Vision Award for innovative use of technology • Reduced project risk – clear audit trail • Improved communication – ease of reviews • Time savings – no tracking, searching or waiting • A safe operating asset – built as designed Estimated cost savings of US$500,000 over five years
- 24. 24 Aconex collaboration Save money, increase productivity. Manage project risk. Cloud & Mobile Information & Process Management Engineering & Construction Project-Wide Across the Project Lifecycle Plan Design Construct OperateBid OperatorSub-contractorsContractorConsultantsOwner EPC Designer
- 25. 25 One integrated collaboration platform for project information and processes Owner EPC Designer Consultants Contractor Subcontractors Web Mobile APIs Information & Process Management Platform Document Management 3D Modeling Field Inspections Correspondence Registers Bidding & Tenders Workflows O&M / Deliverables Site Mobility Network Integration API Reporting & Search Infrastructure 2D & 3D Viewer Archiving Operator
- 26. 26 The world’s most widely-used collaboration platform for engineering & construction 500 thousand users worldwide $800 billion in projects 1.1 billion documents 48 thousand companies served 70 countries around the world 40 offices globally RTD Chiyodo BG Group Tanker Pacific Leighton Welspun Bilfinger Denver RTD FasTracks $5B Dubai Metro $7.8BState Route 99 $1.4B Panama Canal Expansion $3.2B Dubai Airport Concourse 3 $4.5B Algeria Highway $5B Apex Clean Energy $470M Venda Nova III $438.6M Mundra UMPP $4.1BMApex Clean Energy $470M Minnkota Power $350MSan Juan Generating $100M NgaAwaPurua Geothermal $235M Uranquinty Power Station $500M
- 27. 27 Aconex: Power project process management There was a 20 minute platform demo during the live webinar. Request a personal demo at aconex.com/Demo • Overview • Mail • RFIs • Submittals • Knowledge transfer • Document records • Handover and commissioning
- 28. 28 Thanks to Jennifer Johnson, Minnkota and Rich Giska, power industry consultant, for participating in this webinar Contact us at aconex.com/Demo
Editor's Notes
- Rich: The power industry landscape is rapidly changing in multiple areas with several emerging issues. Critical Needs – Sources of replacement power are needed in the near term due to several evolving issues. One is the decommissioning of aging fossil-fueled plants. A second is the reductions in allowable limits of emissions from coal and gas plants which have forced economic assessments at many plants as to whether costs for improved emissions controls is justified. If not justified, many of these power plants will be shut down. In addition, the early shutdown of nuclear plants, based on economic decisions, not safety-related factors, has impacted the baseload supply of power in several regional areas. Complexity - Deregulation and the structure of associated energy markets has had major impacts on the power industry. Two (2) key impacted areas are regulatory policies and financial investments. Current policies on valuation of power produced by nuclear power plants in deregulated markets has put the financial viability of operating these units in jeopardy. In some cases, a few have already been deemed not financially viable and have been shut down. Because many of these plants provide a large percentage of the baseload power in their region, new sources of replacement power will be necessary. On the financial investment side, with government incentives and the attractiveness of more immediate return on investments, capital investment strategies have been focused on funding renewable projects rather than larger baseload plants. Evolution of power sources - The costs for generating solar power has been decreasing over the years. This includes rooftop units for commercial and residential use as well as utility-scale Solar Photovoltaic or Solar PV power plants that range in size from 5MW to over 200MW. Thus, the reduced cost factor and increased emphasis on climate change initiatives have driven a global expansion of these renewable sources of power. Impacts of renewables - With the significant expansion of renewable power sources, particularly utility-scale Solar PV plants, there is an increasing impact on the ability to effectively incorporate the power generated from these Solar plants into the power transmission and distribution systems. Although providing relatively low-cost power, the intermittent delivery characteristics of renewable power has impacted electric transmission grid operators in their ability to maintain grid stability and “keep the lights on!” Current needs - Industry has initiated several responses in attempts to mitigate some of the effects from increased intermittent power sources. One area of focus is expansion of the transmission grid to relieve congestion and deliver power generated from renewable sources. Additional transmission capacity is essential for improving the ability to manage power flows across larger regions where renewable power projects have and are continuing to be built. In addition, much research has been initiated and continues in the area of energy storage. The concept of energy storage focuses on the ability to store energy that is produced during the day, but not needed at that time, with the ability to release the stored energy at night. Advances are being made in energy storage capabilities, and the industry is looking to having these capabilities on a larger-scale to mitigate the energy imbalances that exist now and are projected to grow over the next few years. Project Phase Transition - On the business side of the industry, there is an increasing awareness by owner operators that “operational readiness” is key to ensuring an efficient transition from construction through startup and into operations. This has resulted in the need for access to documents, data and information by owner operators much earlier in a capital project’s lifecycle. With these evolving issues, a number of trends and challenges are being observed. Let’s discuss a few of them. [CLICK]
- Rich: Regulations - The global climate change movement has driven many regulatory bodies at the state and federal levels to expand the requirements to have power generation produced from renewable power sources. These are often referred to as Renewable Portfolio Standards and are typically imposed on utilities providing electric power services to their customers. Grid Operation - With the growing influx of renewable power sources, regional grid operators are challenged to effectively manage incorporation of the power from these intermittent resources into the transmission grid while maintaining stabile grid operations. Unlike flipping a switch on or off and getting immediate results, grid operators cannot simply stop and then restart power plants to accommodate the imbalances between supply and demand during daily operation. Regional strategies are being pursued to manage the imbalances between supply and demand, particularly during the peak afternoon hours when solar plants are producing high volumes of energy that often results in supply being greater than demand and energy market prices dropping significantly during these conditions. An example of a mitigation strategy is the Implementation of an Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) in California with participation by utilities in adjoining states. This new market is designed to mitigate energy imbalances by allowing the grid operators to manage power flow over a wider geographic area. This enables a more even distribution of available power to reduce the imbalances within the controlled areas. Remote locations - Wind and Solar power sources are often sited in remote areas to take benefit of the natural sources of wind and sun. However, this power must be brought into more populated areas to enable delivery to end users. This requires new transmission lines to be built. Although a major capital project, it might appear that building towers and adding some cables across them would be a fairly straightforward initiative. However, transmission line projects definitely have complex issues to be addressed. We’ll hear about some of those challenges from Jennifer. The above are a few examples of technical and physical trends and challenges. Let’s explore a few business-oriented topics. [Click]
- Rich: Multiple Entities on Projects - For several reasons, such as limiting risk exposure and emphasis on specialized skills and craft, many new major power projects involve separate contracts to perform the scopes associated with traditional EPC-related services. In these cases, owner operators may function as the coordinator for all the contracts or they may assign that function to one of the lead contractors. Also, in some instances, the owner operator will engage an independent company to oversee all project and contract management functions. An example would be an Engineering firm is engaged for the design, engineering and a portion of the procurement scope while a separate construction firm is used for construction and field-related procurements. In some cases, a 3rd party may be used for testing or commissioning in support of the owner operator’s team. With this multi-entity project structure, it is critical to ensure effective communication amongst all parties and that current approved information and documents are identified and made available to those needing them. Pre-operational Readiness - Earlier participation by owner operators causes a need to reach back into the upstream phases of new capital power projects to identify and access documents and information necessary to allow them to prepare their operations’ staff to take over and operate the power plants. This early involvement places increased responsibilities on EPCs for more efficient classification and management of documents during the course of a major project. The ability to meet these increased information management demands is often commensurate with the EPCs’ understanding of the owner operator’s needs and the use of technology-based business solutions to achieve the desired outcomes. Information Handover and Turnover – In addition to meeting owner operators’ needs for access to documents and information earlier in a major project’s lifecycle, there is the eventual step of handing over or turning over all documentation necessary, including records, required to enable the owner operator to operate and maintain the power plant or generating facility. The ability of an EPC to efficiently perform the tasks required to identify, accumulate and “bundle” the required documentation from a myriad set of independent information repositories is a definite challenge. Meeting this contractual obligation requires foresight and an extensive amount of planning related to managing the documents during the course of a project and then “bringing them in” for assembly and turnover. Overall Project Management and Delivery - Collectively, these challenges only add to the increased pressures on the EPC as well as owner operators, and the imperative to deliver projects on time and within budget. Let’s take a look at historical performance of major projects and explore a few key areas of influence. [CLICK]
- Jennifer: As with many projects, we had our share of unexpected challenges. [CLICK]
- Jennifer: The migration pattern of the whooping crane turned into a mini project all its own. [CLICK]
- Jennifer: To continue with birds, let’s move on to the great horned owl. [CLICK]
- Jennifer: In addition to the challenges on the ground, we also had to consider the air. [CLICK]
- Jennifer: We also used alternative methods to eliminate damage during the construction. [CLICK]
- Hannah: Just bear with me for one minute while I move from Power Point to the Aconex system. Make Hannah presenter {Demonstration} Post demonstration Thank you for the opportunity to present today. I’ll to turn the presentation back to Rich and I’ll stay on the line for Q&A.