YALLOURN Energy is earning up to a quarter of a million dollars a day in additional revenue, following its rollout in April 2004 of a wireless solution that enables international specialists to conduct virtual risk management and maintenance inspections of the power station.
Maintenance contractor for the Yallourn site, Silcar, introduced the solution using Telstra’s wireless CDMA 1x network and Momentum Technologies Group’s real-time mobile video technology SquizBiz.
This transmits live video footage of the power station equipment and infrastructure, such as chimney stacks, to international consultants who conduct inspections online.
Silcar’s asset engineer at Yallourn Energy, Steve Pascoe, said the wireless technology meant a reduction in downtime costs and a significant improvement in safety.
“In addition to outage costs, we have reduced the costs involved with regular scheduled inspections by up to $15,000 as we no longer need to pay for the flight and accommodation costs of our chosen specialist,” Pascoe said.
“Previously, if a problem with a chimney stack was noticed outside of the scheduled maintenance we would have to wait for a UK specialist to fly in, whereas now we can get an immediate expert opinion within half an hour of finding a potential problem.
“The solution provides Yallourn Energy with a visual record of all maintenance inspections, while enabling the operators to meet performance targets involving safety, environment, cost and energy output.”