POWER March 2012 - 44

OUTAGE MANAGEMENT
and rebuild large-horsepower motors as needs
arise (Figure 1).
The AEP centralized shop's capabilities add
extraordinary value to the process, as the Shop
Services team's performance rivals that of any
equipment repair shop in the country, based
on quality and production, while enhancing
schedule flexibility, according to Ranegar.
" Our unique and talented employees provide
technical oversight for turbine maintenance
projects, " Osborne said. " This team
consists of 12 full-time AEP employees with
great technical knowledge from years of experience
and technical training " (Figure 2).
The AEP turbine coordinators typically
offset the need for an original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) technical advisor on a
turbine project, lowering technical support
costs across the fleet. As the technical experts
on the floor, turbine coordinators allow the
team to make sound, quick technical determinations,
expediting the work process while
ensuring equipment integrity via interface
with the Turbine Engineering Team. Traditional
customer/OEM risk determinations
and associated decisions are approached from
a completely different angle than the ownership
perspective used in the AEP model.
" The turbine coordination team provides candor
when we fall short of team process expectations, "
Osborne said. " This internal learning and
accountability process has proven to be key to
team success, allowing us to incrementally improve
our processes year after year. "
The coordinators have shared responsibility
for schedule development and execution with the
RSO team, which provides significant forwardlooking
capabilities to the execution process.
The coordinators also provide process modifications
that can be built into the equipment
series schedules and work packages, which, in
turn, foster long-term process success.
In addition, the turbine coordination team
has established relationships with a number
of contractors who can be called upon to augment
the team when the technical support demand
warrants their services.
Managing RSO and Plant Priorities
AEP has non-outage or home-based RSO
employees co-located at its larger generating
stations. They augment the plant maintenance
resources and can be assigned, as needed, to
any facility. The AEP staff generally finds
that outages provide the greatest opportunity
to add value within the fleet, specifically in
the area of rotating equipment maintenance.
" RSO employees often travel from their
home base location to another plant during outage
seasons. We also support forced outages, as
indicated by value assessments, allowing for a
quick turnaround of generating, " Ranegar said.
" We have great employees who understand their
role, allowing our organization to react quickly
to provide optimum value. "
The RSO team conducts routine planning
meetings and provides specific updates to all
stakeholders to ensure that they all understand
the plan the team has for managing AEP resources.
This approach allows questions to be
2. Top turbine talent. The AEP turbine coordination team consists of 12 full-time AEP employees
with extensive technical knowledge from years of experience and technical training. The
team assisted in the installation of the MTU-110 LP1 turbine at the 1,300-MW coal-fired Moutaineer
Power Plant near New Haven, W.V. The upper half of the turbine's casing has been removed
and the area barricaded so work can be performed. Courtesy: American Electric Power
asked up front and helps the RSO team's internal
customers understand the need to prioritize
their work in order to support those activities
that are best for the fleet as a whole. Ranegar
noted that " we have a great company, and our
team understands our business in a way that
allows us all to see the value in the transparent
plan we communicate. "
The RSO team conducts periodic assessments
where the entire group evaluates outage
readiness at specific points during the
pre-outage phase. These readiness sessions
drive team accountability and optimize outage
readiness. Then the assessment results
are compiled for all outages and are communicated
across the organization, allowing
all parties to understand the remaining scope
associated with outage preparedness.
Strategies for Better Outage
Management
Because coal fuels the vast majority of AEP's
fleet and coal-fired plant outages are more
complex than those for gas-fired plants, the
company is applying its outage management
process first to coal-fired plants.
" Our goal is to optimize generation assets
by executing outages in a safe and productive
manner through detailed planning and scheduling
that begins 18 months prior to the outage, "
Ranegar said. " We are able to accomplish this
goal through a series of readiness assessment
activities that are held periodically during the
18 months prior to the outage start date. These
readiness assessment meetings bring together all
stakeholders to determine how well the team is
progressing against a well-understood readiness
template of key outage readiness milestones that
we have developed over time. "
He described how " this readiness template is
dynamic and is modified as we identify learning
opportunities. Learning a lesson one time (as
opposed to repeating an error) is the key philosophy
of consistent outage readiness. "
Each targeted outage is periodically evaluated
to determine how well the team is doing
in the planning, scheduling, and preparation
phases. The team determines the actions that
need to be taken during the next period, as
well as owners of those actions. This method
allows the entire team to see where the energy
and effort needs to be applied. The information
is communicated freely, resulting in
understanding and transparent accountability
within the team. Transparent communication
about outage schedules allows each organization
to reduce costs by eliminating overtime
required for critical path activity support.
" If we all understand what we have to do
and we all understand who needs help, it
makes it easier for all of us to get on 'that
rope' together. This drives extraordinary
team results, " Ranegar said.
42
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