Maintenance Strategy Optimization of a Thermal Power Plant

The South African power generation sector has been under the spotlight in the last decade due to its inability to produce the required load capacity demanded by the grid. The issue of plant availability comes into question, maintenance on Power Stations has been neglected and has not been conducted efficiently and effectively leading to minimal availability of the plant. Breakdowns are more likely to occur frequently with the maintenance on plant equipment not done frequently leading to none generation. This paper aims at improving maintenance strategies by examining the efficiency of the thermal power plant using Key Performance Indicators and World Class Maintenance standards. A quantitative approach is followed with the analysis of secondary data of all the plant failures and stoppages during plant operation. The performance of the power station is investigated with the use of the Overall Equipment Effectiveness standard as the prominent KPI. The study analyses milling plant failures which have the biggest contribution to the Energy Availability Factor and identifies initiatives that will lead to overall increase in availability and reliability which in turn improves efficiency.