How new engineering simulation technology is helping breathe new life into a 47 year old hydro station
The Turlough Hill hydro station was built in the 1970’s and is Ireland’s only pumped storage station. It generates up to 292MW into the Irish grid during peak demand periods and is increasingly important in the changing energy industry, especially for grid stabilization. With Turlough Hill approaching 47 years of operation the operator ESB started to ask fundamental questions about structural integrity and operational risk. ESB also wanted to improve its understanding of the remaining asset life and how operations could best continue over the coming years.
In this webinar you will hear about an ongoing project between ESB and technology provider Akselos, to use structural Digital Twins to determine:
1. The original design life of Turlough Hill
2. Assess the impact of the historical operation of the plant
3. Unlock further operational capabilities from Turlough Hill all while ensuring the integrity of the asset and the safety of staff.
The presenters will talk through overcoming the challenges of building a digital model from paper engineering records, how the twin is being used for condition based monitoring to direct inspections to specific areas of concern, and how simulating many parameters around the day to day operation of the plant will allow for operational improvements. You’ll also hear about the ongoing assessments of future modes of operation, which will likely include connecting the digital twin and real-life asset via sensors, to create a Digital Guardian that will give a constant, real-time picture of Turlough Hill’s structural condition.
Attendees will learn how to deal with key the issues of legacy asset management and about the benefits of digitization. The success of using structural digital twins for asset life extension and operational excellence has already been proven by Akselos in the energy Industry through a range of applications. In addition, attendees will learn from real life applications that the introduction of Risk-Based Inspection strategies can significantly reduce OPEX and improve safety.
Register for this webinar to hear how Structural Digital Twins are revolutionising structural integrity management and increasing the sustainability of critical energy infrastructure.
Presented by
Andrew Young,
VP of Project Delivery
Andrew is an experienced programme manager with over 10 years’ experience in the energy sector, leading innovation and change projects for large multi-nationals.
Andrew’s has held a number of senior roles for companies such as Sinopec, IBM and IHSmarkit, delivering multi-million dollar projects for both oil and gas operators and service companies.
Andrew is responsible for the delivery of our complex engineering projects, working closely with our customers and production team in Vietnam.
Niall McCarthy,
Senior Project Engineer
Niall is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, working for over twelve years in the power generation industry. He has experience with a broad range of generation technology such as OCGT CCGT, Solar Thermal, Energy from Waste, Diesel and Hydro. Niall is responsible for the delivery of critical projects aimed at achieving ESB’s low carbon Brighter Future’s Strategy
Binang Gamit,
Binang is a professional mechanical engineer. Binang is the technical team leader for the project delivering a world first - a physics based Digital Twin of the Turlough Hill Hydro Power Plant. Binang is passionate about developing a sustainable environment and has contributed to various academic papers and professional projects related to renewable energy development and energy efficiency enhancement of large scale equipment.
Stephen Scully,
Stephen has worked in the power plant integrity, metallurgy and non-destructive testing industry for over 30 years and currently manages the Materials Assessment section in ESB. This covers a wide range of plant and equipment associated with power distribution and power generation in thermal, hydro plant and renewables and emerging technologies.
