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Power Generation Challenges
Over the coming decades, the power generation industry faces a daunting challenge in meeting global energy needs. By 2030, electricity use will double globally and triple in developing countries.
The need for reliable power generation has never been greater. One of the biggest barriers to reliable power generation is the ability to maintain complex power plant equipment..
Maintenance is critically reliant on access to industry specific knowledge. For many reasons access is not occurring. There are three distinct components that have created incomplete knowledge transfer.
1. Mentoring and inter-generational knowledge transfer is not occurring in all work environments and has created a disparity of experience.
Older experienced engineers have been retiring, taking institutional knowledge with them. Sufficient mid-level engineers have not replaced them. Entry-level engineers, though digitally savvy, lack the machine operating experiences needed to troubleshoot problems specific to an aging fleet of machines.
2. Economic pressures have compromised training budgets and diminished opportunities for Continuing Education. Additionally, time constraints and workforce down-sizing, have minimized work time available for generator maintenance research.
3. Disparate resources provided by manufacturers, suppliers and consultants make the diagnosis of generator issues difficult. Smaller power producers may not have access to the same technical resources as large producers or receive the same support. Remote geographic locations often make responsive technical advice difficult if not impossible.
In summary, the long term life-cycle and reliability of electrical generators is dependent on plant engineers' access to detailed, relevant and timely information - complete knowledge transfer.
