EDF chooses Atos Origin to deploy power generation monitoring system
11 Ottobre 2007
Paris – October 11, 2007 – French national power utility Electricité de France (EDF) is working with Atos Origin, a leading international IT services company, to extend deployment
of its monitoring and diagnosis assistance system to France’s entire fleet of 900 MW and 1300 MW nuclear power plants (totaling 54 nuclear reactor units1). The system will enable EDF to detect
potential failures before they occur, thereby avoiding unplanned shutdowns and reducing maintenance costs, while extending the plants’ operating lives.
EDF has long cooperated with Atos Origin to design a prototype for the future monitoring system and to deploy it on around ten nuclear units, with the goal of preventing failures and ensuring
uninterrupted power generation. The primary objective is to improve power grid uptime by enhancing the effectiveness of maintenance operations.
With the solution, EDF engineers and operators will be able to collect data from the sites on demand, giving them a comprehensive overview of the condition of plant equipment via an EDF
intranet. Power plant maintenance staff will have an information system that provides a complete picture of equipment conditions thanks to in-depth analysis of plant operating data, enabling
them to carry out on-condition maintenance. Enhanced preventive maintenance lowers maintenance costs and maximizes power generation because it is performed prior to the occurrence of failures
on the components monitored by the integrated monitoring and diagnosis assistance system (known by its French initials as PSAD).
The PSAD2 system monitors all the equipment that plays a critical role in the availability of a nuclear reactor (unit capability factor). Monitoring is based on the acquisition of acoustic and
vibratory signals that indicate trouble-free operation.
