Gas Natural Adopts SmartSignal Predictive Diagnostics Fleet-Wide
LISLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– SmartSignal® Corporation today announced that Gas Natural has selected SmartSignal EPI*Center® software to monitor 22 combined cycle units and six coal power units, responsible for 10,774 MW of power generation, across Spain and Mexico. In 2010, EPI*Center will be rolled out to at least two additional combined cycle units. INDRA, the premier IT company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America and a SmartSignal partner since 2005 for trading, implementation, and services, has been selected by Gas Natural to deploy SmartSignal EPI*Center.
SmartSignal is part of a Gas Natural initiative to improve maintenance and operations, increase availability, and reduce associated costs. This project is included in the process of purchase and integration of Union Fenosa by Gas Natural. Prior to the integration process, Union Fenosa experienced the value of SmartSignal through its central monitoring center and in its power plants in Spain and Mexico.
Gas Natural is deploying SmartSignal EPI*Center onsite in a phased, plant-by-plant implementation, with the support of both Indra and SmartSignal. In addition, SmartSignal is integrating with Gas Natural’s existing OSIsoft PI® and General Physics EtaPro™ thermal performance software. SmartSignal EPI*Center software provides the earliest and most precise warnings of impending equipment and process failures. EPI*Center works on all critical rotating and non-rotating equipment to detect the broadest range of equipment problems across the widest variety of assets and failure modes. It leverages existing instrumentation, tools, and infrastructure and even can identify failed sensors and adjust its models to accommodate them until they are repaired.
Rafael de la Fuente Hidalgo, Gas Natural Operations and Maintenance Supervisor, said “Gas Natural selected SmartSignal EPI*Center software as one of the fundamental tools in its O&M Supervision Center. The decision to roll SmartSignal out fleet-wide was due to its success with Union Fenosa. The scope of the project is to improve performance, reduce maintenance costs, and increase availability. SmartSignal will accelerate the achievement of the technical and economical targets in the integration process between Gas Natural and Union Fenosa.”
About Gas Natural
Gas Natural is one of the ten largest European energy multinationals and a leader in the vertical integration of gas and power in Spain and Latin America. It is also the largest global LNG operator in the Atlantic basin. Following its recent merger with Unión Fenosa, the company operates in 23 countries around the world and has over 20 million customers, 9 million in Spain. It has installed capacity of 17 GW.
About SmartSignal
SmartSignal eliminates equipment failure so its customers avoid surprises. Its patented predictive diagnostics reduce risk left by current condition monitoring. SmartSignal optimizes its customers’ resources and readily integrates into their enterprises so they can further innovate. After monitoring more than 12,000 rotating and non-rotating assets, identifying over 10,000 developing equipment failures and thousands of operational errors, and protecting equipment for dozens of leaders across multiple industries for over 10 years, SmartSignal has proven itself to be the worldwide leader and innovator in predictive diagnostics for equipment health. A Microsoft Gold Partner, SmartSignal and its customers have won over twenty awards for excellence, including an international Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award. www.smartsignal.com.
About Indra
Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to stock market capitalisation, and also the second Spanish company with the most investment in R&D. In 2008, revenues reached € 2,380 M, of which a third came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 100 countries.
