Controls and Automation

Powering forward with digitalization at Lucky Peak

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Powering forward with digitalization at Lucky Peak

By Ben Prier and Derek Stone

The residents of Boise, Idaho, have relied on Lucky Peak Dam for flood control, irrigation and recreation since the 1950s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the dam in the 1950s to prevent flooding. As the mountain snow melts each spring, the reservoir collects runoff water. Over the next several months, the water is released into the Boise River to irrigate the agricultural lands of the Treasure Valley surrounding Boise. In the summer, residents and tourists enjoy boating and swimming in Lucky Peak Reservoir.

While water management was the dam’s original purpose, during the 1980s, the management team saw the value of the energy in the stored water. The Boise Kuna Irrigation District built a hydroelectric power plant that could produce electricity and generate revenue by selling that power to the marketplace. During peak times, the plant’s three turbine-generator units can provide a capacity of up to 101 MW – enough to power about 100,000 homes.

The powerhouse at Lucky Peak Dam has an electric generating capacity of 101 MW.

Challenge: Lack of visibility

The power plant equipment was state-of-the-art at the time of installation, but after more than 30 years, it no longer met the connectivity demands of the 21st Century.

The legacy system had an alarm system built into it but, unfortunately, many of those alarms were truncated and not fully connected to the system. An alarm could indicate a number of different issues, and it was not always clear which issue set it off.

If an operator was on the plant floor during the alarm, he or she had no visibility into the system. The operator would have to return to the control room to decipher the problem. That person needed to respond to the event before it could cascade into a larger event, which could potentially trip the entire unit offline and cut off the power generation. 

Lucky Peak personnel needed better visibility into the system. The answer was digitalization. Digitalization could give the operators the alarming data they need:

  • What alarm is coming in?
  • What’s causing the event?
  • What are some of the cascading events that this can lead to?

With this information, the operators would know how to respond, how to react, and, ultimately, how to improve the power plant’s overall efficiency.

Establishing a network

One of the first steps was to build a fiber-optic network as a digital foundation for the plant. This network allowed for existing equipment to communicate over a high-speed, reliable medium into the plant’s supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system. Newer equipment and systems could later be plugged into the network, providing increased capabilities and improving overall efficiencies. The end result of these improvements would lead to improvements in water utilization and power generation management.

Networking is at the heart of digitalization. While trying to create a network ring in the facility that could connect the fiber boxes, switches and other equipment, Lucky Peak personnel found that Phoenix Contact fiber boxes (also known as patch panels or splice boxes) were compact but allowed for the reliable fusion-splice termination of the single-mode fibers. The network also incorporated Phoenix Contact switches and media converters. This connection led to a partnership with Phoenix Contact that went beyond just components.

It was critical that all of the different systems could talk with each other. Most programmable logic controllers (PLCs) operate on proprietary technology, making it difficult to share data between different applications and systems. Lucky Peak personnel selected Phoenix Contact’s PLCnext Control, which operates in an open Linux environment. The openness allows for connectivity to end devices and SCADA software, as it did not tie them into a single automation vendor. It also has open platform communications (OPC) capabilities.

OPC makes it possible to exchange data securely and reliably in industrial automation applications. Lucky Peak uses a naming convention in the PLC that carries through OPC into the SCADA software. The naming convention aligns with Lucky Peak’s unified namespace.

Lucky Peak personnel selected Inductive Automation’s Ignition, an integrated software platform for SCADA and human-machine interface (HMI) capabilities. The open nature of the software is compatible with PLCnext’s native OPC protocol, making it possible to communicate with both the new equipment and the remaining legacy equipment. The Phoenix Contact solutions engineering team helped with programming on the SCADA project and the PLCs.

With the Ignition SCADA software, an operator in the control room can see anything they want to do in the plant (see Figure 3). They can check the temperatures of the generators or make sure that the water flow is steady. If they need to troubleshoot, they can review the historian for comparison and take the necessary action right in the room.

The SCADA system lets operators in the control room see what’s happening throughout the plant at any specific moment.

The SCADA system also allowed Lucky Peak to detruncate all of the different alarms. If an alarm goes off, staff members now know the exact cause, so they can respond quickly.

Access data anywhere it’s needed

While the control room is the center of operations, the technicians spend a lot of time walking the plant floor. Historically, they could not see the result of changes made to the equipment while on the floor. To see that data, they had to be physically present in the control room.

Lucky Peak and Phoenix Contact developed a secure, wireless network to support a roaming HMI system. Phoenix Contact WLAN radios communicate the SCADA data to Dell Latitude Ruggedized Tablets placed in key locations around the plant floor.

Through the cybersecurity audit, Lucky Peak personnel ensured that firewalls and other important equipment were all plugged in correctly.

Now, the technicians can pick up a tablet as they walk the plant floor and view real-time data, fault information and the current system. If they need to change one of the manual controls on a generator, the tablet immediately shows them the results of those changes.

Cybersecurity: Crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s

While digitalization has many benefits, the added connectivity can put an unprotected system at risk of cyber attacks or accidental virus infection. Cybersecurity is a top priority at Lucky Peak, so they contracted with Phoenix Contact engineering services to conduct an IEC 62443-based cybersecurity assessment.

With Phoenix Contact’s help, Lucky Peak personnel looked at every device that was connected to the network and assessed each for possible vulnerabilities. The audit verifies that every device is plugged into the right ports and all of the switches and firewalls are configured and managed correctly. 

Wireless technology makes it possible to access SCADA data on a tablet while roaming the plant floor, so operators can take action on alarm situations much more quickly.

The audit gave Lucky Peak personnel a better understanding of where they were and where they needed to be. From that assessment, Lucky Peak personnel made some adjustments to the cybersecurity approach. The team installed new equipment, such as firewalls. By placing a firewall between different systems within the plant, Lucky Peak staff can isolate critical data from external threats, making sure that the island remains an island.

Cybersecurity is not just about equipment; it involves the users, too. The electric power industry has many cybersecurity regulations, and it can be difficult to make sure you’ve crossed your t’s and dotted your i’s. But with practice, it becomes second nature to perform cybersecurity measurements throughout your projects. Ultimately, it’s important to create a culture of cyber-awareness for employees.

Trust the process

Lucky Peak is a small plant, with just 13 staff and a limited budget. Most of the workers wear multiple hats, so learning how to use new products is essential. Digitalization is native to the younger staff, but even the more experienced workers have seen the benefits of the new system. While there was a transition period, the workers realized that digitalization was not here to take anybody’s job. The technology is here to empower employees so they can do their jobs better.

Digitalization doesn’t happen in a single day – it’s a strategy. While Lucky Peak has already experienced significant improvements to its alarming system and cybersecurity, there is more work to be done, such as implementing predictive analytics.

Through digitalization, Lucky Peak has brought information closer to the operators, where they can use it, manipulate it or respond correctly in an emergency situation. This has improved day-to-day work efficiencies. Just as importantly, it improves the reliability of the energy generated by the plant.

Ben Prier is senior business development manager – electric power industry with Phoenix Contact USA and Derek Stone is system integration specialist at the Lucky Peak Power Plant.

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