The maintenance of a SCADA system is often an overlooked part of park operations. However, it can be a costly affair for the entire operation to rely on unsupported or outdated SCADA systems.
Operations and maintenance play an important role within the renewable energy sector, as all equipment – hardware as well as software – needs to work for the whole plant to run optimally with a SCADA system.
This is no different for the SCADA system. Joseph Perrone, After Sales Manager Americas at SCADA International, explains:
“Though SCADA systems accounts for only a small percent of a typical plant’s capital expenditures, it plays a critical part in overall operations. This is because the SCADA system monitors and controls the plant, gives access to live and historical data, and alerts operators on arising issues, alarms, and events.”
Thus, SCADA systems are crucial for optimal plant operations, and it is essential to keep them up to date and running. Regular maintenance and service support can ensure the reliability of the SCADA systems and help keep power plants running seamlessly and in compliance.
Unfortunately, it is often the case that SCADA systems are installed and then forgotten about until a critical problem occurs. Instead of addressing issues proactively, many operators only react when problems arise, which in most cases result in unplanned maintenance and more downtime of, e.g., wind turbines.
Below you will find five reasons why service on your SCADA system is vital for your plant operations, and hence, why you should prioritize service support to optimize your assets’ performance and overall production.
5 reasons support for your SCADA system should be a top priority
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Your SCADA system is unsupported
Imagine driving a new car without a warranty. Do you drive around without any worry, or do you constantly dread the day where the car breaks down, and you must pay a huge amount of money to get it fixed?
It is likely that you will choose the safer choice to have a piece of mind and save costs in the longer run. However, this is not as likely, when it comes to service for SCADA systems.
Over time, a SCADA system becomes outdated and falls out of manufacturer support. This may lead to more unplanned downtime when issues occur and higher risks for cyber-attacks.
Thus, acquiring service support for your outdated or unsupported SCADA systems would be a good investment.
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You have higher risks and poorer data as equipment ages
If you compare the life of SCADA systems to the lifetime of a wind turbine, the wind turbine exceeds the SCADA system by many years.
Nonetheless, SCADA systems are vital for plant operations as the SCADA system collects and analyses essential data to ensure and optimize production.
As equipment ages, the risk of lost data and unplanned maintenance increases, leading to gaps in communication from your SCADA system and process interruptions.
As an asset owner or plant operator, a solution could be to upgrade to a new SCADA system. Although, the right service support can also improve the performance of the SCADA system and thus extend its lifetime.
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SCADA expertise doesn’t grow on trees
Competencies for maintaining a SCADA system can be rare. The people who produce SCADA systems don’t necessarily have the right expertise to fix maintenance issues, perform important check-ups, or give valuable recommendations for plant improvement.
At the same time, SCADA systems continue to become more complex because more value-adding features are introduced into the systems. Maintenance and troubleshooting require special skills or SCADA-specific training, which not all SCADA providers offer.
Therefore, acquiring service support from an independent SCADA service provider could improve your plant operations as you have direct access to SCADA expertise.
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Lack of accessibility can lead to more downtime
Everybody knows about the frustration of an unanswered call in the most critical of times. For a site manager or plant operator, this can even be their worst nightmare.
If critical issues emerge and you don’t have specialists in-house to fix the issue, you need someone to call who can react promptly and give you needed support.
Easy and quick access to maintenance and troubleshooting services is thus a key factor when choosing a SCADA provider. If you are not first-in-line for service support during equipment failures, the downtime of your assets increases as well as your cost of operations.
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Being proactive can enhance your plant’s performance
With a service agreement for your SCADA system, you not only get support when issues occur or, e.g., when wind turbines are not running optimally. Often, you will also get proactive services consisting of regular check-ups, status reports, and recommendations for system improvement.
These services provide the asset owners or site managers with essential guidance on how to improve their SCADA systems and overall performance. This helps with decision-making about what could be the best solution for their renewable energy plant.
Sometimes, acquiring a service agreement for the outdated SCADA system is actually not the best solution. Instead, setting up a new SCADA system could be the best investment. Here, a competent service team will lead you in the right direction.
Let SCADA International help you with service support and a new SCADA system.
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