HydroVantage Establishes Spare Part Strategy at Beauharnois Power Plant

Hydro-Québec's Beauharnois Plant contains 36 generating units, each equipped with a single 3-phase transformer. Failure of a transformer would result in a loss of CAN$30,000 each day that its associated unit is out of commission. In order to develop the most effective strategy for dealing with potential transformer failures, Hydro-Québec performed a risk-based analysis using HydroVantage, Synexus Global's web-based decision support software for capital investment planning.

Hydro-Québec was able to construct a detailed model which considered the individual characteristics of each of the 36 transformers, and also an aggregate model for a bank of standard transformers. Sensitivity analyses were conducted and correlated between the two models. The resulting recommendation was immediate purchase of a single spare transformer, which would create a significant saving in case of a failure. Purchase of a second spare at a future date is also justified, while a third spare cannot be justified at any time.