Stanwell’s Energy Trading team’s access to real-time data was recently given a major upgrade. Stanwell’s Operational Excellence team has implemented a new system, PI Vision, allowing everyone across the business to see what’s happening on the ground at our sites and in the trading room, at any time and quickly share snapshots of key asset performance data.
Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and settles pricing every five minutes. As a major participant in the NEM, Stanwell’s power stations, operational, and energy trading teams also work around the clock. In this environment, every second matters, and having real-time visibility into operations is crucial.
The new system, PI Vision, has eliminated the need to install a desktop app and can be accessed from any device connected to the Stanwell network. Integrating with existing software used by Stanwell, it allows for quick, easy, and secure access to data and improved analytics that can be shared across teams just by sharing a web link.
Performance Analytics Specialist, Karl Rickards, said he oversaw the implementation of the system and worked with Stanwell’s Energy Trading team to create customised displays and configurations in PI Vision that were specifically tailored for their needs.
“Users can now quickly open up PI Vision and instantly see what’s happening anywhere in our portfolio, with live data,” he said.
“For example, someone on the Energy Trading team could check and see that one of our assets is underperforming or behaving unusually. They operate in real time – every minute matters when they’re making data-driven decisions.
“Rather than waiting to hear from somebody at the power station, they now have the live situational awareness to adjust their trading strategy. This lets the people on site focus on investigating the issue at hand.”
Senior Energy Trader, Rob Murphy, is one of these daily users and said he has already seen changes in how the team is accessing the information they need and improving communication with other teams.
“PI Vision is part of a suite of tools that we use on a daily basis to monitor and respond to what’s happening across all of our operations,” Rob said.
“The Operational Excellence team were very professional and communicated their overall approach on the recent upgrade. Given the high number of projects underway within Stanwell, the speed of delivery was excellent.
“This part of the project is complete, but more upgrades are planned. Especially with summer coming, it’s important to be able to see how the markets are affecting our plants. Prices can change quickly, so it’s important that people can see what’s happening and get a feel for the day’s volatility – never a dull moment!”
Stanwell’s Operational Excellence team aims to support generation in delivering key business priorities by developing the tools, systems, and processes that optimise strategy execution and value creation.