EPRI Delivers the Nuclear Promise Initiative with CHAMPS Analytics

Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) · Energy & Utilities

By partnering with CHAMPS Analytics we are now able to solve the hardest data analytics problems for the entire industry. Never before could we give each utility a one stop shop to analyze their PM data and performance and while also allowing each utility to compare and contrast their spending patterns against their peers. By providing the analytics powered by Qlik, we are projecting tens of millions of dollars in savings across the entire US fleet of nuclear reactors.

Jeff Greene — EPRI Senior Technical Leader

Solution Overview

Client Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Industry Energy & Utilities

Location United States & Canada

Go-Live Year 2010s

Challenge The nuclear industry is facing cost pressures due to cheap, abundant natural gas. Analyzing where the most expensive Preventive Maintenance dollars are being spent is difficult — the data is hard to mine and reliability engineers struggle to generate good analytics.

Solution EPRI was introduced to CHAMPS Analytics by Arizona Public Service / Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to bring the entire industry together on a common platform, using Qlik for its flexibility and ability to work with large and complex data.

Products Deployed CHAMPS Analytics

Key Outcome Over $2M in EPRI member savings within 6 months; 99% participation across the North American nuclear industry; entire fleet data assembled and deployed in less than one year.

EPRI delivers the Nuclear Promise Initiative with CHAMPS Analytics to drive cost savings in Preventive Maintenance strategies to better compete with natural gas in the nuclear power industry.

Challenges

The nuclear industry is facing cost pressures due to cheap, abundant natural gas. One of the best ways to lower costs and improve efficiencies to the bottom line is to analyze data to see where the most expensive Preventive Maintenance dollars are being spent and determine if altering the PM strategy can result in lowering costs while maintaining the same reliability for various equipment and assets at the plant. The data is difficult to mine and the reliability engineers struggle to generate good analytics.

Solution

EPRI was introduced to CHAMPS Analytics by Arizona Public Service / Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station to work on a solution to bring the entire industry together on a common platform. Qlik was selected to be the platform of choice due to its flexibility and ability to work with large and complex data. Today, every utility in the nation can see their spending for any asset class across their entire fleet and quickly determine the high value assets that can immediately target for PM optimization. The whole solution was implemented in less than 6 months.

Results & Client Value

EPRI gained the following:

EPRI members realized over $2M dollars in savings within 6 months of deploying the Qlik analytics application
99% participation with the entire nuclear power industry for North America (US and Canada)
Achieved the impossible — assembled data from the entire North American fleet of reactors and deployed the solution in less than 1 year
Created an environment where ERWG (Electric Reliability Working Group) engineers can trust the data to make impactful decisions
Transformed EPRI into a data-driven organization that delivers value to their clients