Evergy Generation

Customer:

Created in 2018 through a merger between Westar Energy and KCP&L, Evergy is the largest electric utility in Kansas, serving more than 1.7 million residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Kansas and Missouri. An American Investor-Owned Utility (IOU), Evergy has a generating capacity of 16,000 MW from its over 40 power plants.

Challenge:

Back in 2019, Evergy Generation began looking at battery monitoring options from a wholistic predictive maintenance and reliability standpoint. Its team recognized the need to begin proactively monitoring its backup battery systems – to see issues coming rather than continuing to be reactive. Going above and beyond quarterly NERC testing, the Evergy Generation Team wanted to get ahead of the game by using the data rich methodology of a Battery Management System (BMS) to plan, save, and budget more accurately. They were willing to make an investment upfront that would deliver a substantial ROI later on, decreasing costs significantly over time.

The team recognized these as specific opportunities for the long-term savings that come with continuous monitoring:

• Identifying bad cells to get extra life out of others in a string
• Identifying bad cells to avoid potentially catastrophic failure during an outage
• Reallocating manpower for more pressing work and scheduling technicians only when needed
• Overseeing systems that experience personnel turnover to ensure reliable performance
• Reducing personal inspections, impedance tests, and other recurring maintenance costs
• Lessen the time and expense from frequent truck rolls to numerous remote locations

Not to mention, there is also the opportunity cost afforded by increasing the ease and efficiency to standardize collected data for NERC audits and downloading reports without physically having to go in the field. 

Options:

The Evergy Generation team reviewed multiple BMS products from equipment manufacturers whose products they had worked with in the past. They were exploring options that would offer the best combination of handheld testers paired with a BMS. And not only were they looking for the right features in a solution, but they also sought a partner that was open to building and customizing its fleet software to fit Evergy’s specific needs. While some of the larger companies being vetted viewed their own solutions as superior out of the box, the Evergy team was interested in working with a company that would take the time to customize its approach rather than rely solely on its reputation. This willingness to partner would ultimately result in a better solution.

Solution:

In late 2019, Eagle Eye installed, started up, and commissioned a pilot BMS system for the utility, and by mid-2020, Evergy Generation decided to move forward with fleet-wide deployment. Overall, approximately 100 systems were installed across 22 Generation sites, including wind, coal, and gas turbines, with up to 11 battery systems at each site.

Implementation:

With deployment on such a large scale, the Eagle Eye support team systematically worked through a punch list of items to get the BMS systems functioning. Furthermore, subsequent firmware updates also improved performance and added new features to the system. Finally, by using Eagle Eye Services for the installation, Evergy received an optimal customer experience with the crew’s ongoing dedication to getting the job done right.

Results:

To-date, periodic firmware updates have improved performance and added new features to the system, one-click NERC reports have been positive, and the comparison of data between portable testers and the BMS has proved the system is accurate for NERC compliance.

In general, the commitment displayed before, during, and after the sale, has enabled Eagle Eye to earn the trust of the Evergy Generation team. Building off this positive experience for both companies – showing flexibility on both sides – the partnership has continued with Vigilant training at Eagle Eye’s HQ and preventative maintenance and battery replacements at Evergy Generation in the near future.