Shadow control room allows workplace cleaning
In order to minimize coronavirus spread in the workplace, the Engineering team of Termopernambuco, a Neoenergia's thermal power plant, developed a “shadow" control room aimed at serving as a backup for the main control room in which the system for the monitoring of the entire plant's equipment operation is placed.
Due to the new coronavirus pandemic, the main control room is isolated, twice a week, for industrial sanitation, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Considered as the plant's brain, the room operates full time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during the 365 days of the year. Aiming at adapting to the new context, Termope professionals developed an emergency plan allowing the room stoppage for certain time without interfering in the full plant's operation.
The “shadow" structure, created in an exclusive meeting room to be a backup, comprises two computers with remote access to the servers and control of the main equipment. It is possible to control the entire plant's operation from this new environment, in real time, in addition to the remote control, also enabling the activation of commands for turning off and on the plant's turbines when necessary.
The initiative is so successful that Termopernambuco will keep the shadow room in operation, even after COVID-19 pandemic. This measure is a way to provide increased reliability and safety to the plant, as well as preserving the health and well-being of the company's employees.
The continuity of Termopernambuco operation plays a strategic role for the electric network of the whole country. The plant is responsible for producing around 25% of all energy distributed in Pernambuco, and is quite relevant of the energy matrix of the Northeast region of Brazil.
