June 2011
Infotechnics have been awarded a contract by National Grid to deploy their electronic shift logging software, Opralog, to the Electricity National Control Centre (ENCC). This will be the second major contract that National Grid has awarded Infotechnics and follows the contract to supply Opralog to National Grid's Isle of Grain LNG storage plant in 2008.
ENCC's staff are required, on a regular basis, to handle information from numerous sources including many Power Stations, Electrical Substations and Day support departments.
Michael Gordon, National Grid Control Issues Engineer, explained, "National Grid's ENCC run a 24 hour control room operation where every day many decisions are taken, actions are carried out and communications are made. Opralog will allow us to accurately record and share information in order to carry out the role of system operator in a safe, secure, and economic manner."
Opralog is the market leading operational logging and reporting tool, providing a flexible and configurable platform to capture and report on key operational data.
Speaking of the contract award, Infotechnics Business Development Director Jon Howard said "We are delighted that National Grid have selected Opralog for use in one of the country's busiest and most important operational control centres. Opralog will help National Grid achieve their objectives of Improved Transmission Reliability, Safety and Efficiency."
"Previously, logs and handover documents were done using a mixture of systems including paper-based, word processor and spreadsheets. Often the same information is required in several different documents and shared with individuals from other departments or with senior management. Opralog will provide a central database with a quick and easy method of capturing data allowing information to be automatically shared, reported and accessed retrospectively, removing much of the manual effort, duplication and human error."