GE’s Distributed Power business (in the process of being sold to Advent International) has signed a multiyear supply agreement with Aggreko plc, a major player in the supply of piston engine based temporary power and temperature control systems, to connect up to 10 000 assets to GE’s Distributed Power myPlant Asset Performance Management (APM) system over the next five years.

GE describes myPlant APM as “an OEM- agnostic, Industrial Internet of Things solution for reciprocating engines and generators”, which will “provide Aggreko with a digital toolset to manage its equipment fleet.”

With more than 100 data points being derived or added to each of the assets, Aggreko will be able to monitor a large variety of items. Analytics will help, for instance, predict oil lifetime and ensure the performance and uptime of the mobile power plants. The project represents the largest to date for GE’s Distributed Power myPlant solution for reciprocating engines and generators.

In addition to supplying power to customers in remote areas, Aggreko’s emergency response capability also allows it to respond to emergencies of all sizes, such as restoring power to entire communities after a natural disaster. Complementing Aggreko’s capabilities, the myPlant APM system provides a cloud-based monitoring and diagnostics infrastructure to remotely manage the performance of the company’s fleet of reciprocating engine based power plants. GE says Aggreko will be able to gain the real-time intelligence needed for better decision making to achieve desired outcomes and increase asset uptimes at customer sites in various industrial sectors and at events.

“With Aggreko’s globally mobile and geographically widespread fleet, this agreement will provide us with the ability to remotely monitor hundreds of thousands of sensors across our power generation fleet,” said Volker Schulte, Aggreko’s group manufacturing & technology director.

The myPlant offering uses secure, centralised cloud storage to collect data from gas, diesel, heavy fuel oil and PV based power generation units as well as distribution and energy storage equipment, regularly transmitting sensor data streams, control alarms and operational data.

“By digitalising its fleet through the implementation of our myPlant APM solution across its global assets, Aggreko will be able to deliver power to its customers more reliably and efficiently,” said Carlos Lange, president of GE’s Distributed Power business.

The first Aggreko site deployments of myPlant are planned for the fourth quarter of 2018.