Tight outage windows
Availability and the market situation set the date. The window is fixed, and the recurring inspections within it determine part of the scope in advance.
Industries · Energy & infrastructure
Power Plants & Generation
We manage power plant outages as well as the modernisation, conversion and new build of power plants – from the idea to commissioning.
- Outage window
- set by availability and the market
- Large components
- Turbine, generator and boiler on the critical path
- H₂ readiness
- Modernisation combines outage and project
- Gas, coal, CCS
- Experience across generation types
Market
Security of supply needs high-performing power plants
Wind and solar power are changing the energy system. Even so, a stable grid needs dispatchable generating capacity at all times. That is why existing power plants are being modernised, new flexible gas-fired plants built, and plants prepared for hydrogen or carbon capture.
Outages run in windows set by availability and the market. Conversions and modernisations often intervene in a unit that is still supplying power. Both need the same specialist trades and the same people, plus turbines, generators, transformers and large components whose delivery times can be longer than the work itself. Our strength lies exactly at this interface between shutdown and project: one shared view of schedule, cost, risks, documentation and interfaces.
Typical projects
- Power plant outages
- Power plant modernisation
- Turbine upgrades
- New power plants
- Combined-cycle power plants
- H₂-ready power plants
- CCS retrofits
Outage and project compete for the same window here – plan them separately and you lose one of the two.
Challenges
What is different here
Large, complex equipment
Turbine, generator and boiler overhauls need specialist trades with long lead times and usually lie on the critical path.
Conversion to hydrogen
When gas turbines and auxiliary systems are upgraded for hydrogen, outage and capital project interlock – with their own engineering and their own compliance evidence.
CCS retrofits
Carbon capture (carbon capture and storage) brings new permitting and engineering requirements into an existing plant. The permits are settled before the construction sequence is.
Ongoing operation
Modernisations and conversions often intervene in a unit that is still supplying power. Every intervention has to be coordinated with plant operations.
Long delivery times
Turbines, generators, transformers and large components have to be secured early. Their delivery dates belong in the schedule as activities in their own right.
Typical tasks
Your task – and what we offer for it
On the left: what operators in this industry come to us with. On the right: the service that covers it.
An outage is coming up
Leadership from the definition phase to closeout and lessons learned – as the operator’s extended arm.
The scope has to fit the window
Capture, assess and freeze the scope – around a window set by the market.
The date has to hold
Logic-linked, dynamic detailed schedules, critical path and progress measurement every shift.
We are modernising or building a power plant
Project leadership or project control for modernisations and new builds – with scheduling and project controls from a single source.
We are making a power plant H₂-ready or retrofitting carbon capture
Engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning in one plan – coordinated with ongoing plant operations.
Project controls should come from a single source
Schedule, cost and documents under one control – across the entire project and at the right scale.
Is this schedule technically sound?
Measurable schedule quality – for your own plan as well as for those of your contractors and partners.
We are short of people for the peak
Schedulers, project controllers and construction supervisors – vetted and for exactly the months you need them.
Related services
Shutdown or project?
In this industry we support you in both worlds. From here you can go on to the services that belong to it.
Turnarounds
From the TAR-Check through scope and scheduling to leading the entire shutdown.
Go to servicesCapital projects
From feasibility through estimating and project controls to site management and overall responsibility.
Go to servicesFrequently asked questions
Questions answered
Do you manage the outage and the project in one window?
Yes, and we recommend it. The outage and the modification project compete for the same trades, the same space and the same window. Two separate schedules lead to conflicts exactly where nobody is looking – that is why we bring both together in one logic-linked plan.
Do you have experience with gas and coal-fired power plants?
Yes, with outages, modernisations and new builds at gas, combined-cycle and coal-fired power plants. We manage them in terms of planning and scheduling; the technical design lies with the manufacturer and the engineering. Our contribution is to manage scope, schedule and documentation so that the outage and the modification fit together.
Do you support H₂-ready projects?
Yes. When gas turbines and auxiliary systems are converted to hydrogen, the outage and the capital project interlock. We run both in one schedule and correctly reflect the additional certificates, tests and tie-ins in scope, schedule and documentation.
Do you support CCS projects?
Yes, in terms of planning and scheduling. Retrofitting for CO₂ capture (carbon capture and storage) brings new permitting and engineering requirements into an existing plant. We bring engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning together in one schedule and align it with ongoing power plant operation.
And connecting the power plant to the grid?
That is part of the project and runs in the same schedule. Substations, grid connections and grid expansion are described on the Energy Transition & Infrastructure page – alongside the other grid projects.
How do you plan within a fixed outage window?
With measured progress instead of estimated progress. Where availability and the market set the deadline, early detection of deviations matters more than an optimistic report: we measure every shift, show deviations immediately and make sure that countermeasures are actually taken.
Do you work on the operator's side and independently?
Yes. We report to the operator, not to an executing trade – ep-cm is owner-managed and does not belong to any group with executing companies. In power plants, turbine, generator and boiler overhauls bring manufacturer teams and specialist firms together. We coordinate them from the operator's perspective – the perspective that keeps the whole unit in view.
Terms such as CCS (carbon capture) are explained in our glossary – along with 58 more terms from the turnaround and project business.
Let's talk about
your power plant.
Get in touch – we will respond within one working day, with people who know this industry. The initial call is free of charge.
Book an initial callPrefer to talk directly? +49 (0)211 5667 7754