EthosEnergy, Toshiba, Rockfin Partner for Equipment Supply to Nuclear Plant

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions (ESS) Corp. and Toshiba International (TIL) are partnering with local manufacturers, EthosEnergy Poland and Rockfin, to supply the required equipment and maintenance work for its nuclear power plant in Poland. To facilitate the transition from coal-fired power generation, Poland decided to construct its first nuclear power facility in November 2022, aiming for operational readiness in line with its Polish Nuclear Power Program.

“We are delighted to announce the signing of an MoU with Rockfin and EthosEnergy, and in doing so creating a strong potential collaboration for Poland's first nuclear project,” said Shinya Fujitsuka, Director and Vice President of Toshiba ESS. “We are dedicated to contributing to energy sustainability, enhanced energy security, and to protecting the global environment through our nuclear energy business.”

Toshiba ESS and TIL recently established a supply chain for the project through the closing of collaborative agreements with Rockfin and EthosEnergy. Following this step, the participants will meet to discuss the detailed scope of collaboration. Toshiba ESS, in addition to other partners, will manage the plant construction and maintenance, support for plant restarts, decommissioning, and dismantlement when required.

Nuclear power plant; Image Credits: EthosEnergy

Last month, EthosEnergy received a multi-million-dollar contract to perform intermediary O&M services for the custody, care, and control of six power assets (plants) in Mexico. The six plants involved in the contract, in northern Mexico, add 3.9 GW of capacity to EthosEnergy’s O&M portfolio. Over the next several months, the company will work with the power plant owner to transition the assets into its portfolio.

EthosEnergy’s scalable O&M solutions use proven processes and strategies to provide a complete overview of a plant’s assets and implement safe, compliant, and profitable operations. The company has managed more than 100 facilities and over 40 GW of power generation throughout its history, including a number of power plants in Mexico.

To further support these services, EthosEnergy recently opened its operations and maintenance-based (O&M) performance center in Houston, TX, allowing EthosEnergy to 100% manage operational control of power generation assets if the company so chooses. The O&M center provides continuous real-time start-stop capabilities, asset monitoring and diagnostics, and the support of EthosEnergy engineers to assist a power plant’s long- and short-term energy operations.

The performance center’s benefits include:

• reduced downtime
• maintained peak efficiencies
• maximum revenue generation

The center’s operators control start-stop operations with an encrypted, cyber-secure VPN designed to comply with NERC CIP Medium protocols. In addition, operators can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to detect early warnings of reliability and performance issues. Early detection can minimize forced outages and unplanned maintenance.

The center can manage multiple plants remotely, allowing owners to enhance staffing efficiencies and lower the costs of challenges associated with local attrition and talent recruitment. The company’s established full-service O&M solution works in tandem with the performance center, as the team enters a contract with plant owners to assume full care, custody, and control of the plant. This contract enables the team to use processes and strategies to provide safe, compliant, and profitable operations.