Project Location:
Bagram Air Field (BAF), Afghanistan
Client:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) – Philadelphia District
Client Needs and Requirements:
ISI was competitvely sourced and selected to perform the O&M of the Power Plant beginning in 2009 after the completion of Phase I of the power plant. ISI was already performing the electrical utility grid service at that time. The scope included 24/7/365 Operations & Maintenance services for the power plant, utility grid, and distribution transformers on the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan.
Challenges and ISI’s Response:
Operations & Maintenance of a 87MW Power Plant and large utility grid which powers over 6 square miles of military facilities comes with many challenges. Over the many years of performing these services (2009 – 2014 and 2018-2021), ISI has overcome many challenges and has provided consistant and reliable power to the U.S. Military facilities.
During the 3.5 years (2015 -2018) that ISI was not under contract for this service, there was a lack of maintenance performed and only minimal services were completed. Upon our return to this contract we faced many challenges to restore the performance of the turbine generators to full performance (costing the client ultimately millions of dollars that should have been prevented by the previous vendor).
Under ISI’s program we have established bi-annual inspections by factory personnel, which include OEM recommened services and replacemnts. during the first inspection cycle of 2020, COVID-19 was a major problem and we had to work with Solar Turbines technicians remotely to train ISI personnnel to perform the software patches, physical inspectins and maintenance cycle that is typically perfored by a Solar Technician. This was successful and shows how having highly qualified personnel and good relationships with vendors can overcome obstacles and keep the project running smoothly.
The Results:
The BAF Power Plant has consistently provided power to the Bagram Air Field with no longterm downtime attributed to power plant equipment or system failure under ISI’s program. There have been several issues with damage to the utility grid by 3rd party accidents. However, the grid O&M emergency response time has typically been less than one hour to identify and begin corrective action.
The Details:
ISI provided a power plant and power grid maintenance staff that rotates in and out of Afghanistan on a quarterly basis. This team consists of power plant operators, mechanics, linemen, technicians, and supervisory personnel.
ISI maintains a stock of consumables and emergeny spare parts for both the power plant and power grid on-site and has logistics and procurement staff based in our HQ in Atlanta that rapidly expedites any additional materials or supplies on an as needed basis.