Sentinel Energy improves site resilience during major grid outages with Proficy HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY

The Sentinel Energy Center (SEC) is located within unincorporated Riverside County in Southern California.

SEC is a nominally rated 850-megawatt natural gas-fired, simple-cycle facility consisting of eight natural gas-fired General Electric LMS100 combustion turbine generators, selective catalytic reduction and carbon monoxide equipment, and a zero liquid discharge system.

SEC supplies quick-start peaking capacity, energy, and ancillary services into the California Independent System Operator's Los Angeles Basin Local Capacity Requirement (LCR) Area.

The Southern California facility required Black Start capability to improve site resilience during major grid outages. They needed a way to enable independent restart without reliance on external power, allowing the plant to serve as a grid stability resource during regional disturbances.

SISO Engineering has supported the facility's control systems since 2018. For this project, they selected GE Vernova’s Proficy HMI/SCADA CIMPLICITY solution as the integration framework for the battery system add-ons. CIMPLICITY’s SCADA system provided the necessary flexibility for custom application development while integrating with existing control infrastructure.

A key enabler of the project was CIMPLICITY, which served as the platform for developing and integrating the battery system add-ons. The scope of work centered on expanding the CIMPLICITY infrastructure to accommodate the Black Start application requirements.

SISO deployed CIMPLCIITY to create new control narratives specifically for the Black Start application, addressing the interaction between battery systems, turbine controls, and balance-of-plant equipment. This included sequencing logic for startup procedures, fail over incidents and coordination protocols through system transitions.

They created custom HMI displays to provide operators with visibility into battery readiness, system status, and turbine start sequences. The interface design prioritized clear information hierarchy during Black Start events when operators require immediate action to critical incidents.

CIMPLCITY was also used to build and test additional BOP coordination logic, ensuring seamless interaction between the battery system, turbine controls, and plant auxiliaries during a Black Start event. Automated safeguards were incorporated to reduce risk during critical transitions and minimize the potential for operator error during events.

By leveraging CIMPLICITY’s flexibility, the project minimized the need for external hardware modifications. This approach supported faster deployment timelines while maintaining system reliability standards.

The intuitive HMI modifications empower operators to manage the Black Start process with confidence, while the expanded logic provides automated safeguards that reduce risk during critical transitions. The project received recognition with the ENR West 2024 Best Energy/Industrial Project award.

Since commissioning, the CIMPLICITY-based Black Start system has been successfully tested and activated. In these cases, the facility was able to restore generation quickly and independently, which proved the system’s reliability in real conditions.

With this new capability, the plant is no longer fully dependent on external power for recovery. Instead, it now serves as a critical grid stability resource, supporting resilience across the region during major outages.



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