Leave the control boundary unclear and you face gaps, duplicated work and arguments during commissioning. Signals nobody wired, logic nobody wrote and screens nobody built cause delays, failed tests and risk to your energisation date, and the extra cost lands on you.
USP&E as Your Guide to a Control Scope With No Gaps
Draw your control boundary before you sign the purchase order. Decide what the turbine control system does, what your DCS does and what the protection relays do. List every interface signal between them, with type, direction, protocol and who supplies the cable and configuration. An interface list agreed by all suppliers prevents most controls disputes.
Draw Your Control Boundary Before the Purchase Order
Your DCS and HMI scope should list graphics, alarm management, trending, historian, reporting, time synchronisation, cyber security and redundancy. Specify standards for screen design and alarm priorities, so turbine screens and plant screens look and behave consistently. Agree who configures, tests and documents each part.
Decide where operators will control the plant from, which functions remain local to the turbine and how remote dispatch from a grid operator or campus energy manager reaches the units. These decisions shape network design, panel locations and the skills your operators will need. Make them with your operations lead in the room, not only your procurement team.
Spell Out Your DCS and HMI Scope
Starting scope decides whether the first start happens on schedule. Write down exactly how your turbine starts: electric motor, static frequency converter, diesel cranking engine or hydraulic system, and who supplies each piece. Include your auxiliaries, such as lube oil pumps, fuel gas heaters and controls, which must be running before the turbine turns.
New-surplus OEM-class units deserve the same seriousness as factory-new: title verification, operational history review, and witnessed testing where access exists. Used pathways are covered in the decision matrix and on used GT generators.
Manage Mixed Fleets, Growth and Testing
Factory acceptance testing discipline for any new OEM-class package — witness, documentation, punch lists — applies whether the iron is near-term inventory or future modular slots. Narrative: FAT for new GT gensets.
Test thoroughly: factory acceptance with simulated signals, site acceptance, loop checks for every signal and functional tests of sequences. Sites supplying data-centre power plants need proven controls, best delivered under one EPC and O&M team.
Proof from recent work
Data centres · USA
Major US hyperscale developers
USP&E refurbished 7 GE Frame 6Bs to zero hours in-house for major US hyperscale developers.
Mining · Mali
Barrick Gold, Loulo-Gounkoto
USP&E refurbished the 104 MW power station, rebuilding more than 80 MW of Caterpillar CM32 engines and adding new zero-hour capacity.
Read the case study ›Mining · Tanzania
Perseus Mining, Nyanzaga Gold Project
USP&E supplied 28 Cummins KTA50 containerised gensets for the Nyanzaga Gold Project in Tanzania.
Your path from first call to reliable power
Your 3-step plan: 1. Share your single-line diagram, supplier quotes and control needs under NDA. 2. Receive a control boundary, interface list and DCS scope. 3. Run FAT, loop checks and functional tests, then hand over accountable O&M.
- Write the duty statement: load profile, islanding needs, number of units now and later, and any campus systems the plant must talk to.
- Draft the control boundary and interface list between each turbine panel, the plant DCS, switchgear, and auxiliaries, with an owner for every signal.
- Gather controls documentation for each candidate, from a remanufactured GE Frame 6B to used or new gas turbines or natural gas engines, through USP&E live inventory.
- Run a joint factory acceptance test of turbine panel and DCS interface, then site loop checks, trip tests, and load-sharing trials.
- Hand over as-built logic, backups, licences, alarm lists, and a patching and change-control plan to the named O&M team.
Common questions
Why define the control boundary before ordering new gas turbines?
USP&E defines the control boundary early because turbine controls, DCS, protection and balance-of-plant systems are usually supplied by different vendors. An agreed interface list prevents missing signals, duplicated work and commissioning disputes that delay energisation and raise your project costs.
What should a DCS and HMI scope include?
USP&E includes graphics, alarm management, trending, historian, reporting, time synchronisation, cyber security and redundancy in DCS scope, plus screen and alarm standards. Balance-of-plant systems and remote dispatch links are listed too, with clear responsibility for configuration, testing and documentation on your project.
What controls tests should happen before energisation?
USP&E runs factory acceptance tests with simulated signals, site acceptance tests, loop checks for every signal and functional tests of start, stop, synchronising and trip sequences. Each test is documented, so defects are closed before the first fire rather than during it.
How do mixed fleets appear on one control system?
USP&E connects mixed fleets through gateways and consistent screen standards, so turbines, engines and bridge units appear as one plant. Each machine keeps its own local control and protection, while operators get one overview, one alarm list and one set of procedures.
Why owners choose USP&E
USP&E is a full-service engineering, EPC and O&M company, not a broker. One team designs, builds and runs your plant, so nothing falls between contracts.
Racing a go-live date?
Tell us your load, fuel and timeline. A USP&E engineer will come back with options for New Gas Turbine Generators projects, not a sales pitch.