Power and grid

    Commissioning software for assets that answer to a grid operator, not just an owner.

    Generation and transmission assets are commissioned against evidence that a third party — a transmission system operator, a distribution network operator, an insurer — will independently check. Deskely holds the loop checks, protection tests, energisation gates and reliability runs behind every system turnover package, from first fire to final acceptance.

    SUBSTATION 1 — SINGLE LINE READINESSMAIN BUSBARGEN-01VerifiedGeneration blockXFMR-01VerifiedStep-up transformerBAY-02Protection testSwitchyard bayFDR-04Energise dueFeederPLANT READY55%2 of 4 subsystems verified

    The problem

    Energisation is a gate, and the gate is only as good as the record behind it.

    Whether it is a combined cycle unit, a solar farm or a substation extension, the sequence to energisation depends on protection testing, loop checks and system turnover packages being complete and correct. Manual sign-off across contractors and disciplines is where that sequence breaks down.

    WHERE THE EVIDENCE LIVESEPC test recordsPDF binderElectrical contractor logsExcelOEM protection reportsVendor portalUtility sign-offsPaperENERGISATION11 daysIs the switchyard ready?Unknownfour parties disagreeOne register removes the reconciliation entirely.

    System turnover packages are assembled by hand

    Loop checks, protection settings and punch status for each system have to be pulled together from separate registers before a turnover package can be issued.

    Protection testing evidence is scattered

    Relay settings, injection test results and commissioning reports sit in vendor PDFs disconnected from the equipment they were tested on.

    Energisation gets approved on trust

    The decision to energise a bay, a line or a unit often rests on a verbal confirmation rather than a checked record of what is actually complete.

    Grid code compliance is proven too late

    Reliability runs, PAC and FAC testing and grid code compliance evidence are needed at connection, and gathering them retrospectively delays commercial operation.

    How it runs

    From loop check to grid connection.

    1. 01

      Loop check and protection test

      Circuits and relays tested and signed against the equipment register before energisation is considered.

    2. 02

      Compile the turnover package

      Records and punch roll up automatically into the system turnover package for review.

    3. 03

      Energise and synchronise

      Energisation certificate issued on cleared records, followed by first fire or first synchronisation.

    4. 04

      Reliability run and connection

      PAC/FAC and reliability run evidence recorded, with grid code compliance documentation ready for the connection agreement.

    ENERGISATION SEQUENCEConstruction completeMechanical works signed off100%Loop checks & protection testsWitnessed by the utilityHOLD100%EnergisationLive at nominal voltageHOLD62%First sync / reliability runGrid-connected stability windowHOLD20%PAC / FAC handoverProvisional and final acceptance0%Every witness and hold point reports from the same evidence chain — no separate utility binder to reconcile.

    Side by side

    Manual turnover packages versus a gated energisation record.

    The question at every substation, generation or interconnection project is the same: can you prove the system is ready to energise before you energise it?

    Manual turnover packages versus a gated energisation record.
    AspectRegisters and spreadsheetsDeskely
    Turnover packagesCompiled manually from several registers.Rolled up automatically per system from signed records.
    Protection test recordsVendor PDFs disconnected from the equipment.Attached to the circuit and relay they were tested on.
    Energisation approvalA verbal confirmation in a meeting.A certificate gated on cleared records and punch.
    Reliability runsTracked separately from the commissioning record.Logged against the unit alongside its other test evidence.
    Grid code complianceAssembled retrospectively at connection.Built from records captured throughout commissioning.

    What changes

    Per system

    turnover packages built from signed records

    Gated

    energisation on cleared protection and loop checks

    One place

    for reliability run and PAC/FAC evidence

    Scoped

    access for OEM and protection contractors

    Before you shortlist

    Estimate what your current process costs

    Enter your tag count and record handling time to see the admin hours and cost in play — then book a demo against your own numbers.

    Open the ROI calculator

    FAQ

    Questions about power and grid.

    Project types

    The same completions model, from a single bay to a whole generating station.

    What changes between power scopes is the plant breakdown, the gate before energisation and who witnesses it. The record types, the certification ladder and the audit trail behind them do not.

    01

    Gas turbine and combined cycle plants

    A combined cycle plant is three power islands — gas turbine, HRSG and steam turbine — that only earn revenue once every subsystem is chemically clean, steam-blown and proven to the grid. Deskely holds mechanical, electrical, I&C and process subsystems in one register, so first fire, first synchronisation and reliability run are issued from signed evidence rather than assembled the night before.

    See this scope in detail
    02

    Hydropower units and powerhouses

    A hydro unit is proven in stages that civil, mechanical and electrical scope have to hand off cleanly: dewatered inspection, dry commissioning, wet commissioning under head, and a runaway speed test that only happens once per unit if it goes well. Deskely tracks each unit and its balance of plant as tagged subsystems, so a powerhouse with four units at four different stages stays legible.

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    03

    Biomass and waste-to-energy plants

    Biomass and waste-to-energy plants live or die on fuel handling reliability and combustion tuning, with emissions compliance testing sitting on the critical path to the operating permit. Deskely tracks fuel reception, handling, boiler and flue gas treatment as subsystems in one register, so combustion tuning runs are evidence rather than a log kept by whoever was on shift.

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    04

    Utility-scale solar farms

    A utility-scale solar farm turns commissioning into a volume problem: strings, combiner boxes, inverters and transformers repeated hundreds or thousands of times, each needing the same tests recorded the same way. Deskely templates the record set once per equipment type and instantiates it across the whole array, so a hundred-megawatt site is commissioned from structured data rather than a folder of PDFs per inverter.

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    05

    Battery energy storage systems

    A battery energy storage site is dozens of identical containers — batteries, PCS, thermal management and fire suppression — feeding a shared HV interconnection that only gets energised once everything behind it is proven safe. Deskely tracks each container as a tagged asset with its own commissioning record set, and gates HV energisation on the safety systems that actually matter.

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    06

    Transmission and distribution substations

    A substation build stacks primary plant, protection and control panels, SCADA and a TSO or DNO witness programme on top of each other, and none of it can be energised out of order. Deskely holds bays, panels and points in one register with the injection tests, witness points and sign-offs that actually gate the switch.

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    07

    Overhead lines and underground cables

    A transmission or distribution route is thousands of towers, poles, conductor spans, cable drums, joints and terminations, each with its own installation and test record. Deskely tracks the route as tagged assets rather than a drawing with a highlighter line through it, so a defective joint is traceable to a drum, a batch and an installer.

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    08

    District heating and cooling networks

    A district heating or cooling scheme is an energy centre feeding a buried network of pipework and heat interface units, built out in phases while customers are already connecting. Deskely tracks plant, network sections and connection points as one register, so pressure testing and commissioning evidence exist for every metre before it is buried and forgotten.

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    09

    Nuclear balance-of-plant and support systems

    Balance-of-plant and support systems on a nuclear site sit under a quality regime that ordinary commissioning tools were never built for: graded QA, mandatory hold and witness points, N-stamped documentation and strict configuration control. Deskely enforces that structure in the register itself, so a record cannot be signed out of sequence and every signature is retained exactly as issued.

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    10

    Plant upgrades and planned outages

    A planned outage or upgrade compresses months of normal commissioning discipline into days, on assets that were already in service. Deskely scopes the register tightly to what is being touched, tracks status by the hour across shifts, and gates restart authorisation on the records the outage actually required.

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