Driving Cost Reduction and Operational Excellence at a Flagship Power Generation Facility

The Client

The client is a major U.S.-based energy provider and one of the nation’s largest electric power companies operating a diverse generation portfolio exceeding 50,000 megawatts of capacity across multiple states. Serving millions of customers, the client continues to invest heavily in grid modernization and cleaner energy technologies as part of its long-term transition strategy.

The Challenge

One of the client’s key assets is a 798-megawatt Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant, operational since 2013. The facility plays a critical role in delivering reliable, lower-emission electricity by converting coal into synthetic gas (syngas). Given the plant’s scale and strategic importance, operational efficiency and cost discipline are essential to sustaining performance and long-term value.

Despite the facility’s importance, the client was experiencing rising costs and declining performance within its chemical treatment program. A single chemical supplier had been embedded onsite for more than a decade — an arrangement that had not been competitively rebid in years.

Over time, this lack of market discipline led to:

• Escalating annual chemical costs approaching $10 million
• Excessive chemical usage and outdated treatment strategies
• Diminishing treatment effectiveness and operational issues
• Limited transparency into alternative solutions and pricing models

The client recognized that the incumbent supplier’s long tenure had resulted in complacency, reduced accountability and inefficient practices. Leadership needed an objective, data-driven assessment of the chemical program to validate alternatives, correct performance issues and establish a sustainable path toward cost reduction and operational improvement without disrupting plant reliability.

The Actalent Solution

Actalent delivered a comprehensive chemical program evaluation and optimization engagement designed to restore performance discipline and unlock measurable value.

The engagement began with an in-depth review of:

• Chemical usage and spending patterns
• Treatment methodologies and system performance
• Historical vendor activities and operational outcomes

This analysis revealed critical inefficiencies, including excessive consumption, outdated approaches and vendor-driven operational challenges.

To address these findings, Actalent:

• Developed a data-driven vendor comparison framework, evaluating incumbent and alternative suppliers across cost, performance, reliability and treatment outcomes
• Provided clear, measurable evidence linking inefficiencies to current practices, enabling informed executive decision-making
• Facilitated a competitive rebidding process, bringing rigor, transparency and accountability to a sourcing function that had not been formally evaluated in more than a decade

Beyond supplier selection, Actalent also identified additional improvement opportunities within the chemical program. These insights were consolidated into a broader optimization roadmap, positioning the client for sustained performance improvements and longer-term program governance.

The Results

The engagement delivered immediate financial impact and long-term operational benefits, including:

• More than $400,000 in recurring annual savings achieved through supplier transition and optimized treatment practices
• An estimated several hundred thousand dollars in additional identified savings as further optimization opportunities are implemented
• Improved chemical treatment performance and greater operational stability
• Resolution of long-standing issues driven by the incumbent vendor’s approach

Equally important, the client emerged with a structured, repeatable framework for monitoring chemical program performance and evaluating supplier effectiveness, capabilities that had been absent after years without competitive pressure.

By modernizing the chemical management model, Actalent helped the client reduce cost, strengthen reliability and establish sustained oversight at a critical generation facility, supporting both near-term performance and long-term strategic objectives in an evolving energy landscape.