Browser-based performance monitoring integrates thermal, financial information ; Advanced software enables managers to monitor powerplant performance remotely, through the Internet or company intranets. By integrating process and financial data, these browser-based systems provide true 'transmitter to trader' information exchange

As competition takes hold in the power generation sector, powerplant performance monitoring is no longer limited to heat rates and efficiencies displayed on an unattended computer sitting in a corner of the control room. Performance monitoring today includes accurate, real-time data on economic performance, so that powerplants can react quickly and adjust inputs and outputs according to market conditions. Recent software releases make it possible to implement such performance monitoring systems and access them remotely through Web browsers over the Internet or company intranets. These systems are comprised of off-the-shelf, low-cost, readily available hardware and software that are used to capture real-time data directly from existing data acquisitions systems. Equipment performance data are then coupled with economic factors to yield real-time information about financial plant performance.