Control system for electric power plant

A control system for a power plant, the power plant comprising a generator including means for producing a generator field, a turbine for converting the flow of a fluid into mechanical power to drive the generator, a control means for regulating the flow of said fluid, a voltage regulator for controlling the generator field to thereby control the voltage produced by the generator, a bus, and a main circuit breaker for selectively connecting the generator to the bus, the control system comprising:

• nonvolatile memory means for storing configuration data comprising a plurality of configuration parameters for the power plant;
• input means for producing input data including data indicating a speed of the turbine, a position of the control means, a current and a voltage produced by the generator, a current and a voltage on the but, and a position of the main circuit breaker;
• multitasking processing means for processing said input data in accordance with the configuration data, to thereby produce control signals including breaker signals for tripping and closing the main circuit breaker, voltage level signals for establishing a voltage setpoint for the voltage regulator, and a control signal for controlling the position of the control means;
• and,
• edit means for enabling an operator to edit the configuration data, to thereby configure the control system for a particular power plant.