Nuam project – Asset Management

In Switzerland, more than 600 Distribution System Operators (DSOs) are operating the electricity grid on all of its operational levels - from the supra-regional distribution (high-voltage grid) to the low-voltage local grid which provides connections to homes and commercial businesses.

The DSO landscape is somewhat concentrated in that the twenty largest DSOs cover the grid infrastructure for more than 55% of the Swiss population. Further, the electricity distribution is a natural monopoly implemented by a cost-plus regulation. Distribution system costs (network usage tariffs) which contributes to 48% of the overall electricity price are composed of the investment and exploitation costs plus an additional margin decided by the regulator.

An upcoming regulatory change will have a major impact on the current framework, increasing the pressure on DSOs. The Sunshine Regulation aims to implement benchmarks, beginning in 2021, which will help the customers to compare DSOs and evaluate their performance in terms of tariffs and quality. As a result of the Energy Strategy 2050 and the Electricity Grid Strategy, the stability of the grid will be somewhat upset by the increase in decentralised renewable power generation and new costs will be caused by the implementation of smart metering and smart grid. Faced with these challenges, the development of Asset Management activities is essential. These activities will be implemented by Asset Managers, whose role is to define investment and maintenance strategies using Asset Simulation methods. A well-known methodology to simulate the ageing of the grid and evaluate the risks comes from Great Britain and is called the Common Network Asset Indices Methodology (CNAIM). This methodology is based on an analysis of each asset within the grid concerning its Probability of Failure (PoF) and Consequences of Failure (CoF). - Are you interested in our NUAM project? Get in touch with the iimt team.

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