Strategic asset management implementation (SAMI) at National Grid, Saudi Arabia

The electricity sector is changing rapidly... Utilities will face substantial grid operation and grid development challenges such as interconnections between neighboring countries, grid restructuring for decentralized electricity generation and even maintaining their infrastructure in good condition. In the meanwhile, resources, both financial and human, might not grow at the same pace. Elia Grid International's research shows that utilities will not be able to satisfy growing demands and operation of the existing network using current work patterns; working methodologies will have to be adapted through the implementation of Asset Management principles and more precisely, by integrating risk in decision-making processes. The primary aim of Asset Management is to assure that organizations reach their performance targets, while balancing cost and risk. Such as other utilities, National Grid Saudi Arabia is facing a number of important challenges, including, but not limited to, an extremely high growth in the demand for power (a 100% increase in installed grid power in a single decade), a large territorial area over which the assets are operated (approx. 2.1 million square KM), an increasing asset replacement need within its network and a rising number of incidents & failures in the asset fleets across the Kingdom. In addition, National Grid SA is the result of several company mergers; with the inherent challenge lying in the harmonization of best practices across the organization. This paper outlines how National Grid SA determined that the solution to these challenges could be provided through the implementation of a strong Asset management approach within the company as well as detailing the strategy taken for its implementation. In order to illustrate the implementation of these Asset Management guidelines, this paper will focus on the approach that was used to deploy Asset Performance and Incident Analysis activities in National Grid SA. As one of the main concerns of the Transmission System Operators (TSO), system reliability is directly affected by these activities. The Asset Performance Analysis process also provides a case to illustrate the strong link between performance, cost and risk.