Asset Electrical software for power grid asset management

“Asset Electrical is a great example of our New Nexans strategy that will help the company to go beyond cables and grow in the value chain,” said Jérôme Fournier, Nexans’ Chief Technology Officer. “With this digital solution that builds on our rich expertise in electrical assets’ ageing profile and behaviour, we aim to help asset managers optimise their maintenance and renewal strategies in light of the many pressures on the industry we foresee going forward.”

Strategic Digital Twin technology for utilities
Asset Electrical is a powerful platform designed especially for the complexity that DSO executives must cope with daily. The solution allows to find the balance between network performance, capital or operating expenditures and risk factors (including financial, regulatory, security and environmental aspects).

Among the key features of the software it is possible to:

• Centralise and organise data regarding the assets base and complete with Nexans’ electrical asset ageing models,
• Build a digital twin of a network, accurately reflecting the entire network and the processes used to manage it (such as related inspections, repair and renewal strategies in place),
• Create and test scenarios on the digital twin baseline to measure the correlation between distribution grid performance indicators and capital expenditures and maintenance costs as well as to analyse risks across all silos historically focused on their individual objectives,
• Decide and validate the most relevant scenario to implement according to global objectives.

A powerful tool to improve cost efficiency of electrical grid assets
Asset Electrical has been launched to mitigate the investment wall associated with massive electrical components maintenance or renewal. The purpose of the platform is to optimise maintenance and renewal policy planning while taking into account all constraints usually handled in silos by different departments. This innovation will also help adapt strategy due to the major arrival of distributed energy resources on the distribution grid.

Asset Electrical allows for reducing OPEX via maintenance savings, with negligible impact on grid performance. The solution delays or reduces CAPEX via safely rescheduling investments. In total it can deliver  TOTEX (CAPEX + OPEX) savings up to 10-15% on mid and long term strategies.

Nexans is the first cable manufacturer that has been able to propose this solution for utilities, because of its collaboration with the start-up, Cosmotech. By combining the Group’s insight in critical components of energy distribution networks with the startup’s knowledge of data modelling and analysis, the two partners have created a one-of-a-kind asset management solution for the sector.

Fournier added: “In time, our ambition is that the software solution can be used by all electrical asset managers in utilities, as part of the engineering services provided by Nexans. This is part of our effort to keep improving our services to meet the user needs. We hope this platform will help make DSOs fit to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”