Title: Maintenance optimisation using intelligent asset management in electricity distribution companies

Authors: Sam Gontran Amelete; Raynald Vaillancourt; Georges Abdul-Nour; François Gauthier; Mohamed Gaha

Addresses: Research Chair on Asset Management, Industrial Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, 3351, boul. des Forges, C.P. 500, Trois-Rivières (Québec), G9A 5H7, Canada ' Asset Management Team, Grid Strategy, Group – Distribution, Supply and Shared Services, Hydro-Québec, C.P. 10000, succ Pl. Desjardins – 18e étage – Tour Est, Montréal (Québec), H5B 1H7, Canada ' Research Chair on Asset Management, Industrial Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, 3351, boul. des Forges, C.P. 500, Trois-Rivières (Québec), G9A 5H7, Canada ' Research Chair on Asset Management, Industrial Engineering Department, School of Engineering, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, 3351, boul. des Forges, C.P. 500, Trois-Rivières (Québec), G9A 5H7, Canada ' Hydro-Québec Research Institute IREQ, Hydro-Québec, 1800 Bd. Lionel-Boulet, Varennes (Québec), J3X 1S1, Canada

Abstract: This article presents the effect of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) combined with asset management (AM) in improving the life cycle of complex systems in electrical energy distribution (EED). The boom in smart networks leaves companies in this sector no choice but to adhere to I4.0. The contribution of I4.0 to the progress of AM in maintenance in EED will therefore be demonstrated by a case study using simulation. The case study will concern the benefits of using advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), the heart of smart grids, at Hydro-Québec Distribution (HQD), the primary supply authority in Quebec. The HQD network includes 4.3 million clients, on a territory of approximately 250,000 km² and 680,000 overhead transformers. The results are conclusive: the number of outages will drop by 7% annually and maintenance costs will fall by at least 5% per year.

Keywords: asset management; maintenance; industry 4.0; I4.0; electricity distribution; smart grid; advanced metering infrastructure; AMI; stochastic simulation; artificial intelligence.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2023.133604

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2023 Vol.15 No.1, pp.44 - 67

Received: 14 Jan 2022
Received in revised form: 14 Sep 2022
Accepted: 22 Nov 2022
Published online: 25 Sep 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article