Wrap up: Asset management for System Operators: the growing challenges and the rise of AI opportunities

Wrap up: Asset management for System Operators: the growing challenges and the rise of AI opportunities - read the wrap-up article of N-SIDE's panel discussion As shown by ADL, Asset Management and System Operations are, by far, the key areas in which system operators concentrate the most their efforts of digital shift by leveraging advanced analytics, modelling, and simulations. To make it concrete, Elia and N-SIDE have presented a real-life practice solution, the Outage Planning Optimization, which has been developed in a co-creation approach by the two partners. Such an ambitious and integrated approach can only be achieved by using advanced analytics technologies, like Constraint Programming. The benefits for the System Operators can be very high: Elia managed to reduce the outages and the workload by up to 10% and 20% respectively, compared to the as-is situation. Enel, another frontrunner in the use of advanced analytics for asset management, also introduced a concrete example through the use of quantum computing to optimise the WFM for the maintenance operation. The presentations have been followed by a Panel discussion with 5 experts. Webinar key takeaways selected by N-SIDE:

• AI is not a goal in itself: in some cases, simple technologies can be used. The problem of the business must be the starting point, not the technology. This is also the vision shared by ADL: â€œWe are not doing AI for the sake of doing AI, we are doing it with a concrete use case in mind”.
• There is no one-size-fits-all technology: one must embrace and master a large range of AI and analytics algorithms to be able to pick the right one. Other factors that can drive the choice of the technology in particular are the access to data and the need for transparency, which is a necessity in such a regulated industry.
• The all-by-yourself approach is dead: in front of the challenges we are facing, co-creation is needed, where not only the System Operators and technology companies, but also TSOs and DSOs, collaborate with each other to solve the problems.
• Focus on the user: it is key to involve the direct user of the solution in the co-creation process to not only make sure that it fits his/her needs but also to make the solution feasible and tractable.

To learn more about the challenges faced by Elia from the user perspective and the analytical tips and tricks applied to solve this challenging problem of Outage Planning, register to their next webinar, co-hosted by N-SIDE and Elia and presented by two experts of the topics, Maxime Hanot and Martin Kroes. Wednesday, 31 March 2021 15:00 WEST Register here

Asset Management for System Operators: The growing challenges and the rise of the AI opportunities

(Re)Watch this episode on demand