Fundamental References: Infrastructure Asset and Renewable Energy [Book Review

Abstract

This book provides detailed highlights of infrastructure asset management issues. The author points out that infrastructure asset management can be expressed as a combination of managerial, financial, economic, and engineering concepts applied to physical assets. Infrastructure asset management is a wide field that covers different expertise areas. It includes the whole lifecycle of an asset: design, construction, commission, operation, maintenance, modification, decommissioning, and disposal. There are budget constraints, which result in the need for a strategy for asset management. The electric power system is a massive infrastructure to manage the supply of electricity from generation to consumption. The electric power system is undergoing a major reconstruction, which is captured in the concept of a smart grid. The main drivers are higher reliability, climate change, and customer participation in sustainable energy. This book provides readers with knowledge of the terminology and theory used. It provides different analysis tools and examples to use for electric power system applications. The book focuses on energy infrastructure asset management. It shows systematic techniques, such as reliability- centered maintenance (RCM) and reliability-centered asset maintenance (RCAM). These are used to achieve infrastructure asset management strategies. The RCM method focuses on maintenance plans’ reliability aspects. Maintenance and reliability are large costs not only as maintenance tasks but also as production and breakdowns costs. Breakdown consequences affect the environment and/or personal safety. The RCAM method combines RCM with maintenance-optimization techniques. Merging these approaches provides an instrument for maintenance strategy assessment and comparisons. The author eloquently presents that new technology developments provide enhanced solutions for asset management. One new general trend is control and operation with phasor measurement units located in transmission grids or with smart meters placed at consumer sites to enable the integration of distributed resources with distributed energy-use control.