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Challenges of asset owners in the energy sector

Through our 20 year experience in digitizing clients construction and operations processes, Thinkproject has become familiar with the challenges of asset owners in the energy sector:

• In the quest for a stable energy supply and the pursuit of decarbonization targets, the energy sector faces the exponential growth in construction and operation of new assets but also, maintaining and operating existing built assets.

•  This challenge is amplified by the complex nature of designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining an entire portfolio of assets in a dynamically changing world.

• The assets themselves are different types, and require different ways of displaying of information: point assets, e.g converter stations (BIM Model) and linear assets, e.g. cabling (GIS Model).

• Collaboration with numerous external partners, public institutions and suppliers across all lifecycle stages further complicates the landscape.

• The successive stages in the asset lifecycle require their own implementation teams with their domain-specific way of dealing with information. This is a major pitfall for the availability and consistency of reliable asset information.

• The owner’s Asset Management database is often not available for external partners and suppliers, who see no other way than using their own information systems. 

What is at stake: critical infrastructure

Large infrastructure assets in the energy sector present unique properties: 

• They are critical to society's functioning, making their reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety, core priorities. 

• The capital-intensive nature of these large infrastructure assets, make their construction and maintenance costly, requiring careful budget management throughout their entire lifecycle. 

• The push towards sustainability and achieving net zero targets, generates a surge in renewable energy plants projects. 

• The assets are diverse, often at different ages, some of which are managed alone or in cooperation with Joint Ventures and external contractors, leading to having multiple construction projects at the same time.

• The assets are under threat of imminent loss of know-how because of demographic changes and personnel losses.

Information management across the entire lifecycle of assets: a whole systems approach

This is why, Asset Lifecycle Information Management is crucial for transmission system operators. Recognizing information management within the context of asset management goes far beyond conventional, simple document management. A data-driven asset hierarchy forms the cornerstone, incorporating data structures such as Object Type Library (OTL) and Work Breakdown Structures (WBS). The extraction of data from BIM models converges with maintenance, job management, and analytics. This approach comes together to form digital twins, utilizing comprehensive data generated across all asset phases to derive actionable insights. In this paradigm, the emphasis shifts from generic document collaboration to a dynamic orchestration of asset-centric data, fostering a more nuanced understanding of asset lifecycles and performance optimization. And information management with assets, like a cable or an offshore station, is a complex subject, because of the interdependence of all the aspects mentioned and the involvement of different stakeholders.

Thinkproject provides seamless asset lifecycle information management that helps deliver electricity safely, reliably and efficiently, through an all-encompassing system, like a linking pin, with which information transfer between stages of the asset’s lifecycle, becomes obsolete:

• Network is highly available because for maintenance, Thinkproject makes the relevant documentation be always at hand – this also reduces the time for maintenance jobs

• Thinkproject enables collaboration between different stakeholders with one data platform and comprehensive user roles and permissions.

• Everyone receives necessary information in the format (GIS, BIM, PDF etc.) that is best suitable

• Thinkproject accelerates approval processes

• Thinkproject enables close information exchange between onsite and office

• Thinkproject enables mobile data entry and avoiding that data needs to be transferred manually into systems

• Processing your data in a central secure place, ensuring data quality and insights in a transparent, collaborative environment

• Storing relevant asset data during construction to be used in operating the asset.

More than software technology: Industry expertise and know-how

Asset Lifecycle Information Management is ultimately a multi-faceted journey towards digital transformation. It involves recognizing the unique challenges posed by large infrastructure assets in the energy sector, understanding the diverse needs of stakeholders, and implementing a holistic solution that goes beyond technology. That’s why Thinkproject provides you with the highly configurable technology and expertise to build and implement the best-fit solution for your needs:

•  Technology is just a part of delivering digital transformation: data, processes, and people must all come together in a holistic strategy.

•  Our overarching vision is to empower decision-makers with real, trustworthy, and comprehensive information throughout every stage of the asset lifecycle

•  We provide valuable knowledge about the change management necessary to make this vision a success.

•  Our partnership-based cooperation with clients involves three main stages: creating climate for change, engaging, and enabling the organization, and implementing & sustaining for change.

•  Seamless integration of information: shift from a document-centric to data-centric / asset-centric strategy 

About Thinkproject

Thinkproject is a leading construction and engineering SaaS provider, founded in 2001 in München, Germany. Turning intelligence from data and industry experts into an advantage for customers, it is at the forefront of the digitalisation and transformation of the AECO industry. With 750+ employees worldwide, Thinkproject provides digital solutions enabling the management of asset lifecycles to 3,250 customers and over 300,000 users, in + 60 countries.