RALEIGH, N.C., Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ABB (NYSE:
ABB), the world's leading power and automation group, announced
today that American Electric Power (AEP), one of the largest
electric utilities in the United
States, will implement the new Asset Health Center solution
from ABB to further enhance the performance and reliability of its
electric transmission network. The Asset Health Center solution
will be applied across all AEP transmission substations
system-wide.
The Asset Health Center builds on the AEP-ABB Transmission
Technology Alliance, which combines AEP's operational innovation
with ABB's research and development depth to deliver unique new
capabilities to the transmission industry. In 2007, AEP first
outlined the industry benefits of what it termed an "asset health
center" concept, and then encouraged the development of a platform
that would integrate AEP-provided infrastructure and systems,
together with condition models that transform data into practical
decision-support information.
The Asset Health Center solution integrates equipment-based
operational technology (OT) from ABB, and enterprise information
technology (IT) from Ventyx, ABB's industrial enterprise software
group, while also leveraging deep operational and diagnostic
expertise contributed by AEP. It is designed to automate what can
otherwise be a time-consuming process requiring highly skilled
individuals to gain visibility into the condition of critical
assets, recognize performance issues, and prioritize maintenance
and repair activities. AEP is leveraging existing infrastructure
and designs to feed digital equipment history records, online
monitoring and operational data to the Asset Health
Center.
"We have been working to automate situational awareness of asset
conditions for some time. We now are poised to realize valuable
operating and maintenance benefits from those efforts," said
Robert W. Bradish, vice president –
grid development, AEP. "Integrating this new solution will also
help to identify assets requiring replacement as they reach the end
of their useful life. The Asset Health Center is an example of the
technical innovation we always pursue to achieve the highest
standard of safety, efficiency and reliability in our electric
transmission system."
Specifically, the Asset Health Center combines ABB's
condition-monitoring and performance algorithms – which are an
extension of ABB Service's patented Mature Transformer Management
Program™ condition-assessment program – with the Ventyx FocalPoint
business intelligence solution. At the heart of the solution is its
ability to bring together a wide range of disparate asset
information, asset algorithms based on deep subject-matter
expertise, and smart software solutions into one cohesive system.
By leveraging this convergence of OT and IT, leading utilities such
as AEP can unlock the true value of their smart grid investments,
capture and institutionalize years of employee know-how, and
deliver actionable intelligence to key stakeholders across the
business.
"The North American power industry is faced with an aging
infrastructure, which requires continuous care and strategic
upgrades," said Roger Bailey,
president of ABB Power Products division, North America. "Bringing together ABB's
operational technology and Ventyx's information technology into our
new Asset Health Center solution can dramatically change the way
utilities approach transmission equipment maintenance. We are
excited to partner with market leaders such as AEP on such a
significant initiative to maximize network performance by enabling
increasingly intelligent transmission grids."
"The Asset Health Center provides a new industry standard for
end-to-end condition-based maintenance that can help utilities
ensure the reliability of critical infrastructure assets upon which
the nation's power grid depends," said Jeff
Ray, CEO of Ventyx. "By transforming real-time and
historical data into meaningful and timely insights into the health
of their assets, utilities can ensure greater uptime and
uninterrupted service delivery for customers, while lowering their
own operations and maintenance costs."
American Electric Power (www.aep.com) is one of the largest
electric utilities in the United
States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million
customers in 11 states. AEP also owns the nation's largest
electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that
includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines
than all other U.S. transmission systems combined.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation
technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve
performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of
companies operates in around 100 countries and employs about
145,000 people. The company's North American operations,
headquartered in Cary, North
Carolina, employ about 27,000 people in multiple
manufacturing, service and other major facilities.
Ventyx, an ABB company (www.ventyx.com) is a world-leading
supplier of Industrial Enterprise Software for essential industries
such as energy, mining and public infrastructure. Ventyx solutions
bridge the gap between information technologies (IT) and
operational technologies (OT), enabling clients to make faster,
better-informed decisions in both daily operations and long-term
planning strategies. Some of the world's largest organizations rely
on Ventyx solutions to minimize risk, enhance operational and
financial performance, and execute the right strategies for the
future.
For help with any technical terms in this release, please go to:
www.abb.com/glossary.
SOURCE ABB