Hydropower Aging Assets: Maintenance & Upgrade Decisions

Overview

Choosing whether to maintain or upgrade hydropower plant components can be difficult. Technology and design techniques continue to evolve, allowing vast improvements to equipment.  Poor original equipment reliability can force changes, but often a detailed cost-benefit analysis is needed to make decisions. The question many decision-makers ask is: “Do we continue to maintain the old equipment in our relatively reliable facilities or do we upgrade to equipment that includes the benefits offered by the latest technology?”.

This webinar will address this question using a risk-based approach and economic analyses. Attendees will learn how to evaluate aging assets, minimize expected costs, and manage risks. The instructor will discuss how to quantify risk and assess the probability of failure. Attendees will examine case studies to apply economic analyses and discuss potential trade-offs in each scenario. The webinar will conclude with a Q&A session.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Discuss how to evaluate aging hydropower assets
  2. Assess how to quantify risk and determine cost
  3. Explain the probability of failure and the consequence cost
  4. Evaluate economic analyses regarding whether or not to upgrade hydropower assets
  5. Discuss maintenance/upgrade justification
  6. Review case studies of hydropower maintenance and upgrade economic analyses

Credits

AP_LogoEUCI has been accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).  In obtaining this accreditation, EUCI has demonstrated that it  complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard which is recognized internationally as a standard of good practice. As a result of their Authorized Provider status, EUCI is authorized to offer IACET CEUs for its programs that qualify under the ANSI/IACET Standard.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 0.2 CEUs for this webcast.

Agenda

Overview

Summary of Life-Cycle Cost Approach
  • How should you think about evaluating aging assets?
  • Minimizing expected costs
  • Managing risk
  • A framework for thinking about life-cycle cost
Quantifying Risk
  • Defining failure — make sure everybody means the same thing
  • Probability of failure — condition assessment; sources of probability estimates
  • Consequence cost — failure scenarios, quantifying costs
Comparing Alternatives
  • Business case
  • Define alternatives and the base case with care
  • Is a project justified? What if you did nothing instead?
Case Studies
  • Case study 1: Replacement versus refurbishment
  • Case study 2: Considering upgrade benefits
    • What if replacement provides more capacity or efficiency?
    • Plant-wide programs — while I’m replacing my runner, should I also rewind the stator?
  • Case study 3: Spares analysis

Learning Outcome Review and Q&A Session

Instructor

Darin Johnson, President, BIS Consulting

Darin Johnson is the president and director of the asset management practice at BIS Consulting, LLC. His experience includes risk analysis, capital planning, and life-cycle cost analysis for electric transmission and distribution, water/wastewater, and hydroelectric generation facilities.

This work addresses the full range of asset management program development, from framework and strategic planning through implementation of decision-support methodologies and business processes to justify and prioritize replacement of aging assets and other spending programs. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and is a Licensed Professional Engineer in Washington State.

Register

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

Hydropower Aging Assets: Maintenance & Upgrade Decisions

August 10, 2016 | Online
Individual attendee(s) - $ 395.00 each

Buy 4 in-person seats and only pay for 3! For this event every fourth in-person attendee is free!