During this spring, Lloyd’s Register, a leading global safety and risk management organisation, reviewed Fingrid’s asset management operations by comparing Fingrid’s performance with the best practices in the industry. The reference was PAS 55 (Publicly Available Specification 55) developed by British Standard Institution (BSI), applicable to the assessment of operations in asset-intensive industries. According to Lloyd’s Register, Fingrid’s performance exceeds the requirements laid down in the specification. Some other energy companies, such as National Grid in Great Britain and ESB in Ireland, have also been granted the certificate.
Fingrid is active in seeking new methods to develop and compare its operations with those of other TSOs. This is why the company has participated in an active and long-term manner in international benchmarking studies measuring the efficiency of transmission system operation and in a European study comparing the price of transmission grid service. Fingrid has had good success in these international studies, always representing the top league.
Alongside these efforts, Fingrid has adopted a new learning path: comparison to the international asset management specification. This specification covers the elements of good asset management comprehensively by defining what an asset-intensive company should do, but leaving the way of implementation of the action to the company’s discretion.
The PAS 55 specification provides an explicit and systematic way to manage and supervise the assets throughout their life cycle. The specification also follows the cycle familiar from ISO standards: plan, do, check, act.
Peter Glaholm, Utilities Manager, Lloyd’s Register EMEA on presenting the certificate said: “It is always a pleasure to work with industry leading practitioners in asset management. It was clear to our assessment team that Fingrid are committed to developing their asset management capabilities and I am pleased to present this, our first PAS 55 certificate in the Nordic region to Fingrid.”
Fingrid’s Executive Vice President Kari Kuusela, who is responsible for the company’s asset management said: “The certificate granted to Fingrid indicates that outsiders also consider our asset management as exemplary. Not only do we transmit electricity in a reliable manner; we also put emphasis on infallible and safe operations, we keep the substations and transmission lines in a good condition, and require responsible operations conforming to our mode of operation from all our service providers and suppliers.
“Lloyd’s Register is a specialist in audits and possesses solid expertise in asset management, PAS 55 and the electricity industry. Therefore Fingrid can now confidently concentrate on its extensive capital expenditure programme of 1,600 million euros and on maintaining the present infrastructure. In the next 10 years, we will build almost 3,000 kilometres of transmission lines and some 30 new substations”, Kuusela says.
