That is the question --one of the key decisions impacting performance and profitability in the power industry is whether or not to make a capital investment to upgrade your infrastructure or continue to maintain your existing physical plant. The inputs to this decision are the current state of your assets and their expected deterioration, as well as the current state of customer demand and expected future demand.

A fact-based model can be created to assess the costs and benefits of investing in new assets vs. maintaining the existing physical plant. With Ivara EXP, you can calculate health indices for critical assets based on historically reported problems, condition monitoring trends, and manufacturer and model specific characteristics. These health indices can be calculated automatically on a regular basis, driven by weights and factor tables that reflect the latest knowledge on how past performance can be used to predict future behavior. Combine with a criticality assessment of the impact of failure on projected future customer demand, and you have a powerful decision model.

The power industry is undergoing a major transformation from a system that pushes power from large fossil fuel generators to a price driven marketplace that supports many smaller producers with a much lower carbon footprint. Ivara EXP increases asset performance through improved reliability, and improves capital planning decisions by leveraging intelligent asset health indices. Ivara EXP provides visibility into current asset condition, projected health, and expected planned maintenance. This will be one of the key inputs into a dynamic pricing model that will drive overall efficiency and flexibility in the maturing SmartGrid.

Tip provided by Ivara, For more information, talk to the experts at Ivara at 1-877-746-3787 or learn more at http://www.ivara.com/solution/by-industry/utilities/