Electricity Asset Management Plan 2019-2029
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Vector Limited://
SECTION 4. OUR ASSETS
How we consume electricity is changing fast as we electrify our lives. With this change comes a greater expectation that our energy systems will be reliable. Our dependency on electricity will continue to rise as new technologies enter our lives, especially the electric car. Given this, Vector believes the Symphony scenario it has developed for its future network is the best and most sensible choice. It will grow the network well over the next 10 years and help us meet the challenges we face – and our service-level targets, while also greatly improving the customer’s experience. In this section of the Asset Management Plan, we describe our assets, including the various types and volumes, and their functions, and we provide key statistics. But, most importantly, we do this in the context of our range of network management strategies. 4.1.1 OVERVIEW We summarise our asset management strategies both at a network-wide level and for specific asset classes. These strategies inform us when we should act, and what actions to take to best manage the lifecycles of our network assets over the course of their useful economic lives. We actively manage our network assets over their whole lifecycle to avoid failures that might harm staff or the public, or damage the environment. We also aim to minimise interruptions of supply for our customers. These strategies are behind the plans set out in Section 5 and align with both statutory and regulatory requirements, and modern design and maintenance standards. A list of key asset strategy documents, along with the design and maintenance standards we abide by, are provided in Appendix 2. This section describes our asset management strategies for all asset classes, and covers planning, operation and maintenance strategies, as well as specific strategies relating to service-level performance i.e. – reliability, resilience, power quality, sustainability and safety. Our asset-specific strategies are described more fully in our suite of asset strategy documents (from Section 4.3 below). Section nine of the Default Price-quality Path (DPP) specifies that an Electricity Distribution Business (EDB) must comply with the SAIDI and SAIFI limits the Commission sets for a specific assessment period – or have complied with those set for the two previous years. The Commission derived the targets for 2015 to 2020 using a 10-year historical view to define the SAIDI and SAIFI limits. Vector notes this historical view doesn’t address significant recent changes to the operating environment. This, as well as a lack of clear enforcement guidelines around breaching regulatory quality limits, creates significant uncertainty when evaluating options and trade-offs as part of the asset management plan process. In regard to this, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA), which came out of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into the Pike River Mine tragedy, and the subsequent taskforce inquiry into general workplace health and safety, has created tougher obligations around keeping staff, contractors and sub-contractors safe. To comply with the new health legislation, new rules have been developed for working on or near lines as a “reasonably practicable” way of minimising the risk posed by live electrical equipment. These new safety rules are incorporated in our live line operating standards. Additionally, from a public safety perspective, Vector has established escalation processes to remotely de- energise reported low or downed lines when an imminent risk is identified. The new rules make it a challenge to meet the SAIDI and SAIFI targets based on historical performance when rules restricting live-line work were not in place. Nevertheless, Vector monitors its performance in relation to the SAIDI and SAIFI reliability indices, together with the number and duration of ‘customer interruptions’ metrics, as these are key indicators of how the network is performing. Our current reliability objective is to reduce the number and duration of customer interruptions, and to work back towards SAIDI and SAIFI targets set by the Commission. We have built a model that enables us to assess the potential impact SAIDI-SAIFI has of the network. This is based on fault rates, network restoration times and network topology. We recognise that SAIDI performance is a function of these three variables, and that an optimal balance needs to be struck between these to deliver the required SAIDI-SAIFI performance. Using our model, we can define the balance required by setting targets for network restoration times and 4.1 OUR NETWORK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
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