Contracted since 1993, we have kept three major airports running smoothly 24/7, 365 days a year. For the past 30 years we have owned, operated and maintained critical infrastructure for Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. Across the three sites, the portfolio of assets managed includes more than 500 substations, around 600 electrical transformers and a vast amount of high and low voltage cabling and expert engineers based at each airport.

After a successful six-month trial period in 2021, involving a portfolio of around 400 high voltage (HV) switchgear assets, this innovative tool has recently been fully deployed at Gatwick, Heathrow, and Stansted airports. It now covers HV and LV switchgear, extra high voltage transformers, HV transformers and HV cables.

Implemented through a decision support tool called Invest from EA Technology, ‘Common Network Asset Indices Methodology’ (CNAIM) brings together an array of asset inspection and maintenance data which includes partial discharge readings, load data, condition assessments, local environmental conditions, and more.

Using the existing inspection and maintenance data we already hold, the CNAIM models generated a set of health and criticality ratings for each asset.

We have also assessed the financial consequences of network failure and provided insights into the future condition of assets over the next 20 years.

The model is now fully integrated into our asset management system. It has intelligently identified and managed asset replacement timescales, saving money for the company and its customers.

Whilst CNAIM is deployed for Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) such as UK Power Networks, this is the first time the system has been fully rolled out in a localised private network. CNAIM also provides assurance to clients that the company is delivering the right amount of work at the right time and right cost.

Morgan Ryan, principal asset management and technology engineer, said: