BrazilGRTgaz selects Cosmo Tech and BearingPoint for asset management review
France’s GRTgaz has selected IT software company Cosmo Tech and management consultancy BearingPoint to support an asset management review programme.
With a primary network of pipes spanning a distance of nearly 35,000 kilometres, GRTgaz is France’s leading natural gas transmission system operator. The company transports natural gas to industrial customers, public distribution networks and consumers – its network of high pressure gas pipelines covers almost all geographic areas of France.
Similar to many other utilities companies, GRTgaz is facing challenges in its asset management portfolio. The classical asset replacement equation is one of those, with many of the firm’s assets nearing the end of their lifecycle, bringing rise to questions on matters such as maintenance, replacement timing and performance. Against a backdrop of rapidly developing technological possibilities in the field, including the Internet of Things, asset management strategies are up for revision as the balance between OPEX (operating expenses) and CAPEX (capital expenditures) is subject to change.
As part of a review of its asset management strategy, GRTgaz wants to better understand the ageing process and seek ways how it can optimise the OPEX versus CAPEX trade-off. Key objective of the review: a more effective asset management strategy, combined with savings for the company.
The partnership with Cosmo Tech, a Lyon-based scale-up that specialises in modelling and simulation of complex systems, sees GRTgaz apply the firm’s Asset Investment Optimisation (AIO) solution to gain key insights. The AIO solution allows decision-makers to view the entire pipeline network in a single, holistic view, allowing them to visualise network interconnections. Using thousands of “what-if” scenarios simulated on the platform, users can see how one decision can affect another portion of the network, down the line enabling them to justify every decision with fact-based data.
BearingPoint, a consulting firm with offices in over twenty European countries, including one in France, has been tapped to facilitate the strategic review process. The consultancy is serving GRTgaz from its Paris office.
The initial focus of the review is on three specific classes of assets: pipes, coatings and cathodic protection. “Collaborating with Cosmo Tech and BearingPoint allows GRTgaz to explore an original way to evaluate all of its optimisation efforts and to take a fresh look at trade-offs related to asset management,” said a spokesperson of the French natural gas operator.
Last month, BearingPoint France added five new partners to its leadership in the country.
