Accurately identifying risks and opportunities for improvement is essential as businesses face growing demands for electrical power. Conducting a system-wide power assessment and mapping electrical assets are key steps toward gaining the insights needed to support future modernization and growth.
The demand for electrical power continues to grow, driven by the rapid expansion of AI, cloud computing, electrically-powered manufacturing, and increasingly urbanized populations. To meet these rising expectations safely and reliably, organizations must focus on building, modernizing, and expanding robust electrical distribution systems—efforts that increasingly rely on accurate, up-to-date information.
Keeping this information accurate and up to date is a significant challenge. New components—such as metering and monitoring systems or communication networks—are constantly being introduced. While these technologies enhance reliability and efficiency, they’re most effective when properly integrated into existing legacy systems. Expanding a facility’s capacity requires detailed background data, including capacity measurements, equipment ratings, and communication capabilities, to name a few. Yet, managing and maintaining this information often falls to the bottom of the priority list amid more immediate demands like daily maintenance or emergency repairs—especially in aging infrastructures. To complicate matters further, the regulatory landscape is continually evolving, requiring facility managers to stay current with changing compliance standards. Fortunately, new technologies and approaches are emerging that can help facility managers and engineers navigate these challenges more efficiently. One helpful shift is to begin viewing power equipment not as isolated components, but as part of an interconnected system. System-level analysis, assessments, and reviews can offer a more holistic understanding of both strengths and potential vulnerabilities. Additionally, digital tools and platforms can support the maintenance of accurate data while enhancing visibility and collaboration across teams and partners.
Unlocking insights through power system assessments
Gaining this knowledge starts with performing a comprehensive evaluation of the electrical infrastructure. The focus is on four key areas: identifying risks, optimizing safety, maintenance planning, and system reliability. This can highlight risks such as obsolete components and single points of failure, as well as evaluating adherence to safety requirements, analyzing the effectiveness of maintenance schedules and identifying opportunities to modernize and digitally enhance infrastructure. The process starts with gathering data through an on-site inspection and interviews with key facility teams. This is followed by developing recommendations guided by industry standards and electrical engineering knowledge. Prioritizing these recommendations creates the basis for a facilities system improvement and modernization strategy that can be leveraged to build both short and long term operational and capital expenditure plans.
To ensure the insights gained from the assessment are actionable and continuously accessible, the collected data can be integrated by expert consultants or by the customer directly into an electrical digital twin. This dynamic, virtual representation of the facility’s electrical infrastructure enables real-time tracking of assets, conditions, and performance metrics. By centralizing information—from equipment specifications and maintenance records to risk assessments and compliance data—the digital twin becomes a powerful tool for collaboration across teams. It allows stakeholders to visualize system interdependencies, simulate potential upgrades, and monitor the impact of changes over time. Most importantly, it helps ensure that critical information remains current and easily shareable, supporting informed decision-making and long-term planning.
Gaining a clearer system view – moving from a paper Single Line Diagram (SLD) to an Electrical Digital Twin
Many systems start out with a paper SLD that is accurate at the time the facility is built – but these tend not to be appropriately updated. A Schneider Electric analysis of data from 400 site audits found that 89% had either no SLD, or only a partial one. It’s now possible to create digital SLDs – which in their simplest form, may consist of a stand-alone file such as a PDF. While this format can be easier to access and update than paper documentation, it remains detached from wider systems – so it can be difficult to use it to accurately record changes to the electrical infrastructure. In addition, some organizations are now adopting more advanced digital SLDs, which offer greater sophistication and more dynamic capabilities. A digital SLD is capable of being updated quickly as equipment changes and additions are made to a facility. Being digital also allows many people to access the latest versions, eliminating the need to constantly distribute version revisions as changes are made. In contrast to static diagrams, this type of SLD creates what is effectively an electrical digital twin of a business’s power system. Developments in technology allow these digital twins to communicate with modern circuit breakers, relays, meters, and other equipment to mimic the existing state of the facility’s power distribution configuration. And many digital SLDs or electrical digital twins can also support asset management programs by storing specific equipment information in the program database that can be accessed remotely. Overall, they help electrical asset managers develop and maintain their infrastructure safely and efficiently, based on a single, up-to-date and accurate source of information for the whole organization.
Know your system. Shape your future.
At Schneider Electric, we’re committed to leveraging data and digital technologies to help businesses achieve their goals—enabling efficient, proactive management of electrical assets to support the sustainable industries of tomorrow.
To help achieve this, we offer a wide range of expert support. Our EcoConsult Audit is performed by experienced electrical engineers and will provide a holistic overview of the power system and the current operating procedures. And specifically for data centers, our EcoConsult for Data Centers solution is an analysis that focuses on the particular challenges facing data centers, such as upgrading aging automatic transfer systems and critical cooling equipment. EcoConsult Electrical Digital Twin, meanwhile, can help companies save between 20% and 40% on operational spending on system study updates by reducing the need for data collection and system analysis through digitized single line diagram updates. And if safety is your primary concern, then an arc flash study—which should inform the electrical safe work practice policy at all facilities—could be beneficial. There are many routes to digital enhancement and transformation. But they all begin with defining and analysing your electrical infrastructure.
It’s common for our investigations to uncover serious issues: in the research mentioned above, almost four out of five (79%) of the 400 sites we audited included obsolete equipment. But when businesses know about problems like these, a comprehensive system assessment can highlight the areas of your system that need the most attention while identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and resiliency. Coupling this knowledge with the benefits of an electrical digital twin creates the system-wide visibility needed to manage electrical assets strategically and proactively. Businesses that can reach this holistic perspective will have the potential to thrive in the electricity-powered future. But to get there, they’ll first need to understand where they are right now.
If you’re ready to explore how a proactive asset management strategy can yield quick benefits and a strong ROI, I invite you to connect with me Kris Jones on LinkedIn or complete the form for a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Let’s work together to secure a more reliable and efficient future for your electrical assets!
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