National Grid Saudi Arabia has signed a multi-million dollar agreement with US-based Doble Engineering for assistance in developing and maintaining a state-of-the-art electric power grid.

The terms and details of this agreement will not be disclosed, a statement said.

Doble and National Grid Saudi Arabia will work together to perform an Asset Health Review of nearly 1000 transmission transformers. The project will use both time-based and predictive maintenance philosophies to enhance grid reliability by detecting and managing problems early on.

This partnership also includes the review of testing and maintenance practices, looking for the root cause of historic failures and a comprehensive study of National Grid Saudi Arabia's in-house electrical insulating oil laboratories.

"National Grid Saudi Arabia is a leader in the advancement of electric power grids in the Middle East," said David Zabetakis, president of Doble.

"They are focused on staying ahead of the fast-growing demand for reliable electric power infrastructure, and they want the best, most cutting-edge and cohesive assessment of their critical assets. We're here to help the National Grid Saudi Arabia team make certain that electricity is delivered safely, and reliably."

Doble will bring an integrated and experienced team to work hand in hand with National Grid Saudi Arabia's chemists and field testing electrical engineers for this specialized consulting contract. This program will support state-of-the-art electrical testing, laboratory testing and diagnostics.

"The sophisticated program we've designed for National Grid Saudi Arabia takes advantage of the full breadth of Doble's offering -- ranging from initial benchmarking and monitoring, all the way through to oil laboratory testing best practices," said Paul Griffin, vice president of consulting and testing services at Doble.

"Improving the reliability of the electric power grid is our number-one priority. To do this, we needed to partner with an organization that has the deep-knowledge and global experience to help us support increasing demand, and to maintain a clear understanding of asset health at all times," said Mohammed Al Muaili, Manager, Technical Support Department, Grid Maintenance Business Unit and, head of transmission reliability program of National Grid Saudi Arabia.

Doble will maintain a strong presence, working hand-in-hand with the National Grid Saudi Arabia team on implementation, the statement said.

The project will be supported by a team of Doble specialists with extensive transformer experience including design and construction, electrical testing, laboratory analysis and diagnostics. – TradeArabia News Service