Collective Ingenuity

The 42nd edition of the Québec Mines + Energy Conference organized by the Ministère de l’Énergie et des Ressources naturelles du Québec (MERN) was held from the 23rd to the 25th of November 2021. Several sessions featured important players in the Quebec and international energy sector. On the agenda: energy transition, decarbonization, electrification, bioenergy and hydrogen.

Turntables have existed since the 1830s, but nowadays they must adapt to brand-new requirements, which we will address in this article. We will also try to answer the question of how to transform them without generating exorbitant costs, while minimizing shutdown times?

The asset management aspect of the mining sector’s digital transformation is well under way and very necessary. Whether we consider the issues of productivity, safety, the environment or competitiveness on global markets, several reasons motivate the search for sustainable asset lifecycle management solutions.

Industry assets are at the heart of organizations’ production activities. The durability of both infrastructure and industrial assets (buildings, bridges, various networks, tanks, conveyors, crushers, lifting facilities, tailings ponds, etc.) is of paramount importance.

In a previous article, we sought to discern a winning strategy for Québec to develop its local green hydrogen sector. Let’s briefly summarize its main conclusions: hydrogen is complementary to bioenergy, electrification and to strategies of energy sobriety and efficiency that must characterize the Québec energy transition.

Asset management has long relied on capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating costs (OPEX) to ensure the satisfactory production capacity of a piece of equipment. While this accounting exercise remains an indispensable part of the equation, the life cycle of a physical asset is no longer simply an economic issue.