Quality Surveillance and Quality Assurance

KEMA's expertise covers all services related to the complete equipment life-cycle

Our offering
Utilities, grid owners and project developers are continuously forced to keep up the pace with the ever-growing demand for electrical energy. This leads to on-going expansion and upgrade of transmission and distribution networks, which are built with expensive and capital intensive equipment. Reliability and proper functioning of these components are the base for the availability of electrical energy for millions of customers. That is why a controlled Quality Assurance process for the specification and delivery of these components is of utmost importance.

Expertise
Extension, overhaul and upgrade of grid assets is a costly matter. If investments are to be made in capital intensive goods like power equipment, especially in a tight financial market, it is crucial that the right equipment is being integrated into the existing networks in order to assure its proper functioning. Knowledge of the latest technologies, market situations and standards is crucial in the process of purchasing such equipment. KEMA can provide this knowledge for specification and quality assurance of this type of equipment based on its constant involvement at all stages of development in international power equipment projects as well as upgrade, life-extension and failure investigation for a great variety of customers like utilities, industry and railways. KEMA's expertise covers all services related to the complete equipment life-cycle.

Approach
Depending on the complexity of the project there is a need for a tailored approach to quality assurance. No matter whether only a single piece of equipment is exchanged or whether a complete HVDC system is constructed, KEMA can deliver appropriate quality assurance for the assets or system under consideration. KEMA performs this role combining expertise on quality systems with detailed knowledge of electrical equipment and systems.

Based on the client’s specification KEMA can prepare comprehensive quality control documentation for equipment internationally, relevant to local standards tests and also to the client’s specific needs. With these quality control documents the required quality surveillance is put in place and tailored to the manufacturer's design and production processes. Services that can be delivered range from specification review, through design review, full production quality control and acceptance test witnessing. A comprehensive quality report with clear statements about the suitability and possible restrictions  of the equipment is delivered.

Customer benefits
The above-mentioned approach ensures that the equipment does not only comply to international standards, but demonstrably fits into the customers specific grid and operational process. The quality control is adjusted beforehand to fit the customer's requirements leading to a controlled quality process. 

Services that can be delivered are:

• review of equipment specification - ensures that the specific customer's requirements are met and latest technologies are used
• design review - is undertaken to uncover design flaws and possible restrictions of the equipment
• quality plan evaluation - assures that all the quality criteria in the manufacturers production cycle are covered
• specification of testing requirements - is required to ensure that all critical design criteria are type tested and that production risks are covered by means of adequate routine testing
• review of type test reports - often shows that the executed tests are incomplete, outdated or have never been appropriate
• witnessing of type- and routine testing - by qualified specialists ensures that no mistakes are made during the final testing of the equipment
• in-factory quality audits and inspections - for critical production processes or when there is need for extra attention

KEMA can act as the owner's consultant, in which cases we will take care of the full process, or act on a single service call.

Our recent quality surveillance and quality assurance projects include:

• HVDC projects in China, ranging from +/-500 kV up to and including +/-800 kV. Projects have included: design review; in-production inspection; and witness of type- and acceptance testing converter transformers / equipment -thyristor valves 
• EHV projects 750 and 1000 kV AC. These projects covered: design review; in-production inspection and witness of type and acceptance test of shunt reactors, transformers, and circuit breakers
• HV projects on submarine DC cables and HV (420 kV) land cables in Western Europe.