Smart schedules streamline distributions maintenance

The scheduling and coordination of maintenance tasks and resource dispatching, with the aim of guaranteeing service to all customers, forms an essential part of the planning engineer's tasks. Least cost solutions are key. This article features a novel application called PLANETS, based on a constraint-logic programming paradigm, for scheduling maintenance activities on large distribution networks. Examples are included from system tests performed on subsets of the distribution network of Empresa Nacional Hidroelectrica del Ribagorzana (ENHER), a Spanish electric company.