At present, solving the problems of improving the reliability of the assets of thermal power plants (TTP) in Russian Federation is possible only as a result of the transition of equipment management systems to a fundamentally new paradigm for diagnosing operating equipment. Nevertheless, this problem constitutes one of the leading prospects the TPP industry. This paper considers the problem of the transition from asset management systems that currently exist to an innovative systemi.e. the diagnostics and information management of operating equipment parameters based on measuring the parameters of its actual state. It becomes apparent that the introduction of the fifth-generation asset management system can lead to a significant reduction in the cost of repairs, the exclusion of unreasonable repairs on a case-law basis and to the minimization of the cost of the life cycle of ownership of assets of thermal power plants.