Utilities are operating in one of the most complex and fast-moving environments we’ve seen in decades—balancing rising demand, aging infrastructure, and a rapidly evolving energy mix. At the same time, the shift toward digital is changing how the grid is designed, built, and managed.

This white paper brings those shifts to life through real-world projects, showing how leading utilities and engineering teams are using digital tools to improve accuracy, streamline workflows, and deliver infrastructure faster and more efficiently. From advanced modeling to integrated data environments, it highlights what’s possible when digital is embedded across the lifecycle.

Key takeaways:

• How digital engineering is accelerating project timelines and reducing rework

• The role of connected data in improving collaboration across teams and geographies

• Ways utilities are modernizing grid infrastructure to support rising demand and renewables

• Real examples of cost savings, risk reduction, and improved project outcomes

Download the white paper to see how digital strategies are turning complex infrastructure challenges into measurable results.

Today’s utility sector is facing a convergence of challenges unlike any it has experienced over its more than century of existence. In this challenging environment, utility engineers and operators are trying to manage and upgrade aging infrastructure while simultaneously building out to meet exploding demand due to domestic and industrial electrification and the massive power demands of data centers.

As a result, utilities face increased pressure to improve and accelerate substation design, as they serve as the junction and brain of the bulk electric grid. Originally designed for simple radial loads, the scale of demand and the incorporation complexity from distributed energy resources now require more efficient design processes that use less human time and decrease the risk of errors. 

Fortunately, the call for these improvements has not gone unheeded. The era of intelligent, accessible 3D substation design has arrived.

A new era of efficiency and accuracy

Substation design has made small steps since the advent of computer assisted design decades ago, but challenges persist. Many design modifications require manual updates to multiple files, each consuming personnel time and resources. This process also opens the door to inaccuracies due to human error and challenges with data availability. These problems can quickly multiply since a design could require hundreds of changes in the design process. Intelligent 3D substation design is an opportunity to take a leap forward from the drawbacks of this design legacy.

Substation design through 3D workflows reduces the risk of error, as a single 3D model supplants multiple sheets of repetitive information. Taking this further, intuitive 3D substation design provides prebuilt component libraries which intelligently connect together with a simple mouse click, automatically ensuring they are compatible and seamless. This capability greatly accelerates substation development and makes designing in 3D design easier and much more accessible to engineers of all abilities. Another step is incorporating detailed technical information into the model, making the 3D substation design intelligent. Substation engineers can query for materials, work orders, and other information to surface data quickly.

These improvements result in cost savings by decreasing work time, and the improved accuracy reduces waste in materials usage and the risk of downstream errors.

Intelligent 3D tools also enable concurrent design. Team members can work together on the same project at the same time, instead of having to wait in line to take their turn with a design file that only one person can access at a time. Clearly, this innovative approach delivers substation design projects much faster.

Additionally, 3D design minimizes or eliminates the challenges of managing data and processes across multiple systems since the solution can be delivered on a single platform. Cloud-native digital twin platforms, either cloud-based or server-supported, provide a significant advantage in providing easy collaboration. Not only do they enhance the design processes themselves, but they also improve data quality and availability.

All stakeholders in the design process - including utility engineers, consultants, and contractors - benefit from this single project platform and intelligent 3D substation design. 

New tools for a new world

Since the tools used for designing all aspects of infrastructure are rapidly evolving, substation designs tools must also evolve to help utilities meet the challenges ahead. The ability to design substations in 3D from the start shortens the cycle to enable all stakeholders to understand complex designs and quickly identify issues that might cause delays further in the process. Incorporating new data sources, such as drone-based and photogrammetry images, grants new levels of geospatial accuracy in the design process, providing full context of new or brownfield sites.

New frontiers in the intelligent 3D substation design world include components that are compatible across systems, data-rich symbols, and the integration of AI. Adding cloud-enabled AI to this mix of design capabilities brings even more possibilities for accelerating design and improving accuracy. Among these is “smart modeling” that applies intelligence to loading the design, verifying the design, generating 2D construction drawings, and automatically aligning the design with standards and other criteria.

Beyond design: Realizing further benefits 

Intelligent 3D substation design is clearly emerging as a game changer for substation designers and engineers. While the core advantages demonstrated above are a leap forward for design, there are other benefits to consider for the rest of the substation lifecycle. Designing intelligently in 3D paves the way for a complete substation digital twin, which brings a much broader scope of benefits, including: 

• Leveraging new data sources. As Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and monitoring systems proliferate within substations and the grid, integrating these data sources into the 3D model can improve reliability and fault detection.

• Insight into performance. Integrating intelligent models with IoT sensors enables engineers to visualize substation performance across electrical, thermal, and mechanical dynamics, ultimately enhancing safety and reliability.

• Condition-based asset management. The richer data environment provides the framework for utilities to move towards predictive and prescriptive maintenance and operations, another opportunity to manage costs and improve reliability.

• Scaling and flexibility. Cloud-based solutions enable seamless upgrades as technology improves, along with the ability to scale as projects grow and new models expand solution sets.

• Land use optimization. By incorporating geospatial data and improved accuracy in the 3D model, developers can minimize land disturbance and environmental impacts.

• A new approach to documentation and compliance. Digital design can generate full documentation for compliance, as well as provide data and records for audits and quality assurance.

From blueprint to build

Intelligent 3D design is transforming electric utility substations from blueprint to build with increased efficiency, improved reliability, and a world of new possibilities. As electric utilities continue to evolve and confront new challenges, adopting digital technologies in design processes is essential for building resilient and future-proof infrastructure. Across the substation lifecycle, from physical assets to protection and control to civil and structural engineering, the shift to intelligent 3D design enables utilities, their partners, and stakeholders to build the infrastructure for the 21st century energy landscape.

To meet the fast-evolving needs of utilities and engineers in this space and make intelligent 3D substation design a reality for new and brownfield projects, Bentley has introduced OpenUtilities Substation+. This is the next generation design solution, developed specifically to provide all the benefits we’ve just discussed, and is set to transform the way teams design, build, and operate substations. To learn more and register your interest for the next phase of early access to Substation+, click here, and we’ll be in touch soon.

It’s time to modernize infrastructure asset operations and maintenance with intelligent solutions that provide up-to-date asset information, optimizing performance, reducing operating costs, and ensuring safety and sustainability.

Industry Challenges and the Case for Change

Many infrastructure owners and operators face pressure to reduce operational costs and enhance asset productivity. Their key objectives are to deliver more with less, achieve higher uptime, and keep their assets running longer—beyond their original planned life. But the obstacles are many.

Digital solutions help optimize infrastructure asset operations and increase asset availability, ensuring safety and sustainability as well as reducing cost to operate.

Discover Infrastructure Built Better

Innovative digital solutions for owner operators across multiple industries, including energy, utilities, process, and road and rail, enable them to control information and understand the health of their assets, maximizing the value of their investments and achieving efficiency goals.

With real-time analysis, actionable insights, and decision support, your teams can optimize performance, mitigate risk, and reduce costs while ensuring safety and compliance.

Bentley’s AssetWise® portfolio of innovative solutions helps owners and operators to model and optimize asset performance successfully, enabling them to be more productive, avoid disruptions, and improve overall operational performance.

Asset Performance Management

Optimize asset availability and improve the productivity, safety, and sustainability of your operations.

Built for: Maintenance professionals and operators, heads of asset management and operations, and reliability and integrity teams/engineers

Industries: Energy, mining, transportation, utilities and water, cities and campus.

Our asset performance management solution is the solution for owner operators across multiple industries. The solution enables you to control information about your assets, help optimize asset performance management, maximize the value of your investments, and reduce operating costs, as well as improve safety and reduce the overall business risk of operations.

Increase asset availability 2%–10%

Asset Information Management

Access trusted information across the infrastructure lifecycle to make better decisions faster.

Built for: Vice presidents/directors, maintenance and asset managers, information managers, heads of engineering

Industries: Energy, transportation, utilities and water, cities and campus, mining

Our asset information management solutions enable you to manage information through the life of an infrastructure asset, from design and build through operations. Explore how you can bring all the information together, including engineering models and files, operational IoT data, and enterprise data from maintenance management and ERP systems. Provide your operators and technicians access to trusted and accurate information to make the right decisions through intuitive 3D models of the asset to ensure the safety and sustainability of operations.

Reduce information search time by 30%

Operate

Run your operations more reliably, productively, and safely to deliver more value

Built for: Heads of operations

Industries: Cities and campus, utilities and water, transportation, energy, mining

Our solutions enable operators of infrastructure assets, such as rail, or highway networks, to extract maximum value of their infrastructure investments, ensure safe operations and regulatory compliance

Reduce operational costs by 20%

Industry Leaders Trust Bentley Asset Performance Solutions

Design, build, and operate better and more resilient infrastructure by advancing to intelligent digital twin solutions. Bentley’s solutions for asset performance help you to increase uptime, reduce operating cost, and ensure safety and sustainability when operating your infrastructure assets.

Getting Started

Bentley is the infrastructure engineering software company. We make it easy for organizations to find the product licenses that offer the best options, affordable prices, and the training that you need to be successful. To learn more about AssetWise, speak to one of our experts.

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A decade ago, George Osborne set out in his spending review plans for the UK to be a global leader in a new kind of nuclear technology: small modular reactors (SMRs).

The arguments spelled out by the then-chancellor in favour of Britain throwing its weight behind this type of affordable, low-carbon energy were strong then. Today, a confluence of factors – including the pursuit of net zero goals, escalating energy prices and the notoriously energy-intensive data centres which are powering global artificial intelligence (AI) requirements – has made this an opportunity that the country must seize with both hands.

Rethinking Nuclear

While conventional nuclear has come to be synonymous with over-runs and risk, SMRs “rethink” the manufacturing and construction methods that are involved. According to Paul Stein, chairman of Rolls-Royce SMR, which has been at the forefront of the technology development in the UK, the move “heralds a new approach to the cost of nuclear […] by extensive use of digital twinning while keeping the physics package exactly the same”.

SMRs, with their potential for modular design, scalability and increased speed of build compared to large, conventional reactors, offer a compelling alternative to conventional power plants. The reduced footprint and potential for distributed deployment make them ideally suited to providing localised, reliable and carbon-free power directly to data centres, for example.

The UK has several strong advantages in SMR development. Firstly, the county is in a position to supply most of the components required. Organisations like Rolls-Royce have gained traction for their designs and due to the UK’s legacy in traditional nuclear, there is an experienced workforce and a match-ready nuclear supply chain ready to be utilised.

Further bolstering the UK’s position in the field, the prime minister recently announced proposals to “push past the nimbyism” and change the planning rules to make it easier for SMRs to be built in Britain.

Navigating the Financial Roadblock

However, the primary hurdle to wider SMR adoption remains the perceived financial risk. This is evidenced by Amazon-backed nuclear power developer X-Energy, which has threatened to withdraw from building new nuclear reactors in the UK unless the government sets out a clear financial route to market.

Investors need assurance that these reactors will be profitable and provide a sustainable return on their investment. De-risking these new projects is therefore critical and applying a digital-first approach can help achieve this.

A digital-first strategy, coupled with advanced reliable generation technologies and off-site manufacturing opportunities, could ensure an economically solid model to build and operate a nuclear power plant over its lifetime. So, what does it look like?

Digital-First

Traditionally with a major programme build, the first partners brought onto the pitch are an engineering house and/or an Engineering, Procurement, Construction (EPC) partner.

From there, the programme is developed with focus on the design and licensing stages.  Conventional nuclear programmes which have followed this process, as the IEA stated in its 2022 report, have been “plagued [by] […] rising construction costs and lead times”. At the time of report publication, findings showed nuclear reactors in operation around the world had taken an average of seven years to build. However, 15 of them had taken 15 years or more.

Back in 2015, the proposals for Hinkley Point C were deemed so unrealistic that they were likened to attempting to “build a cathedral within a cathedral”.

It’s time For a New Approach

This new way of doing nuclear – SMR – needs a new approach. Digital partners must be introduced from the start, meaning they are ready to work alongside all the partners (including the client) to define the digital journey in line with the overall programme.

The digital partners must also be allowed to invest and be part of the digitally enabled journey for the long term, bringing inspiration and new ways of working from their multi-sector experience. Early on, the principles of data ownership, IP and value sharing should be agreed with both the design and technology partners.

The data journey should be planned and core digital platforms agreed on from the outset, as well as responsibility for ownership and management of the data. Digital continuity from start to finish is an absolute must.

A digital-first approach of this kind will make discussions with regulators and stakeholders clearer and easier, while supporting long-term assurance. As sectors such as aerospace have proven, the more upfront design, testing, sequencing and modelling completed in the virtual world before manufacturing, installation and construction, the better the outcome.

As governments and policy makers warm to nuclear again, attention is focused on SMRs and their potential. A global race is underway to advance within this exciting space.

Let’s leverage our expertise, unique advantages and digital know-how to lead the way forward.

In the heart of California’s eastern foothills, where the Sierra Nevada Mountains meet the Tahoe National Forest, the impressive New Bullards Bar Dam stands tall. Soaring to a height of 645 feet, it not only dominates the landscape but also proudly claims the title of California’s second-tallest dam and the fifth tallest in the United States.

Nestled in a quiet Central Valley county with a population of just over 80,000, the dam is at the forefront of a digital revolution, transforming dam safety in ways that seem nearly unimaginable against its picturesque backdrop.

In the recent New York Times piece ‘The Trillion Gallon Question,’ Christopher Cox paints a vivid picture of the structure as “A flimsy curtain holding back an unimaginably large amount of water.” He goes on to describe the concrete giant to be “like a magic trick,” with an ocean on one side and nothing but thin air on the other. Although the staggering physical scale of the New Bullards Bar Dam can feel almost surreal, it was made not by magic but by feats of engineering and design.

Built in the analog era of the 1970s, this engineering marvel was constructed as part of the Yuba Water Development project, which aimed to reduce flood risk, generate clean hydropower, and ensure a reliable water supply for the surrounding community.

However, as the years passed, New Bullards Bar Dam — like any aging infrastructure — demanded attention and innovation.

Dedicated to ensuring public safety and protecting the surrounding environment, Yuba Water Agency embarked on a journey to modernize its dam monitoring system with cutting-edge technology. Picture this: a complex network of IoT sensors that provide real-time insights into the dynamic movements of the dam as it interacts with the ever-changing natural elements.

Much like our homes that have become hubs of “smart” technologies — like voice-activated assistants and digitally enabled appliances — New Bullards Bar Dam is now digitally connected, streaming unprecedented amounts of data to engineers tasked with ensuring its safety.

The digital sentinel — now equipped with cutting-edge technology — safeguards the surrounding area, ensuring that locals and visitors can relish carefree days on the reservoir’s warm, turquoise waters. Downstream communities, once vulnerable to catastrophic flooding that led to the dam’s construction over 50 years ago, are now shielded by the marvels of digital monitoring.

‘A Pretty Bold Move’

From its inception, the New Bullards Bar Dam has been an ambitious project, punching well above its weight class. In 1959, the Yuba Water Agency was formed, spearheading a multipurpose flood control, water and power project. Unlike federal initiatives on nearby rivers, the Yuba Development Project was born from local and grassroots efforts initiated by a group of big-thinking community leaders.

“This was a pretty bold move from one of the smallest and poorest counties in California,” says Willie Whittlesey, Yuba Water Agency’s General Manager, in a video about the project’s history.

Driven by necessity, the people of Yuba County saw water as both a blessing and a curse. Irrigation for downstream farms, extensive recreation opportunities, green hydroelectric energy, and clean drinking water were the blessings. The curse? Flooding.

The region, marred by ten major floods since California’s statehood in 1850, faced challenges exacerbated by the remnants of the American Gold Rush. Yuba County is the gateway to the historic “Mother Lode Country,” as the Yuba River produced more gold than any other in the U.S. The hydraulic mining practices of that era washed millions of cubic yards of debris into the Yuba River, significantly raising the riverbed.

After the Gold Rush, the region transitioned from mining to agriculture, further compounding the issue. Irrigation for farms raising livestock and growing crops overdrafted the aquifer, causing dramatic declines in groundwater levels.

Some of the worst floods are in living memory, including the Yuba City Flood of 1955. Triggered by a combination of heavy rainfall and a failure in the levee system along the Feather River, the flood waters surged into the small town of Yuba City, sitting at the confluence of the Yuba and Feather Rivers. Yuba City quickly found itself submerged in water, as residents scattered to find dry land. Ultimately, 40,000 people evacuated the surrounding area, while more than 600 required rescue via boat or helicopter, and 38 lost their lives to the floodwaters.

In response, Yuba Water Agency got to work. Construction began in the 1960s, and by 1970, the Yuba Water Development Project was completed, with the New Bullards Bar Dam at its epicenter.

Beyond flood control, the dam provides many benefits to its local community. Now serving as a popular recreational haven, the dam’s reservoir boasts miles of shoreline, hiking trails, campsites, and renowned fishing spots — it even holds the record for the world’s largest spotted bass. The downstream benefits are also significant: influencing river temperatures to enhance fisheries, generating clean hydropower, and ensuring a reliable water supply for Yuba County. The dam is more than just a concrete giant; it’s a lifeline for the community it serves.

Revolutionizing Dam Monitoring with IoT

While dams often have life expectancies spanning 100 years or more, a lot can change in that time. Technology advances, new standards and regulations are introduced, surrounding communities grow, social norms evolve, and even the climate shifts, as we know all too well today.

Even the dam itself is in flux. Although it may appear solid and immovable, a concrete dam is always in subtle, often microscopic motion, shifting in response to chemical and physical forces, including changes in water level, air and water temperatures, and hydrological and seismic activity.

Until recently, the dam relied on an outdated system that required time-consuming, costly, and hazardous manual data collection from 11 sensors that covered only a portion of the dam. This system not only posed safety risks for workers accessing the site, but also lacked sufficient survey points, making effective condition monitoring a challenge.

Committed to dam safety and top-notch infrastructure operations, Yuba Water Agency set off to revolutionize their monitoring system with a modern solution designed to remotely capture and visualize real-time data while automating alerts and reports of potential issues. They implemented a new monitoring system that is remotely operated and collects data from 83 Worldsensing sensors installed across the face of the dam. The sensor data is transmitted back to Bentley’s cloud-based iTwin IoT platform and is incorporated into a 3D digital twin model of the dam.

To create the digital twin model, Yuba worked with iTwin Ventures portfolio company, Niricson, to capture a 3D reality mesh from thousands of drone-captured images and process it in iTwin Capture. The photorealistic model was then uploaded to the iTwin IoT platform where the real-time sensor data enhances the digital twin and reflects what is going on in real time.

Tim Truong, chief dam safety engineer at Yuba Water Agency, envisioned making the days of surveyors risking treacherous trails to collect data manually a thing of the past. He emphasized the remote operation and instant data transmission of the new system, highlighting its value in tracking the dam’s stability in real time, even in its somewhat isolated location.

Compared to its previous manual monitoring system, the new system provides 1,000 times more data monitoring points a week, providing far greater insights into what’s happening with the dam at a given moment. Along with day-to-day monitoring, it will provide a picture of the dam over time, as well as real-time readings during inclement weather or emergencies, such as an earthquake.

Securing the Community’s Future

The returns of the new automated system have been substantial, with a significant reduction in risk exposure and an improvement of safety standards. The system has led to a notable decrease in downtime and failures, enhancing operational efficiency. The drastic increase in data points not only provides a more comprehensive understanding of the dam’s behavior but also empowers proactive decision-making. The automated survey system delivers a significant improvement in data accuracy compared to previous collection techniques. This transformation has not only saved valuable hours weekly but has also streamlined workflows and increased overall productivity, eliminating the need for risky on-site visits.

Beyond these efficiency gains, the new system emerges as a guardian, allowing the team to closely monitor the dam structure and move steadily toward the agency’s ultimate goal — ensuring public safety and safeguarding the surrounding environment. Thanks to the automated system, the dam undergoes vigilant monitoring during heavy rainfall and seismic events, reinforcing Yuba Water Agency’s commitment to technological advancement and infrastructure resilience.

While Yuba collaborates with a range of partners on forward-looking initiatives, “dam safety is the number one priority,” says Truong. “Things that we can do to improve dam safety directly benefit the community downstream. We’re always looking to improve our monitoring and the performance of the dam in that regard.”

As Truong gazes up at the vast sweep of the dam from below, a sense of awe overcomes him. “It’s hard to grasp how they achieved this massive project 50 years ago,” he muses. The sentiment echoes not just the achievement of the past but the ongoing commitment to innovation and safety. The New Bullards Bar Dam is not merely a structure, it’s a living testament to the evolving relationship between technology and nature, securing the community’s future for generations to come.

View the New Bullards Bar Dam Case Study.