The electric utility industry is undergoing a massive transformation. Driven by sustainability efforts and the renewable energy revolution, central generation, one-way power flows, and passive “rate payers” are giving way to distributed generation, two-way power flows, and active customers.
The implications of this energy transition are impacting utility operations broadly and deeply. At the forefront of these changes are the engineering and design requirements for a changing energy mix and a changing grid. The foundation that is enabling much of this transition is a highly digitized grid that is enabling real- to near real-time grid operations and control, and streamlined engineering and design processes. In short, this is infrastructure intelligence.
Core to this infrastructure intelligence for utilities is implementing an open digital platform that can ingest data from multiple, disparate systems to improve and accelerate engineering and design workflows. In many cases, this will be a digital twin. Digital twins, virtual models or representations of the real or physical world, are the bridge from the utility’s analog and electro-mechanical operations to digital design and engineering. The digital twin creates new possibilities in utility engineering and operations. Two of the more prominent examples are in streamlining engineering and design processes and in new approaches to grid modeling and planning for the evolving distributed energy environment that utilities are entering.
The Digital Twin, Its Data, and the Digital Utility Designer
As utility operations become increasingly digitized, the call for infrastructure intelligence is becoming urgent. Utility engineers need tools that can leverage new data sources, accelerate traditional design processes, and meet the demands of the evolving grid. A digital twin must be able to function in an open environment that can ingest and make available a multitude of data types for engineers to do their work in a timely manner. Keith Bentley, Founder & CTO of Bentley Systems, sums it up this way: "Regardless of infrastructure type, over time the digital twin of an asset or project will become both its lifeblood and its central nervous system. We believe to achieve sustainable infrastructure digital twins; it is imperative that you build your systems around open-source technology so the keys to your destiny remain in your hands."
As the digital solutions, like digital twins, become the “lifeblood” of grid design and engineering projects, how is this changing traditional practices in these critical processes? Traditional practices have been somewhat clunky, with manual edits, reviews, and corrections that are often performed across multiple, disjointed systems and applications. These many steps are not only complicated and time-consuming, there is also a risk of redundancies or losing critical information as documents move from one system to another. With advances in open computing and data management, there must be a way to streamline these processes and shorten the cycle for the development of critical electric infrastructure. There is.
Digital twin platforms, like the Bentley iTwin platform, provide the designer with an open platform to complete the design process without needing to launch another product, and the analysis is run directly within the design application. Similarly, the review process is automated via the digital twin platform, making life easier and simpler for both reviewers and designers. This streamlining of the design workflow also helps to automate further steps in the asset lifecycle, like construction and maintenance.
One concept in operating in this type of open engineering and design environment is the importance of data management. Bentley CTO Julien Moutte recently commented on how getting the data “right” is a big part of what makes the iTwin platform successful: “Unlocking that data, making it available, letting it flow is really what it takes to become data-centric.” He added that in infrastructure industries like electric utilities, data is often trapped in a variety of files and paper documents, driving the need for a more data-centric approach to design and engineering processes. He continued by noting the importance of making all of this data available “using APIs and databases, letting it flow so we can leverage it and make the best use of it.”
So, how is becoming data-centric and leveraging open digital platforms applied in a real-world electric utility design environment? Consider a large midwestern US investor-owned utility (IOU). Faced with challenges that included complex substation design in a mixed-use, relatively small urban area with a transmission line running under a river and a tight project timeline. The utility’s engineers looked for digital solutions that could meet their rigorous engineering and design needs that would transform and streamline their processes.
An example of the innovation that made this project a success was using an integrated suite of digital tools from Bentley Systems that not only streamlined design processes, but also enabled innovative solutions, like designing a way to slide, lower and spin two undressed transformers into the transformer bays that were below street level.
A second example of how a digital platform that can leverage multiple data sources is improving and accelerating engineering and design processes is found in a large municipal utility in the western US. The utility’s engineering leadership was looking to improve design efficiencies, quality, and standardization and in the meantime, support applications currently being used. This included interfacing with the utility’s existing work management system and ESRI-based GIS. Using Bentley design tools like OpenUtilities, the results included faster creation of design documents that also ensured data consistency between the GIS asset registry and the physical assets in the field. The utility’s design and engineering staff has also reduced design time significantly while allowing for automated integration between the GIS and the OpenUtilities design environment.
Opportunities to put infrastructure intelligence to work in your utility engineering and design organization are out there; the call is for the right digital solutions and tools on an open, integrated platform. To learn more about how transform your utility’s engineering and design processes in the digital utility era and leverage your infrastructure intelligence, visit here.