user story
Building a Sustainable Future with ArcGIS Utility Network
As a leader in the European region, Lyse Elnett saw the potential of ArcGIS Utility Network, an user type extension available only with an ArcGIS enterprise license. Lyse led other industry thought leaders to work with Esri to create a data model that was purposefully built to manage the requirements of the European Electric Grid.
In 2017, Lyse Elnett and three other European utilities formed the Utility Network Community (UNC).
The UNC works together to define an open-source standard data model that supports a European grid configuration. The model aligns with the Common Information Model (CIM) that was adopted by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
As a long-time strategic user of Esri technology, Lyse Elnett is proud to be one of the first adopters of both ArcGIS Utility Network and the UNC data model. The company plans to go live with ArcGIS Utility Network for its electric distribution grid in March 2021.
Challenge
Lyse began the Utility Network Project journey in 2017, together with the UNC group. They saw potential in the services-based architecture, rich information model, and new standard functionality. These capabilities make modeling and tracing of electrical networks possible and enable sharing of information through GIS applications and integrations. Lyse, UNC, and Similix worked to ensure the technology and road map were fit for the European way of planning, operating, and maintaining electrical grids.
Electric & Gas
Challenge
Lyse Elnett wanted to move to Esri’s ArcGIS Utility Network for electric distribution to establish modern integrations for ERP and DMS and optimize workflows enabled by this new technology.
Solution
Lyse Elnett worked with Esri partner Similix on a multiphase rollout to implement ArcGIS Utility Network. The solution includes integration between legacy GIS and the new ArcGIS Utility Network to enable an early go-live and focus on change management for critical business processes.
Results
Once the Utility Network Project goes live, it will serve as Lyse Elnett's master data system for assets and connectivity with a range of benefits based on Esri standard functionality: enriched data, the ability to model the entire electric network, traceability, and services-based integrations.
Partner
From the beginning, Lyse partnered with Similix—a global Esri partner specializing in utility network management and implementation projects. Similix has developed a Utility Network Migration suite of products to assist organizations with the deployment of ArcGIS Utility Network. The Similix Utility Network Migration Suite offers a safe, phased approach for organizations. It covers the whole data migration process from data model development, migration, and integration, to go-live. Similix's services and software products support a utility organization's transition toward a sustainable future.
Solution
Lyse's implementation of ArcGIS Utility Network takes a phased approach. The first phase includes migration from Lyse's Geometric Network to ArcGIS Utility Network and afterward, syncing data between the two. The next phase includes two-way integration between ArcGIS Utility Network and Microsoft D365 for asset management. The integration exchanges asset and work order information and is built on the standard Esri service for change detection.
A future phase includes integration between ArcGIS Utility Network and a distribution management system (DMS). A DMS monitors and controls the electrical distribution system, providing decision-making support for the control center on how to operate the grid. A modern DMS has a huge requirement for data. ArcGIS Utility Network will share high-quality information on assets and network configuration. Additionally, information sharing will prevent redundant data maintenance because the electrical model in the DMS will be updated by ArcGIS Utility Network.
"The migration process can be complex when doing large data transformations to benefit from the new rich UNC model, but it is doable," says Signe Bramming Andersen, director of Business Development at Similix. "This services-based architecture and subnetwork management provides improved opportunities for having one version of the truth inside GIS and outside of GIS. You have stronger data quality and the ability to access or share it anywhere, which ultimately has a broader impact."
The ArcGIS Utility Network feeds electrical model information into the distribution management system (DMS) for monitoring and control of the electrical grid. The ArcGIS Utility Network also feeds asset information into the enterprise resource planning system (ERP) and the enterprise asset management (EAM) system.
Results
Lyse's leadership recognizes that information is the most important asset. As such, the company looks forward to utilizing asset information products based on ArcGIS Utility Network throughout the business. Lyse staff will benefit from a richer GIS asset source to serve other systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration. The asset information from ArcGIS Utility Network also provides Lyse staff with more spatial analytics and visualization capabilities via web and mobile apps. Lyse staff using ArcGIS Utility Network will have the ability to accurately model and trace the entire electric network. With the phased go-live strategy, Lyse will begin to experience these benefits early in the project.
"The utility network technology with an open common data model will drive our business forward." says Sigve Hamran, GIS manager at Lyse. "It will be the central platform for [designing] and managing the life-span of the electrical grid, including new distributed energy sources and smart devices."
With the successful implementation of ArcGIS Utility Network for the electric side of Lyse, the organization is now looking to incorporate the solution into other energy sectors. Lyse has contributed to the new ArcGIS Utility Network data model for district heating and cooling together with Similix and other Esri customers and partners.