Esri News -- ArcNews Summer 2003 Issue -- Brazil's AES Eletropaulo Builds Energy Distribution Network With GIS

AES Eletropaulo distributes electric energy to 24 municipalities within the urban area of S�o Paulo, totaling 4,526 square kilometers (approximately 1,748 square miles). The company has five million industrial, commercial, and residential consumers spread out over one of the most important socioeconomic regions of Brazil, where nearly 16 million people live. It accounts for 42 percent of the population of the state of S�o Paulo and 9 percent of the Brazilian population. The electricity consumption in this area is estimated at 35,000 gigawatts/hour.

AES Eletropaulo implemented Esri's GIS solution to aid in automating one of the most complete energy distribution databases in the world. The mapping of the utility company's overhead energy distribution network is being integrated into its new GIS-based database that will replace the legacy system that the company has been using for the past 16 years.

"GIS offers many alternatives that can contribute to the company's operation. Our next step is to integrate a GIS-based work design system with a work management system," indicates Victor Kodja, AES Eletropaulo director and vice president.

The new system has been available since January 2002, with data from the primary, secondary, and streetlight overhead circuits. The company is currently collecting the data for 1,638 primary circuits, 1.1 million electric poles, and 270,000 pieces of network equipment in addition to all the digital cartography related to the company's concession area.

The GIS infrastructure is composed of two application servers in which ArcEditor, Citrix Metaframe, Esri Business Partner Miner & Miner's (Fort Collins, Colorado) ArcFM, and Windows NT software are installed and another server is being used with ArcIMS software for Web applications. The geodatabase is stored in a Sun Server E10K under an Oracle and ArcSDE platform with 30 GB of data.

A specific structure is dedicated for customization and development of particular tools.

"The GIS technology is more than a simple map of our concession area," explains Marco Afonso, Eletropaulo's GIS project manager. "It contains the database of electric assets geographically dispersed, allowing us to perform the network management in an integrated and friendly environment."

Afonso believes that the greatest advantage of the system relies on its simple operation, versatility, and faster analysis. "Prior to this solution," he continues, "generating thematic maps for a certain region could take weeks to be concluded. Today, the Esri software-based solution allows the work to be done in hours or minutes."

Navigation through the database is open to everyone on the Internet. As the GIS technology deploys for the overhead network, the project will start the second phase of implementation with Imagem Geosistemas E Comercio Ltda., one of Esri's Brazilian distributors, which will focus on underground circuits, subtransmission lines, and applications for electric analysis calculation and expansion planning in a network simulation environment. This phase will be deployed from the beginning of 2003 and should be concluded in 2004 with the help of Imagem, Eletropaulo's overall support provider for all GIS solutions.

AES Eletropaulo's task is not limited to the energy supply. The company believes that to fulfill its mission, it is necessary to include social responsibility in its activities. The involvement in projects directed toward education, safety, environment, and energy conservation contributes to the construction of a fairer and more honest society. Currently, all AES Eletropaulo units have ongoing social projects, many of which are in partnership with municipalities, local associations, and philanthropic entities.

For more information, visit AES Eletropaulo's Web site at www.eletropaulo.com.br or contact Marco Afonso, Eletropaulo GIS project manager (e-mail: marco.afonso@aes.com).