Industry Survey Confirms Efficiency Advantages of Intelligent Substation Design

Newton-Evans

Research Co. Inc.

Sponsored by

Bentley Systems, Inc.

June 2012

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Table of Contents

3 Abstract

3 What is Intelligent Substation Design?

4 Industry Survey Description

5 Generic CAD Applications Remain in Predominant Use

6 Results Confirm the Need for a More Versatile Substation Design Solution

9 Intelligent Substation Design in Practice

11 Conclusions

12 About Bentley

12 About Newton-Evans Research Company

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Abstract For many utilities and their engineering contractors, the substation design process has

remained virtually unchanged since Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) replaced manual 2D

drawing methods. This CAD-centric approach has over time proven to be manually intensive

and prone to error. In recent years new intelligent substation design technology has been

introduced to modernize substation design and enable a significant increase in engineering

efficiency. This white paper presents the results of an extensive industry survey that explores

and ultimately confirms the benefits of intelligent substation design.

What is Intelligent Substation Design? Intelligent substation design is a model-centric approach that unites physical and electrical

design disciplines while providing productivity tools specifically for electric substation design.

There are many standard drawings involved in substation design including single-line, physical

layout, schematics, panel layout, and wiring diagrams. Traditional CAD-centric design is focused

on creating the set of standard design drawings through independent drafting efforts. This

wastes significant time and introduces errors as engineers must manually translate drawings,

establish consistency, and manage changes across multiple drawings.

In contrast, intelligent substation design focuses on the assembly of an intelligent substation

model that is an integrated representation of all design disciplines. The model is built through

the creation of 3D substation layouts, which support the development of 2D drawings that are

linked and cross referenced. As the model is completed it automatically seeds related drawings

eliminating the need to manually replicate common design elements across physical and

electrical disciplines. All drawings are associative to the intelligent model allowing changes in

one drawing to be automatically propagated across disciplines and related drawings.

The intelligent substation model also enables tools that improve design productivity. Unlike the

graphics-only drawings created with traditional CAD-centric design, intelligent substation model

drawings are comprised of objects that possess properties of the equipment they represent,

the wiring connections they support, and the engineering principles that govern design. Wires

are treated as wires rather than as graphical lines; they break and heal automatically as symbols

are placed or removed. Hook points connect related objects, so they automatically snap

together. Every object is linked to a parts database, enabling the automatic and accurate

generation of the bill of material and other documents. Built-in error checking report conditions

including short circuits, duplicate wire numbers, and missing part numbers.

Collectively, these advantages enable a significant step forward in substation design efficiency.

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Industry Survey Description Research conducted by Newton-Evans Research Company between April 12th and May 30th

2012 produced findings from eighty-six respondents which included seventy-seven utilities

(fifty-five North American utilities and twenty-two international utilities). Responses from nine

consulting engineers/EPCs provided an insight into their substation software design needs.

Respondents to the utility survey included management decision makers (directors and

managers), supervisors, lead engineers, engineers, etc. About half of all responses to the survey

included feedback from managers or directors.

A further breakdown of survey participation is shown in the table below. The size of utilities

(measured by number of customers served) ranged from 12,000 to more than 10 million. About

one-third of utilities in the sample serve over 500,000 customers, another third have between

150,000 and 500,000 customers, and the remaining third have fewer than 150,000 customers.

Investor-Owned 15 17% Participating Utilities by Number of Customers

Public Power 12 14%

Cooperative 15 17%

Canada 13 15%

Europe 9 10%

Latin America 3 3%

Asia Pacific 8 9%

Middle East/Africa 2 2%

TOTAL Utilities 77 90%

Consulting Engineers 9 10%

GRAND TOTAL 86 100%

<150,000, 27, 35%

150k-500k, 22, 29%

>500,000, 28, 36%

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Generic CAD Applications Remain in Predominant Use Utility officials were asked whether they perform their own substation design work in-house

using a generic CAD application, a substation-specific design application, or whether they

outsource this work to a third party. An overwhelming majority (73%) of the utilities that

perform all or some of this work in-house indicated they use a generic CAD application. This

includes utilities that use both types of software (5%) and utilities that use generic CAD and also

outsource (10%).

Among the seventy-seven

participating utilities, only two

utilities in Europe currently use a

substation specific design application

exclusively. Three other utilities use

both generic CAD and substation-

specific applications. Eight of the nine

consulting engineers (88%) only use a

generic CAD application. The other

one uses both types.

Five of twenty-four utility

directors/managers (21%) currently

using a generic CAD application

indicated an interest in purchasing a

substation-specific design application

in the future.

59%

2%

5%

12%

12%

10%

Generic CAD application

Substation-specific design application

Both Types

Not using either of these.

We outsource this work to a third party

Generic CAD & Outsource

% of respondents

Generic CAD Application:

a non industry-specific drafting tool that

lacks specific design aids or productivity

tools for electric substation engineering.

Substation-Specific Design

Application:

a software application expressly developed

to facilitate the physical and electrical design

of electric substations through the

employment of some or all of the elements of

intelligent substation design.

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Results Confirm the Need for a More Versatile Substation Design Solution In the next two sections of this whitepaper it will be clear that utilities, consulting engineers,

and EPC’s that took part in the survey clearly recognize the need for a specific substation design

tool that:

Integrates physical design with electrical design

Uses intelligent information models

Incorporates a 3D physical model

Facilitates collaborative work flows

Integrated Physical and Electric Design

Performing both physical and electrical design in a single application establishes a common

information model of the substation that is shared across disciplines to speed work sharing

and improve consistency in designs.

While 78% of this survey group does not now use an application that allows design data to be

shared between physical and electrical design disciplines, 64% believe this would eliminate the

need to manually re-enter design data to maintain consistency (Figure 1), and 71% indicated it

would reduce manual consistency checks and help eliminate errors (Figure 2).

By having these capabilities, over two-thirds of respondents thought it would accelerate the

overall substation design process (22% - significantly, 47% - somewhat). Thirty-one percent

thought there would be little or no difference (Figure 3).

Eliminate Need to Re-enter

Design Data Figure 1

Reduce Manual Consistency

Checks Figure 2

Accelerate the Design

Process Figure 3

No 36%

Yes 64%

Would/does this eliminate the need to manually re-enter design

data to maintain consistency?

No 29%

Yes 71%

Would/does this reduce manual consistency checks and help

eliminate errors?

Little/No difference

31%

Some difference

47%

Significant difference

22%

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Integration with Supporting Business Processes and Applications

A design tool that uses intelligent drawings to directly support cost estimating, equipment

ordering, and asset management can eliminate manual preparation and improve the accuracy

of reports such as bill of material, cost estimates, terminal plans, cable schedules, etc.

The majority (90%) of utilities and consultants indicated their current design tool does not

generate reports for cost estimating, equipment ordering, and asset management. However,

when asked if they had access to a tool with this capability, about 75% of respondents indicated

that it would produce significant project cost savings by reducing the time spent creating

reports (Figure 4), reducing the time to update reports when design changes occur (Figure 5),

and improving report accuracy (Figure 6).

Reducing Time

Creating Reports Figure 4

Reducing Time

Updating Reports Figure 5

Improve Accuracy

of Reports Figure 6

3D Substation Model

A detailed 3D physical model of the entire substation that can be newly designed or derived

from existing drawings using 3D substation objects can improve the efficiency and quality of

substation design and construction.

Thirty-three percent of respondents indicated their design application provided 3D modeling

and visualization capability. This was heavily influenced by the consulting engineers (80% of

whom use a 3D-capable design application), while only 25% of utilities agreed (see Figure 7).

When asked if they thought a 3D model would help accelerate design time the response was

Yes - from 38%, No – from 19% and Unsure – 43% (this is an understandable response from

organizations that do not have experience with 3D). However, 28 out of 33 respondents

familiar with this technology (85%) think a 3D model that automatically checks for physical

No 26%

Yes 74%

Would/does this reduce the time spent creating reports?

No, 21%

Yes, 79%

Would/does this reduce the time to update reports when design

changes occur?

No 28%

Yes 72%

Would/does this improve the accuracy of your reports?

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clashes would help reduce design errors and avoid construction delays following design (see

Figure 8).

Fifty-one percent of 58 respondents thought creating a photo-realistic 3D model directly from

their design tool would reduce the time and cost of preparing site models and visualizations for

public review as part of the design approval process. Only 12% thought there would be no

savings while 37% were unsure (Figure 9).

Has 3D

Modeling/Visualization Figure 7

Would Reduce Design Errors

with Auto Physical Clash

Checking Figure 8

Site Model Preparation Using

Photo-realistic 3D Model Directly

from Design Tool Figure 9

Work Sharing and Engineering Information Management (EIM)

A substation design application that is integrated with a work sharing and engineering

information management environment can help control and track changes, manage review

cycles, and facilitate geographically distributed design teams.

When asked the question “Does your design environment include automated tracking,

notification and control of design changes?” 83% of respondents indicated they did not have

this capability, but 86 % acknowledged these features would reduce design errors and change

orders during construction (22% - significantly, 64% - little/some). See Figure 10.)

Only 3 out of 55 respondents (5%) said their design package included an automated review

cycle that captures feedback and routes it to the appropriate designer, but 75% felt this

enhancement accelerates review cycles (14% - significantly, 61% - little/some). When asked

about the ability of their design environment to provide secure and managed data exchanges

across geographically distributed project participants 63% of the respondents answering this

No, 67%

Yes, 33%

Does your physical design application provide 3D modeling

and visualization capability?

No, 15%

Yes, 85%

No, 12%

Yes, 51%

Unsure, 37%

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question said their system did not have this capability, but a significant majority (69%) indicated

this attribute would accelerate project workload (22% - significantly, 47% - little/some. See

Figure 11.)

Auto Tracking would Reduce

Design Errors Figure 10

Would Accelerate Project Workload w/ Secure

and Managed Data Exchanges Figure 11

Intelligent Substation Design in Practice The previously described survey results indicate a broad belief that productivity and accuracy

gains are possible with intelligent substation design. Let us now examine how these benefits

have been realized in practice. This section describes the experiences of two industry members

who have implemented an intelligent substation design process with Bentley Substation.

Bentley Substation

Bentley Substation is an integrated electrical and physical design application offered by Bentley

Systems, Incorporated. Bentley Substation is an intelligent substation design application with

capabilities that include 3D physical design, electrical design, protection and control schematics,

automatic report generation, grounding grid design, lightning protection analysis, and panel

layouts. Bentley Substation also supports distributed engineering teams through integration

with ProjectWise, Bentley’s enterprise engineering information management system.

Bentley Substation was developed to accelerate the substation design process, reduce errors

and re-works, and improve the productivity of a substation engineering teams. More

information on Bentley Substation can be found at www.bentley.com/substation.

None 14%

Little/Some 64%

Significantly 22%

How much would/does this reduce design errors and change orders during construction?

None 31%

Little/Some 47%

Significantly 22%

How much would/does this accelerate project workflows?

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Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is one of the largest combination natural gas and

electric utilities in the United States. The company provides natural gas and electric service to

approximately 15 million people throughout a 70,000-square-mile service area in northern and

central California. This area includes more than 141,000 circuit miles of electric distribution

lines and over 1,000 electric substation facilities.1

In June 2011, PG&E began the process of replacing their CAD-centric design process with an

intelligent substation design based upon Bentley Substation. As of May 2012 PG&E had

successfully issued five substation projects with Bentley Substation and had another 40 projects

underway with the application.

Based on these projects, PG&E has estimated both physical arrangement and schematic

drawing production have been accelerated by 40 percent. With an estimated 52 drawings per

project and an average of 24 hours per drawing, this represents a savings of approximately 520

labor hours on each substation project. In addition to this dramatic reduction in design time,

PG&E also cited fewer design errors, increased drawing quality, as well as faster and more

accurate generation of physical arrangement views and bills of material.

A complete discussion of PG&E’s intelligent substation design implementation can be found

online at http://connected.bentley.com/viewSeminars.aspx?BEC_SS_ID=808.

IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción is one of the world's largest powers engineering

companies with projects in more than 30 countries and subsidiaries and branch offices in 27

countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and North and South America. The company’s

activities are directed toward engineering and construction, principally of electric installations

for power generation, distribution and control.2

Prior to the adoption of Bentley Substation, designs for substations were being produced as 2D

plans without any automation, built-in intelligence, or database to support. Generating bill of

material reports took hours or days as manual material off-takes were calculated from

standalone products leading to frequent errors and rework. Integration between design

disciplines was accomplished through engineers talking to one another, with coordination

relying on paper-based procedures.

1 For more on PG&E, please visit www.pge.com

2 For more on IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción, please visit

http://www.iberdrolaingenieria.com/ibding/home.do.

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With Bentley Substation, IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción was able to redefine their

design management system and collaboration processes to produce electric substations designs

30 percent faster and with more accuracy. A significant portion of this savings comes directly

from the automated bill of material generation made possible with the intelligent substation

model—Bentley Substation produced accurate reports in just seconds. Additional productivity

gains were realized with the use of ProjectWise for substation engineering information

management and engineering collaboration.

A complete discussion of the IBERDROLA Ingeniería y Construcción intelligent substation design

implementation can be found online at

http://ftp2.bentley.com/dist/collateral/docs/case_studies/cs_bentley_helps_iberdrola_ingenie

ria_y_construccion.pdf.

Conclusions Our research indicates that although many utilities and engineering contractors have yet to

adopt an intelligent substation design process, the majority believe it would offer increases in

engineering productivity and design quality by reducing errors and the amount of time needed

for the design process.

Utilities and contractors who have adopted intelligent substation design have validated these

industry perceptions, citing 30 to 40 percent acceleration in design times.

With such substantial benefits available we expect intelligent substation design tools, such as

Bentley Substation, to be widely adopted and in time become the de facto industry standard.

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About Bentley Systems, Incorporated Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, geospatial

professionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for

sustaining infrastructure. Bentley’s mission is to empower its users to leverage information

modeling through integrated projects for high-performing intelligent infrastructure. Its

solutions encompass the MicroStation platform for infrastructure design and modeling, the

ProjectWise platform for infrastructure project team collaboration and work sharing, and the

AssetWise platform for infrastructure asset operations – all supporting a broad portfolio of

interoperable applications and complemented by worldwide professional services. Founded in

1984, Bentley has grown to nearly 3,000 colleagues in more than 45 countries and over $500

million in annual revenues. Since 2003, the company has invested more than $1 billion in

research, development, and acquisitions.

www.bentley.com

About Newton-Evans Research Company Since 1978, Newton-Evans has been conducting business-to-business survey research for both

multi-client and proprietary studies focused on energy industry automation, information

technology, and infrastructure topics such as Smart Grid. The firm also provides business

consulting services for clients in the computer, communications, control systems and

engineered products areas.

While continuing to serve a broader energy industry audience, Newton-Evans Research

Company has developed a special focus on the worldwide electric power industry. Newton-

Evans is recognized as a world leader in the technical marketing research of the electric power

delivery industry’s use of computers, communications, control systems, and technical

equipment and products.

www.newton-evans.com