How ESO Migrated Data from ArcGIS Utility Network for Successful CIM Interoperability

Electric operations all over the world rely on business continuity. Lithuania's Energy Distribution System Operator (ESO) has long been a strategic user of Esri geographic information system (GIS) software for increasing the reliability of the utility’s electric operations across the country. ESO's services cover 1.8 million customers and spans a service territory of the whole of Lithuania, with 127,000 kilometers total length of the distribution network.

As part of an overall digital transformation strategy, ESO employees in the spring of 2023 integrated their GIS data in ArcGIS Utility Network with their advanced distribution management system (ADMS). This integration was crucial to ensure that ESO employees could easily maintain their data in their ADMS and that it would be compatible with industry-standard systems.

Historically, ESO employees relied on geometric network and GE Smallworld as their integration platform for as-built documentation. However, as part of ESO's strategy, staff recognized the need for a more dependable, sophisticated, and standardized infrastructure service with the most current technologies. Utility leadership initiated a project to migrate the GIS data from the existing geometric network and implement a modern product-based integration with the ADMS. Using new technologies, such as ArcGIS Utility Network, would allow staff to maintain the data and provide a single source of truth.

Following the successful migration of their systems, ESO leadership prioritized finding an integration solution that would enable their staff to work from a unified interface. This required interoperability with the Common Information Model (CIM), a globally accepted way of describing and transferring electrical models. This makes it a popular choice for new integrations in the industry.

ESO employees first implemented ArcGIS Enterprise, a complete GIS software system that helps users manage, map, visualize, and analyze their data. Staff then deployed ArcGIS Utility Network, a configurable system that leverages ArcGIS Enterprise for advanced asset modeling, analysis, business integration, and communications.

“ArcGIS Utility Network provided a network model more aligned with the principles of CIM and eased the integration between the GIS and ADMS,” said Andrius Mackevičius, Head of Network Data Management at ESO.

ESO leadership chose Similix, an Esri partner, to ensure their ArcGIS data in their ADMS was CIM-compatible. ESO employees utilized the CIM Adaptor for ArcGIS. This licensed software provides a versatile solution for aligning data and business processes across business units and systems. For users, data can easily be exchanged without modifying the underlying data models in source systems. Key to ESO's leadership was the adaptor’s ability to seamlessly work with standard ArcGIS services like Utility Network Export Subnetwork Service.

The CIM Adaptor’s user-friendly interface allows ESO users to easily map or connect the information from one system to the other with a drag-and-drop function . Additionally, the adaptor includes a rule engine that facilitates data transformation in a way that is useful for the users. ESO employees will be able to also use the CIM profile information in the adaptor to run future simulations for planning purposes in power network analysis applications.

Similix's CIM Adaptor with ArcGIS Utility Network work together to monitor for network changes and automatically export full feeders—a group of electrical devices that are connected—when changes are flagged. This automated system provides ESO employees with up to 1500 changed feeders daily, ensuring timely data updates in the ADMS.

ESO employees also wanted to ensure that the CIM Adaptor didn't negatively impact their ADMS and operations in the control room during implementation. Equally, it was important to ensure that feeders imported from the legacy GIS geometric network and feeders from Utility Network could coexist [FL2] in the ADMS. To meet this challenge, the CIM Adaptor stores existing IDs from the ADMS as attribute values in the Utility Network. This approach ensures that when the CIM Adaptor exports changed feeders to ADMS, it continues to use the same IDs for assets like transformers, saving operators time and allowing them to focus on operational tasks.

Similix's solution was easy to implement and train staff on. They also provided ESO with CIM training so staff could maintain the solution.

“Integrating GIS and ADMS using Similix CIM Adaptor is a best-in-class example of creating value from upgrading to ArcGIS Utility Network,” said Jesper Vinther Christensen, CEO at Similix. “With a product-based CIM integration, ESO has a robust platform to leverage network information to ADMS and other systems for the future.”

ESO leadership values the new, robust, and configurable integration from Utility Network to ADMS. This integration, along with the benefits of Utility Network, has streamlined workflow processes and eliminated steps. ESO employees can continue maintenance or updates as new business requirements arise.

Additionally, ESO can trust Similix with new releases that meet future Esri standards. The CIM Adaptor lets ESO use the product for new CIM-based integrations. For example, it could enable Utility Network and network analysis systems in the future. ESO is exploring integrating GIS into other parts of the organization, like planning for networks and grids.

“Implementing ArcGIS Utility Network with CIM Adaptor has been a game-changer for ESO, as it has allowed us to establish a centralized system based on GIS and easily exchange network data from GIS to ADMS via industry standard format without any additional platforms” said Virgilijus Žukauskas, Head of Network Operation Division at ESO. “By integrating these technologies, we have enabled enterprise-wide use, ensuring that nearly every employee can access and utilize the system for their daily operations.”