Note: This is the second in a series of informational pieces highlighting engineering and design in the global energy and utility industry. Visit here to see all articles in this series.
In the previous article in this series, we looked at how utilities and energy companies around the world are using design and engineering tools and solutions to “design differently and build better” and unlock business value via more efficient and more intelligent design and engineering processes. In this installment, we will be looking at how integrated, open design, engineering, and operational tools and solutions enable a streamlined design-build-operate lifecycle.
Designing and Building for the New Energy Landscape
“Design processes are traditionally very clunky, with little integration between systems or data sets, and often with a lot of manual effort. The result is design processes can drag on over time and are open to human error across the design, construction, and operations, and maintenance lifecycle,” commented Mark Biagi, senior solutions director, energy production at Bentley Systems.
Sharon Soler, energy solutions manager, energy production at Bentley, added that “this creates an environment that is ripe for improvements in efficiency and accuracy across the design phase of an energy construction project, and even into the construction phase of a project.”
Sharon provided an example of how digital twin technology on an open platform can be a differentiator for energy companies and utilities that are tackling large complex design and build challenges. The ability to bring in traditionally disparate, siloed data from different sources in itself is an accelerator. So is bringing in geospatial data for the design of a utility-scale power generation plant, or bringing in a complete view and geology, including “in 3D” models, of the subsurface where an offshore wind farm is being built.
For most energy infrastructure projects, the design of a new asset needs an understanding of what’s on the ground in that area as well as what’s under the surface. Bringing this visual information into the digital twin not only streamlines the design process, but also improves the accuracy of the process with real-world modeling capabilities. Visit here for more information on subsurface design and engineering tools.
“This is radically different from traditional design/build projects,” Sharon added. “The difference is an open digital twin platform that can ingest large, disparate data sources into a seamless experience for designers and engineers.”
Integrating with Intelligent Operations
Sustainable, resilient operations are more than industry buzzwords. These are requirements in the new energy landscape, with increased scrutiny, from meeting climate goals to ensuring reliability to doing it all in a cost-effective and safe operating model.
Moving forward from the design and build processes—and leveraging the data from these processes—the opportunities for more effective and efficient operations of energy infrastructure abound, from managing construction processes to managing asset lifecycles.
Digital construction delivery solutions that manage large energy construction projects combine advanced simulations and high-value data, for faster, safer, and more efficient project delivery. One critical function in this realm is the ability to align construction schedules with design data to visualize a graphical assessment of the build process before you do any building, and then see an asset being built, piece by piece.
This leads to managing assets once they are built, which has its own unique challenges in today’s operating environment. Capturing the entire lifecycle of an asset, applying predictive analytics to an asset management program, and doing so in diverse operating environments (in underground or subsea environments, for instance) are not nice to haves; they are requirements for maintaining reliability and resiliency in these demanding environments.
This requires an asset management solution that integrates with a digital twin to provide a complete visual picture of the asset—and can bring in real-time IoT data, such as from SCADA, as well as geospatial data to understand where the asset is in the context of the overall system. Integrating with other asset management systems like Maximo® also contributes to the efficiency and accuracy of asset management processes.
Working with an open asset management solution can result in reductions as high as 20% in overall maintenance costs, with additional cost savings in spare parts inventory and insurance costs.
A Sustainable and Resilient Future
The entire lifecycle of energy infrastructure, from design to build to operation, is a long and complex journey. As global energy developers and deliverers move deeper into the new energy landscape, efficiency (both cost- and time-effectiveness) and accuracy have an elevated importance as diverse, clean energy sources become the norm, not the exception.
For more information on some of the tools and solutions mentioned in this blog, please visit Bentley’s energy page.