Case study

Large Electric Utility Company Implements New Smart Grid

Energy and Resources
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Challenge

The main objective was to provide a large electric utility company with a working, scalable, secure, and reliable smart grid. On top of these requirements, it also needed to be as geographically diverse as the upgraded telecommunications network.

Outcome

Together with the client, we implemented an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) with two million smart meters and distribution automation assets. Thanks to this infrastructure, customers can now manage their energy better and direct load control devices are able to reduce peak demand.

The main objective was to provide our clients – including a large electric utility company – with a working, scalable, secure and reliable smart grid system to become an integral part of their core IT environments. On top of these requirements, it also needed to be as geographically diverse as the upgraded telecommunications network.

At the same time, it required open standards and protocols that comply with nationally recognised non-proprietary standards.Successful deployment of the solution called for strong coordination across organisational boundaries, significant process changes and rigorous governance, while knowing how to make the best IT investments along the way.

Integrating new MDMS and MDCS systems

Endava provided technical consultancy for the implementation and integration of new Meter Data Management (MDMS) and Meter Data Collection (MDCS) systems.

Our team of technical consultants worked on MDMS and MDCS in parallel streams with many stakeholders and technical factors.

 

Consequently, planning and implementation phases were necessary.In the planning phase, we helped define the implementation scope of the target components as part of the larger meter-to-cash chain, including:

 

  • Server sizing requirements, with many servers needing to be run simultaneously for better performance and reliability 
  • The amount and type of testing required (Functional, Performance, Integration, and Acceptance testing) 
  • The number and role of environments through which changes would propagate (Dev, QA, Performance, Stage Clone, Production, and Fallback Environments) 
  • Any software integration needing to be developed as part of the implementation process, as well as the billing system integration requirements (master data, meter readings, interval data, events, Time-of-Use [TOU] blocks, etc.), using the SAP Meter Data Unification & Synchronisation (MDUS) interface 
  • Recommendations for the systems’ operators and their training
  • Recommendations for the scope of support after implementation

 

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During the implementation process, the following work was carried out for each target system:

  • Installation of small-scale environments with simulated downstream devices and/or a small number of physical devices
  • Functional testing, with failed test cases analysed and triaged to User Error, Configuration Error, Environment Factors and Code Defects
  • Performance testing, simulating how physical devices would be deployed over time, with higher environments (up to and including Production) being set up simultaneously
  • Code defect fixes, updates, and/or upgrades were moved into the lower environments, tested and – if not rejected – moved into higher environments
  • Acceptance testing when the environments entered a stable state, the connectivity was reliable, security was strong and test cases were passing, with additional operators trained according to scale
  • Organisation of a go-live event to confirm readiness
  • Meter-to-cash components passed into the Post-Implementation Support phase, subject to Service Level Expectation (SLE) terms
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Rich domain and product experience

Endava’s global team of technical consultants demonstrated their strong experience and skill, in both domain and product-based technical consultancy, for the new MDMS and MDCS implementation and integration. Our team both successfully led and participated closely alongside client stakeholders in many processes of the new meter-to-cash systems’ technical implementation.

The benefits

The following result were delivered:

  • Deployment of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) with two million smart meters, distribution automation assets, time-based rate programs, load control and customer systems
  • AMI for residential and commercial customers that enables two-way communication and helps customers manage energy
  • Distribution automation including capacitor, regulator controls and feeder switches
  • Direct load control devices deployed to reduce peak demand

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