CASE STUDY
Optimizing gas transport management
Accenture helped Gasunie meet its operational needs for safe, secure gas transport.
Challenge
The Dutch transmission grid is very complex—and that complexity only continues to grow. Due to gas production-related earthquakes in the Netherlands, domestic production has been curtailed. Imports of higher calorific gas have increased. And gas transport is experiencing an energy transition that includes moving to a CO2-neutral energy supply and the internationalization of energy markets.
To maintain this network, Gasunie relies on dispatchers that coordinate field-based maintenance, act as an emergency contact and monitor their environment, neighboring network operators, storage operations and more than 100 shippers. With such a significant operator workload and with an expanded European energy mix coming, Gasunie needed a more robust gas transport management platform.
Gasunie collaborated with Accenture to develop a new IT landscape for its control room—a move that would help safeguard accurate information for end users, meet operational needs and provide safe, secure gas transport.
Strategy and solution
The new program replaces the existing IT landscape within Gasunie’s control room. This highly complex, large-scale initiative would involve multiple vendors delivering their systems, as well as the implementation of a host of new technologies.
Collaboration and capabilities
Accenture collaborated with Gasunie, taking on key roles including program management, architecture design and implementation and data migration.
Agility and scalability
Change management efforts helped reduce new operator training from three years to just six months, preparing them to perform after go-live.
Delivery and continuity
The team applied agile and waterfall delivery methodologies to replace Gasunie’s SCADA and simulation software while maintaining business continuity.
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Transformation
Gasunie and Accenture deployed and delivered the new control room IT landscape on time and on budget. The deployment of a new IT landscape, including a revised gas transport management system, provides Gasunie with numerous benefits, including:
- Agility: All relevant information is available at operators’ fingertips, with the new GTMS providing correct and timely information for better decision making.
- Insight and accuracy: An integrated network topology model ensures data in the control room equals data in the field and supports insight-driven gas transport decisions.
- A platform for innovation: A standardized IT platform that enables software automation as well as providing a Microsoft Windows environment with all related benefits.
The new, state-of-the-art system provides a solid foundation, empowering Gasunie to realize additional future plans, such as energy optimization, digital maintenance planning and incident control. Gasunie will be able to provide safe, secure gas transport for the Netherlands, at the same time confirming that continental Europe has the optimal energy mix it needs to stay competitive now and in the future.
"This project will help optimize gas transport in the Netherlands, providing more insight into and influence over the Dutch gas grid, with greatly improved situational awareness for operators."
– ROY IKINK, Managing Director – Transmission and Distribution, Accenture Netherlands
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