Bentley sisNET GIS delivers new levels of engineering and operational efficiency to Kelag Wärme

GIS-based asset and facilities management software has been used in support of the lifecycle of energy utility infrastructure for some time and it is now a mature technology. However, most GIS-based asset and facilities management software is not specifically designed to support district heating and cooling infrastructure. Bentley has been supporting district heating infrastructure for over a decade with a product that has a specific (yet customizable) data model for this class of infrastructure. This case study featuring Kelag Wärme shows just how productive a GIS can be when it is tailored specifically to support district heating infrastructure.

Kelag Wärme GmbH is part of the utility group, Kelag, which operates in Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. For over 40 years, Kelag Wärme has been a leader in district heating technology, identifying ways to generate heat more sustainably.  Despite their innovative nature, Kelag Wärme encountered substantial challenges working with a legacy GIS system that was not optimized for district heating infrastructure.  Their thermal-hydraulic modeling systems were unable to leverage key GIS data, forcing data to be recreated and wasting precious time and money.  Kelag Wärme made the decision to invest in a comprehensive GIS system optimized for both district heating infrastructure and thermal-hydraulic calculations that can be leveraged cross-departmentally.  The ROI from the migration to a new GIS program has already been significant, and yet there is much more to come now that the company's data is unified, verified and available to all of their internal stakeholders.

Fig 2: Network infrastructure documented in Bentley sisNET is exported to Google Earth for viewing

In their decision to adopt Bentley sisNET, Kelag Wärme cited several reasons why the program would immediately increase efficiencies across the organization.  Norbert Fischer, GIS Manager at Kelag Wärme, explains "The superior ability in Bentley sisNET to handle and model district heating infrastructure drew us to choose the Bentley product over the competition.  We also value the openness of the data model, and the fact that the GIS is interoperable with other IT systems including our thermal-hydraulic modeling system and our SAP asset management system."   Bentley sisNET is one of the very few GIS applications that includes a separate district heating module.  The data model is customizable and extensible, meaning that all necessary attributes can be captured and used for analysis, engineering workflows, and other management decisions.  Data is stored in a standard Oracle database.  Bentley sisNET is also accessible to field engineers via Bentley sisVIEW, which eliminates the need for work prints.  Paperless field engineering workflows simplify procedures and save time and money.

Leveraging the new GIS at Kelag Wärme

Since implementation, data secured in Bentley sisNET is now used in various departments at Kelag Wärme, including Engineering and Planning, Operations and Maintenance, and Sales and Marketing.  Tasks such as equipment replacement strategies, upgrade planning, and identifying new prospects are all simplified by Bentley sisNET.  Kelag Wärme also uses the GIS system to schedule the depressurization of parts of the network for repairs and improvements.  The program is used to identify impacted customers, so that they can promptly receive notification of possible interruptions in service.  In addition, shafts and fittings can be inspected frequently to ensure they are functioning properly and valve failures can be avoided.

Bentley sisIMS, the Web server component of the product suite, allows the GIS information to be served to non-technical users and is utilized by senior management, sales and marketing, and customer services, extending the use of the data and increasing its value to Kelag Wärme.  The GIS details any existing district heating infrastructure, information that Kelag Warme is legally required to provide to regulatory agencies.  GIS data is created once then recycled numerous times, producing a cycle of current information and continuous improvements.

Fig 1: Bentley sisNET displays the district heating network and connected buildings

Norbert Fischer describes how the decision to migrate to a GIS system optimized for district heating has already delivered value to Kelag Warme, "We have already seen a substantial reduction in the amount of time it takes to locate data for new projects and for field work.  What used to take hours or days happens almost instantaneously now.  This is making us all more productive.  The data are in one location so there's no need for a combination of work prints, Excel spreadsheets and Word documents.  Our thermal-hydraulic modeling processes are improved and in sum, the quality of the GIS is helping us all, in our different departments, make better informed decisions - and that's exactly what we were looking for when we started this project."

Bentley sisNET is also deployed at many other European district heating owner-operators including E.ON Hanse, Essent Warmte, Fernwärme Wien, Stadtwerke Görlitz, Stadtwerke Rostock, Stadtwerke Mainz, swb Netze, and Vattenfall Hamburg.

For more information on Kelag Wärme, please visit: www.kelagwaerme.at/en_index.jsp

For more information on Bentley Systems, please visit: www.bentley.com/DistrictHeating  or www.bentley.com/DistrictHeatingOverview