Partnership to catalyse digitalisation within power utilities

An agreement to jointly develop solutions to accelerate the digitalisation of planning, design, and operations for power utilities and industrial power customers has been reached by electrification, automation and digitalisation technologies company Siemens and architecture and engineering solutions company Bentley Systems.

This partnership builds on the strategic alliance announced in 2016 between the two companies.

As a result of the partnership, the first of the new offerings will integrate Bentley Systems’ utility design and geographic information systems (GISes) capabilities with Siemens’ Power System Simulation (PSS) Suite in solutions for power transmission, power distribution and industrial facilities. Combining these provides customers with Bentley’s expertise in three-dimensional (3D) infrastructure asset modelling and GISes with Siemens’ knowledge and experience in energy system planning and simulation.

Siemens energy management division CEO Ralf Christian says the energy industry trend towards decentralisation represents a significant challenge, as well as a great opportunity for power producers and consumers. “Our strategic alliance with Bentley Systems will help our customers better leverage this changing landscape through the combination of our powerful solutions.”

He adds that Siemens and Bentley share a commitment to openness, interoperability, and the goal of helping customers drive the digital enterprise across their supply chains.

Bentley Systems chief product officer Bhupinder Singh says Siemens’ expertise in electrical power systems planning and simulation is the perfect complement to Bentley Systems’ GISes and infrastructure engineering solutions.

Distributed energy resources, such as microgrids and their off-grid/on-grid mode, require more advanced planning approaches to ensure system reliability and stability. Bentley Systems’ OpenUtilities solution for utility power grid design and GISes will be integrated with Siemens’ PSS Suite for power system planning to provide seamless workflows and data integration while supporting enhanced network design for operational and economic performance.

Through a connected data environment, utility engineers will now have the added benefit of sharing critical design information to reduce design time and construction costs to deliver optimal and comprehensive utility network updates.

The Siemens-Bentley initiative will provide intelligent Siemens components for easy placement in Bentley Systems’ substation application for 3D modelling, while intelligent electrical symbols will provide the necessary details for comprehensive reports on a substation’s two-dimensional schematic layout capabilities.