In the spring of 2001, Nuon, the second largest utility in the Netherlands, was struggling to efficiently process meter data information within a highly splintered and complex information technology (IT) environment. The fragmented environment was a result of a merger of three large Dutch utilities—the original Nuon in Arnhem, ENW in Amsterdam and EWR in Leiden. Prior to the merger, each company owned its own data acquisition and billing applications and followed its own information processing and business rules. The newly formed company was faced with the overwhelming task of integrating these disparate applications into one streamlined and efficient enterprise system that spanned and supported the entire organization.
An additional complication in the efforts to bring cohesion to Nuon’s IT environment was the earlier liberalization, or deregulation, of the Dutch energy market. Earlier restructuring had already forced vertically structured utilities to split into separate functional companies—the GENCO which was responsible for the generation of energy, the NETCO which was responsible for energy distribution, the ESCO which was responsible for supplying energy to the end customer and the METCO which was responsible for acquiring and processing meter data. The result of these merger and deregulation activities on Nuon’s IT environment was threefold. One, the company’s “definition data”, consisting of customer, meter and other system and logistic information was widely dispersed across multiple systems and locations. Secondly, in order to collect meter data and to bill number of disparate proprietary systems that did not “talk” to each other. And, finally, the new business processes required by deregulation, such as sending meter data to the correct energy supplier or sending meter data to TenneT, the Dutch System Operator, were not supported.
Faced with these challenges and anticipating additional new market requirements, Nuon Monitoring, Nuon’s METCO, partnered with Siemens to evaluate and improve the situation.
Evaluation Workshop
The first step that Nuon and Siemens undertook together was a one-week workshop during which they conducted a complete system evaluation of Nuon’s existing IT infrastructure. Before any product or service recommendations were made, the project stakeholders identified which processes Nuon Monitoring would be required to support in the deregulated market. Secondly, the team reviewed the existing systems and defined which systems and interfaces, currently in place and not yet in existence, would be needed to supply a complete, integrated solution. The team determined that integration of two of the existing infrastructure systems, SCADA and GIS, would add no business value toward solving the market meter requirements goals defined for the project. For that reason, they were excluded from the scope of the recommended solution.
The Complete “Meter-to-Bill” Energy Information Solution
At the conclusion of the one-week system and process evaluation workshop, Siemens recommended its Converge Meter Data Warehouse to consolidate all of Nuon’s meter data in one location. As the central data consolidation point, the Converge solution facilitated information management both during the intake or collection process as well as during the distribution or transfer process. Using fully automated system interfaces, Nuon was able to retain its investment in all of the company’s existing data acquisition systems. Additionally, data from the Converge warehouse is distributed efficiently to interested outside market participants. For instance, data is delivered to the SAP billing system using a standardized BAPI interface. Tennet receives Settlement Process information via Siemens’ www200 EDI Exchange product. And, energy consumers can access usage and profile data via the www100 Internet Information System. Each of the required deregulated processes identified in the collaborative, initial workshop evaluation is fully supported, automated and integrated into Nuon’s existing IT landscape.
Requirement Changes Affect Project Scope
During the implementation of the Converge Meter Data Warehouse, Tennet imposed new rules upon information and energy providers. The new requirements mandated that the customer “switch” process, when energy consumers switched from one energy supplier to another, must be automated. They also mandated the automation of synthetic load profile calculation for groups of customers without interval meters. Although the Dutch System Operator carries out the “clearing and settlement” process, it depends on actual measured and synthetic load profiles that are provided daily by Nuon Monitoring. Together, Nuon and Siemens specified and described the complex business processes necessitated by the new market mandates.
To implement the jointly defined switch and profile processes, Nuon and Siemens established a system “connection register.” The register contains all of the information related to or connected to a physical delivery point, such as the relationship between a supplier and a connection point and whether a supplier is a “green energy” company. When implemented with the Converge Meter Data Warehouse solution already being installed, the connection register would enable Nuon to automate both the customer “switch” and clearing and settlement processes required by the deregulated market.
Project Management, Commissioning and Installation
In order to fully comply with continuing Netherlands market deregulation, Nuon was bound to meet specific, fixed deadlines established by the legislature for various process implementations. One of the deadlines, for example, included the date by which data exchange with the System Operator would take place in a defined format (EDINE). Other processes, such as the automation of the customer “switch” process, also had to be supported by all market participants by certain dates. Additionally, the data migration requirements of the project were considerable. These milestones and time constraints increased the pressure on both Nuon and Siemens.
Before work commenced on the project, Nuon and Siemens wrote a detailed Statement of Work (SOW), building on the defined requirements initially identified in the joint one-week workshop. All delivery dates were outlined in the SOW, which became the governing document for the project acceptance. The document also clearly outlined the responsibilities for each of the respective companies. For example, Siemens was responsible for all integration and system interface activities and for the creation of specific import scripts used to migrate Nuon’s existing data to the Meter Data Warehouse. This attention to detail and the up front investment of time and effort allowed Siemens to deliver the Converge system in record time.
Success and Customer Benefit
Every utility in the Netherlands was required to have complied with the new market regulations by January 2002, supplying interval data and correctly calculated synthetic load profiles for each energy consumer to the Dutch System Operator. Nuon was the first utility to send correct and complete values to the System Operator and other market participants, meeting the deadline with time to spare. Other utilities, unable to supply correct and complete date, forced the System Operator to extend the deadline.
Excellent cooperation between the Nuon and Siemens teams contributed greatly to the tremendous success of the project. Nuon now operates a more cohesive, robust IT environment and enjoys the following benefits from the streamlined systems.
An additional complication in the efforts to bring cohesion to Nuon’s IT environment was the earlier liberalization, or deregulation, of the Dutch energy market. Earlier restructuring had already forced vertically structured utilities to split into separate functional companies—the GENCO which was responsible for the generation of energy, the NETCO which was responsible for energy distribution, the ESCO which was responsible for supplying energy to the end customer and the METCO which was responsible for acquiring and processing meter data. The result of these merger and deregulation activities on Nuon’s IT environment was threefold. One, the company’s “definition data”, consisting of customer, meter and other system and logistic information was widely dispersed across multiple systems and locations. Secondly, in order to collect meter data and to bill number of disparate proprietary systems that did not “talk” to each other. And, finally, the new business processes required by deregulation, such as sending meter data to the correct energy supplier or sending meter data to TenneT, the Dutch System Operator, were not supported.
Faced with these challenges and anticipating additional new market requirements, Nuon Monitoring, Nuon’s METCO, partnered with Siemens to evaluate and improve the situation.
Evaluation Workshop
The first step that Nuon and Siemens undertook together was a one-week workshop during which they conducted a complete system evaluation of Nuon’s existing IT infrastructure. Before any product or service recommendations were made, the project stakeholders identified which processes Nuon Monitoring would be required to support in the deregulated market. Secondly, the team reviewed the existing systems and defined which systems and interfaces, currently in place and not yet in existence, would be needed to supply a complete, integrated solution. The team determined that integration of two of the existing infrastructure systems, SCADA and GIS, would add no business value toward solving the market meter requirements goals defined for the project. For that reason, they were excluded from the scope of the recommended solution.
Nuon’s initial I/T infrastructure was cobbled together from various disparate meter data collection and billing systems—the result of market requirements in the deregulated Dutch energy market and a series of company mergers. Nuon and Siemens partnered together to evaluate, recommend and implement a solution that would streamline processes and information sharing.
The Complete “Meter-to-Bill” Energy Information Solution
At the conclusion of the one-week system and process evaluation workshop, Siemens recommended its Converge Meter Data Warehouse to consolidate all of Nuon’s meter data in one location. As the central data consolidation point, the Converge solution facilitated information management both during the intake or collection process as well as during the distribution or transfer process. Using fully automated system interfaces, Nuon was able to retain its investment in all of the company’s existing data acquisition systems. Additionally, data from the Converge warehouse is distributed efficiently to interested outside market participants. For instance, data is delivered to the SAP billing system using a standardized BAPI interface. Tennet receives Settlement Process information via Siemens’ www200 EDI Exchange product. And, energy consumers can access usage and profile data via the www100 Internet Information System. Each of the required deregulated processes identified in the collaborative, initial workshop evaluation is fully supported, automated and integrated into Nuon’s existing IT landscape.
Requirement Changes Affect Project Scope
During the implementation of the Converge Meter Data Warehouse, Tennet imposed new rules upon information and energy providers. The new requirements mandated that the customer “switch” process, when energy consumers switched from one energy supplier to another, must be automated. They also mandated the automation of synthetic load profile calculation for groups of customers without interval meters. Although the Dutch System Operator carries out the “clearing and settlement” process, it depends on actual measured and synthetic load profiles that are provided daily by Nuon Monitoring. Together, Nuon and Siemens specified and described the complex business processes necessitated by the new market mandates.
To implement the jointly defined switch and profile processes, Nuon and Siemens established a system “connection register.” The register contains all of the information related to or connected to a physical delivery point, such as the relationship between a supplier and a connection point and whether a supplier is a “green energy” company. When implemented with the Converge Meter Data Warehouse solution already being installed, the connection register would enable Nuon to automate both the customer “switch” and clearing and settlement processes required by the deregulated market.
Nuon’s “connection register” allowed automation of the fragmented “meter-to-bill” process, the customer “switch” process and the System Operator “clearing and settlement” process.
Project Management, Commissioning and Installation
In order to fully comply with continuing Netherlands market deregulation, Nuon was bound to meet specific, fixed deadlines established by the legislature for various process implementations. One of the deadlines, for example, included the date by which data exchange with the System Operator would take place in a defined format (EDINE). Other processes, such as the automation of the customer “switch” process, also had to be supported by all market participants by certain dates. Additionally, the data migration requirements of the project were considerable. These milestones and time constraints increased the pressure on both Nuon and Siemens.
Before work commenced on the project, Nuon and Siemens wrote a detailed Statement of Work (SOW), building on the defined requirements initially identified in the joint one-week workshop. All delivery dates were outlined in the SOW, which became the governing document for the project acceptance. The document also clearly outlined the responsibilities for each of the respective companies. For example, Siemens was responsible for all integration and system interface activities and for the creation of specific import scripts used to migrate Nuon’s existing data to the Meter Data Warehouse. This attention to detail and the up front investment of time and effort allowed Siemens to deliver the Converge system in record time.
A jointly drafted Statement of Work (SOW) with clearly defined project deliverables, delivery dates and roles and responsibilities, allowed Siemens to deliver the Converge Meter Data Warehouse solution in record time. The entire project, from needs analysis to system acceptance took less than five months as shown in the project schedule above.
Success and Customer Benefit
Every utility in the Netherlands was required to have complied with the new market regulations by January 2002, supplying interval data and correctly calculated synthetic load profiles for each energy consumer to the Dutch System Operator. Nuon was the first utility to send correct and complete values to the System Operator and other market participants, meeting the deadline with time to spare. Other utilities, unable to supply correct and complete date, forced the System Operator to extend the deadline.
Excellent cooperation between the Nuon and Siemens teams contributed greatly to the tremendous success of the project. Nuon now operates a more cohesive, robust IT environment and enjoys the following benefits from the streamlined systems.
- Metering data is consolidated in one open architecture environment
- Nuon was able to retain their existing, working data acquisition systems with no additional capital outlays or modifications
- Nuon was able to automatically migrate existing definition data into the Siemens systems
- Nuon now enjoys a fully automated interface to the SAP billing system
- Nuon now has fully flexible and automated data reporting and validation functionality
- Nuon can now fully support new business processes in the liberalized market (customer “switch” process and the “clearing and settlement” process)
- Nuon can now distribute data throughout the organization and to the energy consumer via the Internet
- Data Exchange (measured and aggregated metering data) with other market players and System Operator is now fully automated
