APPLICATION OF GIS IN ELECTRIC UTILITY COMPANY

Ekrah w Maina
Geospatial Engineer GIS department Kenya Power
Abstract
GIS plays a major role in modern management of electric utility companies .GIS is a
fundamental tool in the following areas; suitability analysis in construction of substations and
high voltage lines, the optimum route finding, the profile analyses, the engineering design of
towers and wires, and the cost estimation, power outage and load study analysis. GIS is not only
useful in developing accurate database, improve internal efficiency levels pertaining to power
supply monitoring, commercial and customer services but also extremely useful for important
functions like network analysis, facility management, energy audit, trouble call management,
load management, theft detection etc. Digital system provides timely, accurate and easier way of
acquiring information, which is very vital in taking prompt and accurate decisions necessary in
the economic development of any enterprise/ industry.
Keywords: Power; GIS; DEM; monitoring; management.

1. Introduction
Conceptual model of a GIS provides a useful way to visualize it as a set of map layers or themes,
all over laid together to a common map base. In the last few decades, the electric power sector
has been developing power substations, transmission, high voltage and low voltage lines to keep
up with the rapid growth of the power demand. On the other hand, the suitable routes for new
substations and transmission lines has been getting restricted, due to development of rural areas
and the growing concern over environmental issues. One of the target of vision 2030 is to have
2000,000 new customers added to the power grid in addition to the existing 2,000,000 existing
customers and also to reduce system losses, increase grid coverage and improve quality power
supply .Power company consequently has to keep track of numerous poles, circuits, power lines,
and transformers and customers and have ways of performing load study analysis and manage
power outages. Information of location voltage and distribution of electricity of these facilities
seem to be very overwhelming. However, use of GIS has come in handy in organizing this
information on a computer system linking the database to map and also integrating GIS with
other company systems. Since in GIS information is easily updatable and accurate it thus caters
for the needs of maintaining the enormous power infrastructure.
GIS effectively manages information on the distribution of electricity to customers and
information describing the attributes of each customer such as location, contacts and electricity
use. Power company uses GIS for management of the customers and planned or unplanned
outage management. GIS is a valuable tool not only for mapping facilities but also in improved
decision making and better managing infrastructure. Although the needs and uses of GIS are
slightly different in the power sector than other industries, GIS is just as valuable as an
information technology in the electric utility industry. Installations on the power network are
mapped digitally using digitization facilities of the GIS software creating a digital map of all the
supply areas . These maps when so digitized contain detailed information about the land serviced
by the utility, and the precise location and engineering information of the distribution network
equipment of the utility that are installed in the field. In facilities management (FM), the
digitized map files that are so created with all the required intelligence built into them can now
be used to satisfy the facilities management needs.

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GIS in electric power is used for the study and analysis for electrical distribution system,
analysis and design, suitability analysis. GIS can also be integrated with the transport
management system which reduces complains response time remarkably. GIS and GPS are also
integrated for mobile mapping and analysis of electric distribution circuits.

2. GIS in Information Retrieval

GIS play important role in information retrieval aspects. The maps created using
AM facilities is made intelligent as one can imagine. For example, if an engineer needs to know
the date of installation of a given transformer, all that he has to do is to click onto that
transformer symbol. The attributes attached to this transformer will appear in which one of the
attributes will show him the installation date. Consider that the same engineer now wants to
know more complex information. He only wants to see on the map, which are the 100 KVA
transformers in a given area that were installed prior to a given date. The query facilities of the
software will quickly process this requirement of his, and show on the map only those
transformers that qualify his requirement, hiding all other transformers that do not qualify it. Let
us assume that an engineer wants to know how many transformers are installed in a given
locality. The software will quickly process his information need by taking the feeder network
data and processing it within the buffer zone showing the locality of the engineers interest and
give him the results. At another time if he wants to assess the requirement of a cable to be laid
along a certain road, the GIS will return him the results of processing considering even all the
bends and turns the road may have. The cable length so shown by the GIS will be precise and
will therefore help him procure the exact required quantity of the cable.

3. GIS in Maintenance & Monitoring

Geographical information system (GIS) plays an important role in maintenance and monitoring
of electric system. Using GIS, the entire electrical network is be overlaid on a satellite image or a
vector base map, with the facility for zooming, resizing and scrolling. Using GIS applications,
customers are also mapped to the corresponding electricity network. This helps the user to see
and analyze all customers connected to a given distribution transformer consequently the whole
hierarchy to the transmission substation The purpose of such application is to index all the
consumers and categorize the complete consumer database with respect to their unique electrical
address. A successful GIS implementation seamlessly integrates the spatial data with various
utility applications - Customer Information System, Assets Management, Outage Management
and Utility Billing System and provides interfaces for cross-application data portability.
Availability of accurate GIS-based distribution network map showing the geo- coordinates and
network configuration is an important prerequisite for analysis, planning, optimization and load
flow studies. Proper GPS survey and creation of an accurate digital base map for the distribution
network is essential for a successful GIS implementation. The survey requires a GPS Base
Station at a pre-determined location, aided by adequate number of GPS Rovers/ Receivers.
Surveyors walk along the feeders and capture the spatial position of the Pole, Transformer,
Feeder and Sub-stations. Let us assume that the engineer has to send a cable jointer in the field
who has to access a certain underground cable joint. The engineer can take the digitized map file
of the area, mark a small portion of that area in the neighborhood of the joint, and print that small
part on a piece of paper. This printed map of that small area will show, to the jointer, the location
of the joint with proper distance and bearing references to the nearby identifiable objects. With
these references so readily available with the jointer, his work will be easy and quick. There will

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be no need for him to have any guesswork or to constantly contact the office for knowing the
joint location.

4. GIS in Site Identification

The interfaces between GIS and other utility software applications should be well defined.
Continuous updating and monitoring of data is critical in any GIS application.
Therefore, it is important to have in-built process control checks, audit trail and
exception reporting facility to ensure reliability and accuracy of data. Remote sensing technology
is usually applied for the identification of suitable sites for locating new substations as they are
normally used to carry suitability analysis. Remote sensing is usually useful in areas where
conventional method cannot be used due to inaccessibility, for geological mapping vegetation
and land change land use studies .This gives a view of how the project will affect the
environment which is a requirement Environmental Impact Assessment for electric power
projects such as transmission, distribution lines and substations.
Satellite imagery may be used for land use and vegetation cover for these projects. Digitizing the
elevation contours and spot heights from topographic maps and using capabilities of various GIS
software may generate Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of these areas location of major
habitation may be overlaid on these DEMs for suitability analysis.

5. Data Management in GIS

Remote Sensing is a modern technique in mapping sciences. It is now a major tool used to map
any area on earths surface for transmission and distribution power lines route analysis. The
installation of transmission towers and distribution poles needs proper planning and carryout the
planning updated base maps are required. Remote sensing imageries helps in updating of the
available topographic maps. For example IKONOS, IRS-1C,1D (PAN) which have very good
spatial resolution of 1mt and 5.8mts .Through digital image processing techniques available in
GIS it is able to identify even small features with the resolution as given above. To select site for
putting new transmission towers and lines especially in hilly terrains, the density of trees,
elevation differences has to be carefully studied in detail. In such cases, remote sensing plays a
vital role for the preparation of database on landforms, landuse/landcover and related database. I
this information is integrated in GIS platform, enabling one to generate three dimensional terrain
model (DTMs) of the area, which can be further updated with the multi-dated satellite images
and aerial photographs.
Digital Photogrammetry provides information on terrain elevation which is studied before
locating site for substations , power lines and towers. Besides Remote Sensing ,Airborne Laser
Terrain Mapping (ALTM) or Light Detection & Ranging (LIDAR) Mapping has started being
applied in mapping of features in power lines. Laser mapping produces data with accuracies
equivalent to traditional GPS land surveys but ,has an advantage of producing elevation
measurements at a faster rate than traditional methods. Laser mapping can be used in places
where access to the survey property is limited or prohibited. Its rapid turnaround time and
operational flexibility give one the edge in competitive bidding situations. LIDAR is used for
monitoring and transmission lines. Long stretches of transmission lines can be mapped with
speed to determine the exact location of the transmission towers, accurate topography of the
corridor, and the encroachment by vegetation for modification and repair purposes. High
resolution DEMs produced in GIS from the LIDAR data are suited for inspection surveys of
transmission power lines. From the randomly distributed points hitting the wires the wire-lines

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can be reconstructed by using 3-dimensional line detection and modeling software. However,
inspection does not only include the determination of deformations of the wires, but also the
identification of obstructions present in the corridors. For example, deformation caused by trees
or illegal buildings standing too close to the power line path. Their rapid detection and evaluation
allows maintenance crews to react fast and to prevent disasters. Also, the inventory of damage
after bad weather circumstances can be done easily from Laser DEMs. GIS technology used in
utility sector is emerging as an efficient planning and decision making tool. The ability of GIS to
integrate common database operations such as query and statistical analysis make it different
from other traditional information systems. It has unique visualization and geographic analysis
benefits offered by maps.
Therefore it is valuable in planning strategies for Transmission and distribution system. The
advantages of using GIS in electrical engineering applications are manifold. Some of the
advantages are: with GIS, one can manipulate and carry out tasks that are vital in management of
electricity for proper and efficient results; when new facilities are installed, GIS database can be
updated easily to accommodate new features. Thus map revision and digital mapping become
easy in GIS environment; it is useful in planning of routine maintenance; customers enquiries
can be handled easily sharing of data among different users simultaneously is possible; the
results provide equally good information for other sister companies involved in electric utilities
e.g. Rural Electrification Authority (REA) ,KETRACO and KENGEN.

7. Conclusions
GIS applications in electric power sector are numerous:
1. Collection and storage of large amount of data that can be readily accessed and analyzed
,the analysis will assist in informed decision making
2. GIS helps the electric power company select power routes that are optimal and
environmental friendly ensuring sustainable development
3. GIS when integrated with other systems ensures quality power supply to customers and
helps improve complains response time
4. GIS helps in visualization of load study thus helps engineers make informed decision in
reducing energy losses.
5. GIS is an essential tool in planned or unplanned outage management
6. When used in designing of lines it helps reduce loss in materials as it avoids
duplications of designs.
7. GIS helps utility companies identify potential customers
8. In revenue collection GIS helps the company visualize the area where there are many
defaulters thus directing its clues to the right areas
9. GIS helps in inspection of transmission lines making it possible in identifying
encroachment and attend the breakdowns
GIS provides a wide range of solutions encompassing the entire business value chain in the
power distribution sector from setting up distribution network and load management to customer
information, assets management, billing and customer services. Digital system provides timely,
accurate and easier way of acquiring information, which is very vital in taking prompt and
accurate decisions.

EKRAH MAINA

GEOSPATIAL ENGINEER