Energy Currents
ESRI • Winter 2009 GIS for Energy In This Issue
ESRI News p2 Boston Showcases Solar Power ESRI on the Road p2 EGUG News p4 Potential with Web GIS Tools of the Trade p5 By Matthew DeMeritt, ESRI Writer ArcGIS and Microsoft Tools Enable Spatial Business Intelligence Tech Corner p6 In 2007, Boston mayor Thomas Menino issued set a target of 25 megawatts of solar power to be Data Dissemination and Visualization with Flex API an executive order on climate change that set installed by 2015. To support the Solar Boston Q&A p8 greenhouse gas reduction goals and outlined program, Boston is using Web geographic in- The Role of GIS in Renewable Energy Development city strategies for recycling and renewable en- formation system (GIS) technology to map cur- Is Renewable Energy the Impossible Dream? p10 ergy. That order was decisive in the formation rent solar installations, track progress toward Map Gallery p12 of Solar Boston, a two-year, $550,000 proj- the mayor’s goal, and allow Bostonians to ana- New Mexico Renewable Energy Resource Potential Map ect designed to expand the use of solar power lyze their rooftop solar energy potential. Enhanced Oil Recovery Revives Petroleum p14 throughout the city. Solar Boston is part of the Solar Boston builds on the City of Boston’s Fields and Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions Solar America Initiative, a campaign launched leadership in promoting green buildings, which Stewards of the Snake River p16 by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to is the practice of maximizing the use of a build- Ethanol Buzz Fuels Planning by Colonial p18 Pipeline Company make solar electricity cost competitive with ing’s resources while reducing the environmen- Brazilian Utilities Sign Enterprise License p22 traditional electricity production by 2015. To tal impact throughout its life cycle. In 2004, Agreement with ESRI help meet the city’s greenhouse gas reduction Menino created the Green Building Task Force, Full Range of GIS Benefits Provided to Small p23 Utilities through ESRI’s Enterprise License targets and support the goals of DOE, Menino Continued on page 9 Agreement Program
ArcGIS Cadastral Editor calculates coordinates and creates a cadastral fabric for the best-fit representation of the parcel layers. ESRI News
Join ESRI and Transform Your Future What’s New in ArcGIS 9.3
Are you looking for a career where you can apply your industry expertise in a new, exciting way? ArcGIS 9.3 offers a complete suite of soft- Join ESRI’s utility team of sales, marketing, consulting, and project management experts. We are ware that improves organizational work- looking for talented professionals to share their industry knowledge, experience, and perspectives flows. With ArcGIS 9.3, users get the in these challenging roles: benefits of an established and active user • Account Executive—Utilities (four locations) community, instructor-led and online train- • Consultant/Project Manager—Energy (Redlands) ing, and new online resource centers. The • Solutions Engineer—Utilities (two locations) resource centers offer a unified location Learn more about career opportunities on our utility team and apply online at www.esri.com/ from which users can access online help, utilitycareers. documentation, support pages, user forums, blogs, maps, and more. ArcGIS 9.3 comes with more tools to ac- ESRI on the Road Leading Geospatial cess data within an organization including support for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Publication Reviews ESRI Book PostgreSQL. ArcGIS 9.3 also makes it easi- NRECA TechAdvantage er to connect to and manage data from other February 13–16, 2009 In Empowering Electric and Gas Utilities with systems via direct backward compatibil- New Orleans, Louisiana GIS, ESRI’s Bill Meehan, director of worldwide ity and includes new version management www.techadvantage.org utility industry solutions, has produced a valuable features, enhancements to geodatabase text covering a range of case studies from the elec- UEDA Winter Forum replication, and better geocoding. A new tric and gas sectors of the utility industry, demon- February 23–26, 2009 image service within ArcGIS Server ad- St. Petersburg, Florida strating how application of enterprise-wide GIS vances an organization’s data management www.utilityeda.com/Conferences.asp can increase efficiency and improve safety. capabilities. This is a well written, easy-to-read book present- ArcGIS 9.3 makes dissemination of geo- GITA ing a convincing business case for employing en- April 19–22, 2009 graphic information much easier. ArcGIS terprise-wide GIS in the gas and electric utility sec- Tampa, Florida Server users can now selectively build a tor in an engaging, narrative, well-illustrated style. www.gita.org map cache for the areas that are the most Although it is difficult to imagine any modern util- popular, and ArcGIS Server enables on- WindPower 2009 ity company not already using GIS, if you know of demand caching to let the map cache May 4–7, 2009 one, make sure its directors read this book. grow as end users access the map service. Chicago, Illinois To order a copy of the book, visit www.esri.com/ www.windpowerexpo.org ArcGIS Server 9.3 also includes a series of esripress. JavaScript APIs for mashup-style develop- Review provided by www.geoconnexion.com. ment. The ArcGIS APIs for JavaScript take advantage of the new REST interface. In ArcGIS 9.3, many modeling tools have been enhanced and some entirely new tools have been added. In addition, a new vehicle routing problem (VRP) solver in ArcGIS Network Analyst generates routes for fleets of vehicles. To learn more about ArcGIS 9.3, visit www.esri.com/whatsnew.
2 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas ESRI News
ESRI Canada Limited’s Award of Excellence Recognizes Saint John Energy By Amanda Graff, ESRI Canada Limited
ESRI Canada Limited, ESRI’s distributor its health and safety record in the fewer-than- this project, AMI data was integrated with data in Canada, recognized Saint John Energy of 500-employees category as monitored by the from the customer information system (CIS) so Fredericton, New Brunswick, with the Award Canadian Electricity Association. that customer information could be accessed of Excellence at the 2008 Regional User In 2001, the utility embarked on an ambitious with the click of a button using ArcMap. Conference. The utility was honored for its in- enterprise application project (EAP) to imple- As part of its integration strategy from the novative and integrated approach to application ment three core technologies—management, EAP, Saint John Energy recently selected deployment, which has dramatically improved customer, and geographic information systems. Telvent Miner & Miner’s Designer application efficiencies across the utility. The completion of this project resulted in a to automate the generation of cost estimates “Saint John Energy has proactively taken an seamless transition from paper-based systems and bills for materials. Designer automatically enterprise approach to GIS that has resulted in to an era of digital spatial data. As a first step, determines the inventory that is required and more efficient management processes and con- Saint John Energy worked with ESRI Canada performs a series of engineering calculations sistency throughout the company,” said Eric Limited to create a data collection tool that based on standard construction practices. Melanson, ESRI Canada Limited’s Atlantic re- would enable the utility to survey its vast infra- “Designer provides us with a streamlined gional manager. “The company has successful- structure. Within one year, Saint John Energy information flow from the field to our opera- ly transitioned from a paper-based environment had captured approximately 200,000 attributed tions, engineering, finance, and store depart- and has implemented key business applications submeter GPS locations. This data collection ments,” explained Bob Bernard, GIS admin- built on GIS that automate and streamline its tool was used for everything from siting sub- istrator, Saint John Energy. “This will enable operations.” stations, assessing insurance claims, planning our field employees to perform their jobs more Saint John Energy is an electricity distribu- new infrastructure, and locating existing under- effectively while delivering a high-quality and tion utility that serves 36,000 customers with ground infrastructure. consistent level of service to our customers.” a network of 13 substations and 84 feeders In 2006, Saint John Energy initiated a pilot For more information, visit www.esricanada within its service area of 130 square miles. For project to implement automated metering infra- .com. six consecutive years, Saint John Energy was structure (AMI) systems that detect when a me- rated one of the top five utilities in Canada for ter has experienced an outage. Upon rollout of
This image from Saint John Energy represents feeder lines by color symbology.
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 3 EGUG News
2008 EGUG Conference in Review: Utilities Charged Up to Deal with Change
Seminars, speeches, and hallway conversations areas with spatial data management, server- terfaces, or APIs, available with ArcGIS devoted to smart grid technology, renewable based GIS, and mobile solutions. Server 9.3 provide a rapid development frame- energy, and the Web at ESRI’s 2008 Electric “The general impression from utility mem- work for creating, deploying, and managing & Gas User Group (EGUG) Conference signify bers is that we made a lot of progress,” EGUG enterprise mashups,” Brown said. “GIS-based that utilities are preparing for big changes. president Ted Kircher said. “The EGUG services and applications can deliver portal- The conference, held October 19–23 in Conference gave utilities a renewed passion to like access to internal information resources Indian Wells, California, brought together rep- develop broad ideas in GIS such as smart grid and enhance the accuracy and reliability of de- resentatives from 100 utilities with ESRI indus- technology and compliance.” cision making as well as extend the range of try experts and business partners. The theme, Keynote speaker Clint Brown, ESRI’s direc- what a mashup can do. Enterprise mashups re- Riding the Winds of Change, embraced indus- tor of software products, emphasized the value duce dependency on services that are external try challenges ranging from increased regula- of geographic information collected by utilities to the utility.” tion and renewable initiatives to outage man- and shared ideas on how to use that data to the The next EGUG Conference is set for fall agement and online customer service. Through fullest advantage through enterprise GIS and 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. For more informa- workshops and sessions, attendees explored Web 2.0. tion on EGUG and to view presentations and how GIS technology benefits utilities in crucial “The new application programming in- technology updates, visit www.esri.com/egug.
GIS users from all over the country attended the 2008 EGUG Conference.
ESRI would like to Platinum Sponsor Break Sponsor Giveaway Sponsor thank the following EGUG sponsors.
4 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas Tools of the Trade
ArcGIS and Microsoft Tools Enable Spatial Business Intelligence Enspiria Introduces ESIntial Solution for Critical Analysis and Decision Making
Enspiria Solutions recently announced its asset, vegetation, and outage management; field The basic software requirements needed to ESIntial Solution, a spatially enabled busi- force automation; and maintenance practices.” implement ESIntial include ESRI ArcSDE 9.2, ness intelligence (BI) solution that integrates For utilities with stand-alone deployments, ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.3, Microsoft SharePoint ESRI’s market-leading ArcGIS Server solu- ESIntial creates an environment for reporting (MOSS 2007 or WSS 3.0), Microsoft tion with key elements of Microsoft’s BI tools, and tracking the system usage and associated PerformancePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft PerformancePoint Server and SharePoint. key performance indicators (KPIs). Information SQL Server 2005 with Analysis Services and ESIntial was developed to provide utilities with is delivered using a geographic view in a single, Integration Services. an intelligent portal to enterprise information stable, nonproprietary SharePoint portal envi- Enspiria has developed a four-step rapid de- with a cost-effective tool that can be rapidly ronment. As utilities establish data marts and ployment process for ESIntial, which can be deployed and includes spatial information. The data warehouses for asset optimization, the so- achieved in a matter of weeks by taking advan- solution integrates and analyzes data from oper- lution provides a nonproprietary environment tage of its predefined, utility-specific applica- ations, maintenance, engineering, and financial to aggregate large amounts of data from sepa- tions and cubes. The architecture of ESIntial systems with respect to key performance indi- rate systems, often from different departments, features a secure, scalable, functional, and sta- cators and other relevant information needs. for an overall view of the utility. ble environment that is designed to allow you to The most notable benefit of ESIntial is the As utilities move to a near real-time environ- expand the solution based on the growing needs ability to integrate a wide variety of data sourc- ment made possible with the implementation and requirements of your organization. es and generate any number of perspectives of of a smart grid system, ESIntial enables a geo- An ESRI 2008 Business Partner of the Year, the business, saving significant IT resources graphic view of current, real-time issues, out- Enspiria Solutions is a leading provider of con- and costs. Utilities can use existing Microsoft ages, and load and switching data. The solution sulting and systems integration services to the and ESRI investments for improved scalability, is a set of components that works to combine utility, cable, and government sectors. security, Web-based interfaces, and end-user GIS and performance data to form a seamless For more information about Enspiria convenience. view of the utility’s system, accessible through Solution’s ESIntial, visit www.ESIntial.com. “ESIntial has been designed to help utilities a Web interface that is easy to use, query, and For more information about ESRI’s ArcGIS respond quickly and cost-effectively to today’s understand. Server, visit www.esri.com/arcgis. changing market condi- tions. We approached the design with the intention to allow easy expansion, configuration, and custom- ization with minimal effort as utilities seek to grow their solutions and better align them with their busi- ness needs,” said Mehrdod Mohseni, senior vice presi- dent and general manager at Enspiria Solutions. “This solution can be readily de- ployed by utilities large and small to integrate and display a range of utility- specific subjects and per- formance metrics as they With ArcGIS technology and Enspiria’s ESIntial Solution, utilities can highlight the potential impact that maintenance and asset management relate to smart metering; planning have on reliability, showing historical data from both systems in a single view.
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 5 Tech Corner
Data Dissemination and Visualization with Flex API By Joe Holubar, Dave Wrazien, and Pat Dolan, ESRI
Tech Corner focuses on technical issues tions to its configuration file, or its source code may be used by applica- that address GIS data management, dis- tion developers to further explore and understand some of the best prac- Welcome to the new semination, visualization, and spatial tices and programming patterns of the ArcGIS 9.3 Flex and JavaScript Tech Corner section analysis for the utility industry. The in- SDKs. This article will focus on how to access, install, and configure the of Energy Currents. augural topic for this section is data dis- Sample Flex Viewer without having to write any code. semination and visualization. Today, many utility companies are looking at streamlining the way How do I start using the sample application? in which they disseminate and visualize GIS data to internal and exter- To begin using the sample application, you will need to navigate to the nal customers in an effort to achieve greater operational awareness. The ESRI Resource Center at http://resources.esri.com/arcgisserver/apis/flex/ release of the ArcGIS 9.3 Flex and JavaScript software development kit index.cfm?fa=codeGallery to download the Sample Flex Viewer. Unzip (SDK) offers utility companies a way to develop and deploy rich Internet the downloaded file and copy the folder Flex Viewer onto your Web applications (RIAs) on top of ArcGIS Server 9.3 to meet these goals. server so that it can be accessed as a Web site or virtual directory (for To help utilities jump-start these efforts, ESRI has released Sample example, C:\Inetput\wwwroo\FlexViewer). Flex Viewer and JavaScript Viewer. These applications are freely avail- After the files are copied onto the Web server, you can test the de- able and are designed to showcase some of the core capabilities of the fault application in a Web browser by entering the URL of the index.html ArcGIS platform through a simple, modern, Web 2.0-style user interface. page found in that directory. For example: http://
Sample ArcGIS 9.3 Flex Viewer with the GeoRSS widget displaying the Yahoo live traffic feed.
6 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas Tech Corner
Web server. You now should be able to access the Sample Flex Viewer Additional Configuration: Modifying the GeoRSS Widget application and use the navigation tools/widgets that it offers. Configuring widgets, for the most part, is similar to configuring the ap- plication to include your own map services. Depending on the widget How do I configure the sample application with my map services? and its functionality, you may or may not need to write any code. In this To configure the sample application with your own map services, you’ll example, you will take a look at the out-of-the-box GeoRSS widget and first need to have access to a published map service based on ArcGIS modify it to display a live traffic RSS feed. Server. If you’re unfamiliar with creating map services with ArcGIS To start, navigate to the Sample Flex Viewer’s widget directory: Server or have questions about publishing maps, refer to ESRI’s Web help
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 7 The Role of GIS in Renewable Energy Development Q&A with Mitchell Garnett, ESRI’s electric industry solutions manager
Q: Wind and solar farms are cropping Q: What trends do you see contributing to Q: Once generation is in place, what role up everywhere as technology makes the collection of GIS data for renewable does GIS play? significant strides in geothermal, bio- energy? A: There is an analogous process to any new mass, and biofuel advancement. What A: We are finding development efforts that transmission construction tied to the grid is the role of GIS in renewable energy involve many interested parties and gov- that has to be done hand-in-hand with the development? ernment backing in these procedures. site selection process. Around the world, we A: GIS is essential to Typically, one interested party will look are seeing a lot of emphasis on carbon cap renewable energy at the geography to identify sites strictly and trade systems. With that, GIS is going development for from a suitability perspective. They ask, to move into a much more dynamic, almost many reasons; for example, where do the terrain and real-time realm through integration with the first among wind patterns support wind generation? technical systems that are collecting vol- them is location. Simultaneously, another group will look at umes of operational data. We are already
Mitch Garnett Imagine the dif- the same land base, trying to identify sen- seeing interest in ArcGIS software-based Electric Industry Manager ficulty in locating sitive geographic areas and areas where re- presentation systems to highlight operation- any kind of generation, particularly renew- newable generation might work with miti- al parameters and key performance indica- able, without following some type of geo- gation efforts. Mitigation could entail how tors. These are most often called executive graphic information system procedures. to position the wind turbines or where to dashboards, or common operating pictures. The first step in the development process place solar panels in accordance with spe- For more information on GIS for electric is to acquire land base information about cial consideration for a nearby community, generation, visit www.esri.com/electric. the territory that is being analyzed. Then, cultural site, or protected animal habitat. you can pull in historical weather informa- tion—solar patterns and solar intensities Q: This work can be done in ArcGIS with PODCASTS: Listen to How Others Are Gaining are important data. A crucial consideration ModelBuilder? the Geographic Advantage that can be addressed in the GIS is sensi- A: Yes. This all sounds like a complicated tive areas such as Native American lands, process, and it does require some thought ESRI’s Speaker Series offers no-cost, short au- parks, and areas of historical significance. to make sure that you are covering all the dio recordings that feature GIS technology in- From an economic standpoint, you want to steps. But ArcGIS ModelBuilder allows sights from GIS users, business partners, and identify existing transmission infrastruc- you to capture that information and use ESRI staff. You can listen to podcasts and sub- scribe to automatically receive new podcasts. ture to transport generated power to the the analysis process over and over again. To hear or download GIS for Renewable electrical grid. After you’ve done it once, you can have a Energy, and other ESRI podcasts, visit www tool that really provides a way to acceler- .esri.com/podcasts/speaker_series. Q: Once developers have all necessary ate the process for future analysis. data, what is the next step? A: The next step is analysis—where are the optimal locations for generation? That ESRI Training Solutions is a classic GIS problem where software ESRI offers many types of training for the utilities industry including instructor-led classes systems really come into play. Land base at ESRI facilities and client sites throughout the United States and Web courses, seminars, information is typically widely available, and workshops. Instructor-led Virtual Classroom courses include Working with Geometric although it may not come from a single Networks for Utilities and Working with CAD Data in ArcGIS Desktop. Instructor-led courses source. There is a process of locating the include Working with ArcGIS Schematics and Working with ArcGIS Network Analyst. necessary data, then assessing its currency For more information, refer to ESRI’s current catalog of classes, course descriptions, reg- and accuracy. You might find gaps in the istration information, and pricing at www.esri.com/training. To view a schedule of free, live data that will require a survey to fill in training seminars, visit www.esri.com/lts. missing information. All this is necessary, For training offered outside the United States, contact your local ESRI distributor. See though, so that the subsequent analysis is www.esri.com/distributors. consistent.
8 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas Continued from page 1 Boston Showcases Solar Power Potential with Web GIS and in 2007, based on the task force’s recom- a user-friendly format—one that lets users in- The solar radiation tools allowed the analysts mendations, Boston became the first major city vestigate locations of interest and perform pre- to model incoming solar radiation and take into in the United States to require all large, private- processed analysis. GIS was the obvious tool to account numerous factors including variation sector buildings to conform to the Leadership achieve this end because it started with a visual in elevation, orientation (slope and aspect), in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) reference—a map of the entire city showing the the shadows cast by topographic features, and green building standards. Outfitting Boston’s buildings that had solar installation potential. changes with time of day or year. largest residential and corporate structures “We needed a baseline because you can’t re- After completing the analysis in ArcGIS with solar panels is in keeping with the city’s ally get anywhere if you don’t know where you Desktop, the solar radiation map was pub- green building and energy conservation are,” said Wilson Rickerson, Solar Boston co- lished—along with a basemap, other layers of objectives. ordinator. “Without GIS, we’d have no concept interest (e.g., historic and local electric utility Renewable energy is a solution for reduc- of the size of the city’s solar industry, how fast districts), an address locator, and geoprocess- ing the demand on and air pollution from tra- it had grown, and what potential it had.” ing tools—to ArcGIS Server for use by the ditional energy systems. As on-site sources of GIS analysts at BRA started on the project Solar Boston Web application. “The applica- clean power, solar energy systems can reduce by using ArcGIS Desktop software’s ArcGIS tion was originally built using a geoprocessing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, Spatial Analyst extension to calculate the solar service, which calculated the solar radiation on increasing energy security and creating local radiation available on building rooftops. To do the fly,” Knight continued. “Because the calcu- jobs. Additionally, solar electricity systems this, they built a digital elevation model (DEM) lations took about 30 seconds to complete, we (also called photovoltaics [PV]) have the po- of the city. preprocessed the analysis in order to deliver a tential to generate power when it is needed “We took the bare earth DEM and ‘burned’ more responsive Web application.” most—on hot summer days—thereby reliev- into that the building heights, using attributes Wrapping the analytics in an easy-to-use ing strain on the electricity system and reduc- available in the building footprints, which re- Web GIS application was the next step. GIS de- ing the risk of blackouts. By encouraging the sulted in a three-dimensional surface model of velopers at BRA saw great potential in ESRI’s use of solar energy, Boston hopes to not only the city,” said Greg Knight, senior GIS appli- new ArcGIS API for Flex, which is a client- capture these benefits but also prepare for the cations developer with Boston Redevelopment side technology rendered by Flash Player 9 or market explosion likely to occur when solar Authority. “We proceeded with this prepared Adobe AIR. Flex gives developers the ability to power becomes competitive with fossil fuels. surface and utilized the solar radiation tools combine GIS-based Web services from ArcGIS To promote the use of PV to investors, Boston available in Spatial Analyst to calculate what Server with other Web content and display it in a Redevelopment Authority (BRA) needed a the solar radiation availability would be for fast, visually rich mapping application that can system to showcase solar energy potential in each rooftop.” be deployed over the Web or to the desktop. It was the ideal medium to show investors the lo- gistics of solar energy investment. “We gathered market data to get a base- line, but we knew it was equally important to publicize the information via the Web,” said Bradford Swing, director of energy policy for Boston. “We knew Solar Boston needed a map, and this map is a simple, powerful tool to chart what we’ve accomplished and where we want it to go in the future.”
The ArcGIS Solar Radiation tool gives users the ability to research solar power capacity.
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 9 Is Renewable Energy the Impossible Dream? The Science behind Tapping Wind Power Offers Insight on the Resource’s Feasibility By Jessica Wyland, ESRI Writer
“Just then, they came in sight of 30 or 40 wind- ing three 130-foot steel blades and weighing one of the cleanest, most reliable renewable mills that rise from that plain. And no sooner 8.5 tons. When he wrote of tilting at windmills, resources dreamed up so far. But is harness- did Don Quixote see them that he said to his the Spanish literary master would not have ing wind power on a wide scale as quixotic as squire, ‘Fortune is guiding our affairs better guessed that public utilities, private companies, “dreaming the impossible dream”? than we ourselves could have wished. Do you and investors would someday look to the wind In 2008, the United States surpassed see over yonder, friend Sancho, 30 or 40 hulk- to beat the unbeatable foes of waning fossil fuel Germany as the world’s biggest generator by ing giants? I intend to do battle with them… supply and deleterious carbon emissions. volume of wind energy. The amount of wind With their spoils we shall begin to be rich…’” Wind energy now accounts for 1 percent of power the United States generates has doubled When Miguel de Cervantes wrote of the the nation’s power supply, and forecasts from in the last two years, according to the American impetuous and noble hero Don Quixote the U.S. Department of Energy say that figure Wind Energy Association (AWEA), a trade 400 years ago, he could not have imagined that could reach 20 percent by 2030. While wind group for wind power developers and equip- one day environmental scientists and energy farms crop up across the country’s windiest ter- ment manufacturers. An investigation into the analysts would dream the impossible dream rains, critics point to the need for new transmis- solid science of wind power facility develop- of stocking the electric grid with the power sion lines and the variability of the wind. Many ment clarifies the potential and reliability of of the wind. Nor could he have envisioned the citizens support the idea as long as it’s “not in this blustery resource. hulking giants that now line many a horizon, my backyard.” Twenty-eight states have set renewable ener- the 400-foot-tall wind turbines, each wield- Despite criticism, wind power is touted as gy mandates and are determined to woo wind developers. A Nebraska utility brochure boasts, “Nebraska has wind. In fact, the state ranks sixth in America for wind development.” An energy company in Minnesota is announcing plans to buy an interstate transmission line and develop wind energy to replace coal-generated electricity. One county in Montana is distribut- ing a wind map book compilation of all the data necessary to entice investors.
Harnessing the Wind Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in moving air into rotational energy, which in turn is converted to electricity. Humans have used wind power for centuries to move boats, grind grain, and pump water. Timeless and simple as it may seem, development of a wind power facility is much more complex than staking a pinwheel in the breeze. “Our development teams include meteorolo- gists, engineers, environmental permitting staff, and land agents,” said Tyler Hoffbuhr, a GIS an- alyst with IBERDROLA RENEWABLES, the largest developer of wind power in the world. The Elk River Wind Project is a 150-megawatt wind energy project located in Butler County, Kansas. Primarily used IBERDROLA RENEWABLES has a flurry to graze cattle, the total site consists of 7,907 acres and is owned by five local landowners. Empire District Electric Company selected Elk River and entered into a 20-year agreement with IBERDROLA RENEWABLES to purchase of wind power projects in the works as utilities wind energy from the facility. Empire anticipates it will purchase enough energy to meet the annual needs of aim to reduce dependence on nonrenewable about 42,000 homes. The Missouri-based utility chose to add wind energy to its portfolio for its price stability, environmental friendliness, and the economical cost for the company’s customers. energy. Modeling the feasibility of these proj-
10 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas The Maple Ridge Wind Farm is a 321-megawatt project spanning the New York towns of Martinsburg, Lowville, Watson, and Harrisburg, about 75 miles northeast of Syracuse. The project produces enough electricity to power up to 160,000 average New York homes. Maple Ridge has increased the amount of wind power in New York by 600 percent. New York is a state with a 25 percent Renewable Portfolio Standard designed to be in full effect by 2013.
ects requires studying location, wind speed, Smart Layers for Smart Maps who add a resource layer to the GIS detailing environmental concerns, and other variables. The life of a wind farm project starts with a wind speed and reliability. Meteorological data Wind power researchers are using technology look at potential plots of land. Most developers is continuously collected during a one- to five- from leading GIS developer ESRI to organize require land within a prescribed distance of a year period using tower-based anemometers and analyze data based on geographic location. transmission line to tie in power to the grid. If and vanes mounted at several height levels up GIS is a familiar platform for engineers in the the wind is strong and steady, developers may to 60 meters aboveground. Wind power can be electric and gas industry as well as conserva- decide to build their own transmission line. By classified into density classes ranging from one tion groups, which use the technology to make loading utility data into the GIS, researchers (poor) to seven (excellent). For example, a wind decisions. Developers use GIS to organize their can quickly see existing transmission routes power class of four has an average wind speed work as a series of layers or themes. One layer and estimate the benefits of accessing existing from 15.7 to 16.8 mph at a height of 50 meters may have wind density information, while an- electric lines. aboveground. In addition to site research, me- other layer will have land suitability, and an- Another important consideration for devel- teorologists use wind data stored in the GIS to other will show bird migration patterns. The opers is landownership. State and county land- help design the layout of a wind farm by identi- layers of information, visible as colorful “smart use data in the GIS identifies areas under de- fying wind direction, strength, and location. maps,” clarify for developers the best and most velopment restrictions from the Bureau of Land efficient location for a wind farm. Management and those requiring right-of-way Site Scouting Field Trip “GIS enables developers of wind power fa- grants. If land is privately owned, developers “Almost all the wind power facility layouts can cilities to reach their goal of finding the best will have to obtain consent from individual be done in the GIS, with maybe one or two vis- wind areas while causing as little impact as pos- landowners. its to the field,” Hoffbuhr said. “Before GIS, sible to wildlife and the environment,” said Bill A layer of constraints is added to the GIS, meteorologists only had paper maps to work Meehan, director of utility solutions at ESRI. marking areas that are environmentally pro- from, which didn’t show property ownership, “Locating the right site can be done quickly tected for migratory flight paths or other animal wetlands, county- or state-required safety set- and accurately with publicly available data and activity. Other site restrictions apply to military backs, rights-of-way, or environmental and cul- GIS technology. This fact alone speaks well for bases and airports, where developers must con- tural resource sites. Now we can stock the GIS the future of wind power and green energy.” sider radar interference and FAA regulations. with U.S. Geological Survey maps, property Wind data is equally crucial to researchers, Continued on page 20
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 11 Map Gallery
New Mexico Renewable Energy Resource Potential Map
In accordance with its long-standing environmental policy to respect the land and encourage the use of sustainable resources, PNM, a New Mexico gas and electric utility, created the New Mexico Renewable Energy Resource Potential map. The map, which in- cludes major transmission systems with tribal lands, was voted first place by peer review at the 2008 Electric & Gas User Group (EGUG) Conference Map Gallery contest. “We created the map because we had a need to communicate the electric and natural gas transmis- sion system’s relationship to renewable energy,” said Doug Campbell, manager of environmental planning and permitting at PNM. “GIS gives us an intuitive way to show the reader the interrelationship of New Mexico’s infrastructure and renewable resource areas. The smaller, separate maps alongside the composite map help novice map readers understand the data.” Campbell started his project with PNM’s basemap, which shows major transmission lines, U.S. Geological Survey elevation hillshade, and Tele Atlas highway in- formation; county, city, and town data from ESRI; and Bureau of Land Management’s Public Land Survey System township and range data. To this basemap, Campbell added wind and solar resource layers from the National Renewable Energy Lab and a geother- mal layer based on a study from Southern Methodist University’s Geothermal Lab and the U.S. Department of Energy. “We have used this map as a centerpoint for other discussions with federal officials working to devel- op the West-wide Energy Corridors, with the New Mexico Renewable Energy Transmission Authority, and with Native American partners interested in re- newable energy development,” Campbell said.
12 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas Map Gallery
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 13 Enhanced Oil Recovery Revives Petroleum Fields and Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions By Jessica Wyland, ESRI Writer
Carbon dioxide is not always a villain. It can Wyoming ground has yielded about 655 million important at a time when our nation needs all actually be quite beneficial for companies barrels of oil in its tenure. Production by con- forms of domestic energy resources—espe- like Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum ventional drilling has dwindled, but Anadarko cially oil and natural gas, which will contin- Corporation, which is using the greenhouse hopes to draw at least another 150 million bar- ue to make up the bulk of our energy supply gas for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), a process rels of oil out of the field by injecting CO2 into for the foreseeable future,” said Ken Michie, that involves injecting otherwise tapped-out the ground. This pushes the oil toward predom- Anadarko’s subsurface manager. “We are pro- wells with CO2 to produce additional oil. CO2 inantly previously drilled wells in the field that ducing oil that’s been trapped in a sandstone- emissions that would normally be released into have been refurbished for production through type rock. As a benefit of our EOR operations, the atmosphere are captured, compressed, and EOR techniques. By using existing well bores, the Salt Creek field will be one of the largest purchased from a natural gas processing plant, the company can increase production while CO2 oil recovery and geologic sequestration then shipped via pipeline to oil fields. The CO2 minimizing surface disturbance. projects of its kind in the world. We are cur- is recycled over the lifetime of these EOR proj- When Anadarko initiated its EOR program rently using 125 million cubic feet of CO2 per ects to continue generating production from in 2003 at Salt Creek, the company built a day that would otherwise be vented into the these fields. 125-mile pipeline capable of transporting atmosphere—that’s equivalent to eliminating
CO2 has breathed new life into Anadarko’s 250 cubic feet of CO2 per day from Bairoil, the emissions of more than half a million cars Salt Creek field, a site 45 miles north of Casper, Wyoming, to the Salt Creek field. Anadarko per year.” Wyoming, that invokes the kind of nostalgia expects to sequester about 700 billion cu- associated with boomtown times in the United bic feet of CO2 over the lifetime of the Salt Old Field, New Potential
States. Oil was first struck at Salt Creek in the Creek project, reducing the state’s overall CO2 While the concept of carbon sequestration for early 1900s and, at 9 miles x 5 miles, it is one emissions. the sake of conservation is an emerging idea, of the largest oil fields in the Rocky Mountains. “Our primary objective is to increase oil the repurposing of CO2 for enhanced oil recov- With more than 4,000 wells, the rich swatch of production from the field, which is extremely ery has been in practice by the oil and natural
The Salt Creek field was discovered north of Casper, Wyoming, in the early 1900s and celebrated its 100th year of production in 2008.
14 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas For more than 40 years, the Salt Creek field has been producing oil through floodwater recovery technology that utilizes pumping units, or pump jacks, to pump oil out of the ground. gas industry for 35 years. With the evolution of related science and technology, EOR has be- come an increasingly efficient, safe, and practi- Low-rise wellheads replace pump cal investment. jacks in the portions of the 100-year- old Salt Creek field, where Anadarko In the United States, there are more than has implemented enhanced oil recovery technology that utilizes CO 13,000 EOR wells and 3,500 miles of high- 2 to stimulate oil production. The CO2 injected into the ground increases pressure CO2 pipelines, according to a 2007 domestic oil production and prevents report by the American Petroleum Institute the greenhouse gas from being emitted (API). The report estimates that, through EOR into the atmosphere. As a benefit of these EOR operations, the Salt Creek projects, 600 million tons of CO have been in- 2 field will be one of the largest CO2 oil jected into the ground to produce about 245,000 recovery and geologic-sequestration projects of its kind in the world. barrels of oil per day. The life cycle of a producing oil field, such as Salt Creek, includes several stages. Initially, injection. The oil, natural gas, and pipeline in- touching virtually every industry, from govern- oil flows naturally to the surface with existing dustries manage infrastructure and operations ment and business to health and conservation. reservoir pressure. As natural pressure drops, as meticulously as possible by using geographic Anadarko uses GIS from ESRI to track pipe- the reservoir is flooded with water to push out information system technology. GIS links cru- line maintenance, view land reclamation, and more oil. In the final stage, any remaining oil cial data to physical locations. This gives op- keep up with revegetation of native grasses. By is recovered by CO2 injection, miscible natural erators an up-to-date picture for site and route calling up layers on a GIS-based map, design- gas injection, or steam recovery. planning, asset management, field crew deploy- ers can look at wildlife habitat, protected spe-
“We expect CO2 injection to keep Salt Creek ment, and decision making. cies development, and archaeological sites. Reservoir in oil production for at least 30 more “The ability to manage, correlate, predict, “We use GIS to map every piece of infra- years,” Michie said. model, and share volumes of data in an interac- structure, from the flow lines and pipelines
tive digital map makes GIS an essential ana- we use to move the CO2 to our buildings and The Technology Tool lytic tool,” said Robert Brook, pipeline and gas wells,” Michie said. “These wells are so old, Oil companies undertaking EOR projects look industry manager, ESRI. and the survey techniques have evolved so sig- forward to considerable return after great in- Since 1969, ESRI has worked to advance nificantly, that a lot of the old locations didn’t vestment. Required infrastructure includes GIS technology by developing a suite of GIS match. We’ve used GIS to remap those wells natural gas treatment facilities for CO2 capture, software for desktop, mobile, server, and Web along with our pipes, so we know the exact lo- pipelines, compression equipment, transporta- applications. The California-based company cations of our pieces of infrastructure.” tion, distribution lines, flow lines, and wells for has more than 1 billion users around the world,
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 15 Stewards of the Snake River Idaho Power Company Studies Potential Effects of Dams on Snail Population By Jessica Wyland, ESRI Writer
For much of Idaho the Snake River is the life- “Since we use the river system for power If Idaho Power restricted operations of its blood. The 1,040-mile tributary of the Columbia generation and public recreation, we are com- Snake River Dam, the utility could potentially River provides water for drinking, irrigating, mitted to being good stewards of our natural lose substantial revenues and would need to and generating approximately 50 percent of resources and environment,” said Mike Butler, seek costly alternative sources of energy to the state’s energy through hydropower. The GIS expert with Idaho Power. meet the needs of its customers. Instead, Idaho Snake River flows from Yellowstone National Each of the 17 dams Idaho Power operates Power takes a proactive approach to relicensing Park through a series of mountain ranges, can- along the Snake River is subject to a federal li- its dams by employing a large staff of experts in yons, and plains in Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho, cense through the Federal Energy Regulatory biology, engineering, and GIS technology. The and Washington. For Idaho Power Company, Commission (FERC). Each license is for a team primarily studies and monitors hydraulic, owner and operator of 17 hydroelectric power specified term and must be renewed over time. recreational, aquatic, and terrestrial resources plants, preservation of the river is of utmost Idaho Power is in the process of relicensing within the utility’s service territory as defined importance. dams throughout its system and complying by FERC. Idaho Power is involved in the generation, with new licenses received in 2004 for Bliss purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale Dam and Lower Salmon Dam, where a study Looking at Impact on Bliss Rapids Snails of electric energy in a 24,000-square-mile area is under way to ensure the viability of the Bliss In 2004, Idaho Power began its five-year study in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon with an Rapids snail, a species listed as threatened un- of the Bliss Rapids snail. The gastropod may estimated population of 982,000. It is one of der the Endangered Species Act. be considered an indicator species, one that the nation’s few investor-owned utilities with a When an action is likely to adversely affect defines the overall health of its habitat and the predominantly hydroelectric generating base in any listed species, FERC is not allowed to grant river system. Invertebrate biologists and hy- addition to two gas-fired plants and shared own- licenses without a formal consultation with the draulic engineers at Idaho Power are charged ership of three coal-fired generating plants. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). with trying to locate and study habitats includ- ing the hydraulic environments of threatened or endangered snail colonies in the middle Snake River reach. “We want to learn where and under what hydraulic and environmental conditions do we find listed snails,” Butler said. “We need to be able to answer questions related to snail reac- tions as the water levels change during seasonal river flows and normal flow fluctuation from power generation.” Idaho Power’s team of experts had to answer
Multibeam sonar data is received inside the boat with other integrated equipment.
The Bliss Rapids snail is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
16 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas \\Fresno\Enviro_GIS\Invertebrates\MidSnake\BRSHabitatBiop\MXDs\SolarRadiationZigZag.mxd
568.4 D
Site # 7 kj
568.5 D
*#
568.6 D
Site # 6 kj
568.7 D
This flood simulation shows the water flow potential at a low stage of 4,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) versus a flood stage at 20,000 cfs.
identifies changes in the riv- but also as we continue to produce affordable, erbed surface from boulders, renewable energy for the rate payers.”
568.8 D cobbles, gravels, sand, silt, and muck. A channel classification Mapping and Modeling the Snake River layer distinguishes each re- By linking GIS-based 3D terrain models with gion of the river as a bar, pool, results from Danish Hydraulic Institute (DHI)
D River Miles 1D Model Chainage < 400,000 WH/ft2 *# Panel 1 of 8 Survey Control 1D Model Cross Section 400,000 - 500,000 Total Insolation 04/28/08 kj SolarPoints 8000 cfs 500,000 - 600,000 / riffle, glide, or rapid. Water 1D hydraulic models, the Idaho Power team is Total Insolation for the period 3500 cfs 600,000 - 700,000 Feet Slopes < 10% > 700,000 June 1st - October 1st, 2008 0 65 130 260 390 520 temperature is tracked with a able to simulate through animation and por- A detailed map of the Snake River shows the effect of solar radiation temperature data logger. Solar tray with maps all flow regimes the company on water temperature for this stretch of the river. radiation tools in the ArcGIS may encounter through normal operations. important questions. What are the habitats the Spatial Analyst extension help determine plac- Researchers are able to overlay inundation snails occupy and what environmental condi- es on the ground within the river system where polygons with known snail locations, mapped tions do they need? What hydraulic variables temperature changes need to be understood and habitats, and channel classification polygons impact the snails? If the water level goes up or monitored. to quantify how much area of preferred snail down, are the snails able to migrate to the new Since Bliss Rapids snails are approximately habitats are wetted or dewatered at different environment? Does the utility’s operation cause the size of a pinhead (2 to 3 mm) and, there- operational flows. harm to the snails? If so, how will the utility fore, difficult to spot, the team uses Global With ESRI’s ArcGIS Spatial Analyst and 3D alter operations to minimize its impact? Positioning System (GPS) technology to locate Analyst extensions, the team created a series of “Our mission is to collect the data neces- the populations. Population locations are stored triangulated irregular networks (TIN) and sur- sary to accurately model the river flows and in the enterprise geodatabase along with data face grids that combine underwater topography, locate snail habitats,” Butler said. “From for substrate layers, channel classification, wa- aerial photogrammetry, and various ground there, we will be able to determine how ter temperature, and water velocity. surveys into a seamless physical representa- best to minimize possible operating im- “GIS allows us to look at the potential area tion of the riverbed. Sonar devices are used to pact to the snails—if any impact is found.” of impact by flow and even duration of wetting collect underwater topography, or bathymetry. and drying so we can try to minimize that area Ground surveys are conducted by engineers Determining Data Layers and simultaneously maximize operating poten- who map the bed and water surface elevations The utility’s GIS houses a comprehensive set of tial,” Butler said. “This is essential to our com- using sonar, real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS, layers for studying the river. A substrate layer pany not only during the relicensing process Continued on page 23
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 17 Ethanol Buzz Fuels Planning by Colonial Pipeline Company Jessica Wyland, ESRI Writer
Amid the clamor of national debate over how years in the natural gas industry working on new Even for a company with as much experience best to reduce reliance on oil, the call to replace pipeline construction, failure investigation, and and infrastructure as Colonial, the task of ship- petroleum with ethanol made enough noise to pipeline-integrity management before joining ping ethanol brings new concerns that must be attract government and industry attention. Georgia-based Colonial in 2004. “We want to addressed such as protection of the steel pipe A federal mandate, passed in December be able to safely ship any and all types of fuel.” and integrity of the fuel being shipped. Despite 2007, requires that the United States produce Colonial has been in the pipeline business obstacles, Colonial is pushing ahead with sys- 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by for 45 years and delivers a daily average of tem integrity and business case studies for car- 2015. In response, a major U.S. pipeline compa- 100 million gallons of different fuels to markets rying alternative fuels including biofuels. ny, Colonial Pipeline Company, began its study across the southern and eastern United States. “We are moving in the direction of alterna- of the feasibility of introducing alternative fu- The company’s 5,500-mile network of under- tive fuels because we want to be ready to ship els, such as ethanol, to pipeline shipments. ground pipelines extends from Houston, Texas, not only the fuels of today but also the emerging “Ethanol is now transported on railways and to the New York harbor and carries gasoline, and still unknown fuels of tomorrow,” Zamarin roads, but there is growing interest in the use of home heating oil, aviation fuel, and other re- said. “Pipelines are by far the safest, most reli- pipelines,” said Chad Zamarin, who spent eight fined petroleum products. able, and most efficient mode of transportation.
This image of a refinery incorporates spatial analysis for detailed planning purposes.
18 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas This ArcMap screen shot shows the current pipeline routes with topology.
We are trying to figure out how to use our infra- A second consideration to the idea of ship- and gas industry manager. “With GIS, you can structure and technology to address the nation’s ping ethanol through existing pipelines is loca- reference and integrate limitless amounts of energy needs.” tion. Ethanol production centers are mostly in information and arrive at the type of informed the Midwest—far from consumers and not in decisions necessary to ensure public safety.” The Challenge of Moving Ethanol direct reach of many existing pipelines. Ethanol Using GIS, pipeline companies layer infra- “The first step in addressing the ethanol issue would still have to be shipped to a pipeline in- structure data with natural resources and popu- was to perform an analysis of our existing pipe- jection facility by train, barge, or truck. lation information. For Colonial, GIS provides line system to see if we are capable of shipping To manage the large and growing number an integrated account of the company’s assets ethanol,” Zamarin said. of contingencies and considerations, Colonial and infrastructure. The system tracks the loca- Colonial and other pipeline industry experts uses geographic information system technol- tion of pipelines, tanks, equipment, and other have learned that ethanol is not directly com- ogy. GIS software by ESRI provides a frame- components. With the modern geospatial tools patible with existing systems. Ethanol is water work for understanding every element of a par- found in ESRI’s ArcGIS software, Colonial can soluble and prone to absorbing moisture that ticular situation based on geographic location analyze its infrastructure to quickly identify lo- may accumulate in a pipeline. The addition of and relationships. In the pipeline industry, GIS cations that may not be compatible with etha- water to ethanol can render the ethanol unus- is used to find the best opportunities for tying nol. By building a computer model of proposed able as fuel. Additionally, ethanol differs from producers to pipelines to terminals and, eventu- plans, Colonial is able to identify risks and petroleum-based fuels in that, in the presence ally, retail gas stations. analyze the use or modification of its pipeline of certain impurities, it can potentially cause “In today’s complex regulatory and opera- system for potential ethanol service. cracking of steel pipelines. Ethanol can also tional environment, it is impossible to effec- Working with GIS technology, Colonial have a damaging effect on a steel pipeline’s tively manage a pipeline system without the has been able to build business models for equipment and seals. use of GIS,” said Rob Brook, ESRI’s pipeline Continued on page 21
www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 19 Continued from page 11 Is Renewable Energy the Impossible Dream? lines, aerial photography, and detailed topogra- Laurie Jodziewicz, manager of siting policy at cent share of electricity production in the next phy data to see how the buildable area matches wind energy trade group AWEA. “Projects un- 10 years. The report called the forecast “ambi- up with the wind data.” der construction right now will be online and tious” but “feasible.” When development teams visit a proposed delivering energy within a year or less.” The energy industry is already on board with location, they collect site-based data to com- Once a wind farm is up and running, opera- more than 9,000 new wind farms under con- pare with digital information and maps within tors continue to use GIS to help gather inspec- struction in the United States and nearly 20,000 the GIS. Using a mobile device equipped with a tion and operational data. Since wind energy is existing. Global Positioning System (GPS) and GIS, the variable, utility companies have to figure out “With sophisticated site development tech- team is able to update data from the site and what to do when the wind does not blow. With nology and incredible wind resources, wind en- make any necessary adjustments to the facility GIS technology, operators can model and pre- ergy is becoming increasingly valuable,” said layout. dict how well the wind will perform in the next ESRI’s utility industry expert Meehan. “We are In total, wind power facility development is few hours or days and accurately match energy now seeing utilities integrate wind power into about a four-year process that involves the site production with demand. the electric system to supplement fossil fuels. research and data collection as well as procure- Wind is a cost-effective, nonpolluting energy ment of government permits, landowner per- But Will It Work? source that will continue to be one answer to mission, funding, and the physical resources. Healthy government incentives are driving international energy concerns.” When the plans are ready, developers hand over much of the wind power development in the For more information on utility GIS solu- the project to the construction team. country. A report led by the Department of tions, visit www.esri.com/electric. “Once all the initial research is done, con- Energy’s National Renewable Technology struction of the wind power complex happens Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, reiterated pre- quickly, sometimes in four to six months,” said dictions that wind energy will claim a 20 per-
Turbine blades, loaded on giant flatbed trucks, are driven to IBERDROLA’s Shiloh Wind Power Plant, a 150-megawatt facility near Rio Vista, California, in Solano County. Approximately 100 turbines are spread across about 6,800 acres of active grazing land leased from 26 local landowners. The Renewable Portfolio Standard, adopted in 2002, requires California utilities to procure 20 percent of their energy supply from renewable sources by 2017. The power from Shiloh goes to California customers through power purchase agreements to City of Palo Alto Utilities, Modesto Irrigation District, and Pacific Gas & Electric.
20 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas Continued from page 19 Ethanol Buzz Fuels Planning by Colonial Pipeline Company shipping ethanol via pipelines. Within the busi- ness model, Colonial can weigh the costs as- sociated with various railroads, the production capacity for each ethanol plant, and the various transit times from producer to pipeline. Colonial engineers map and model possible scenarios of transporting ethanol from producer via trains, barges, or trucks to pipelines, then terminals, and back to trucks. Concurrently, the company can analyze population data within the GIS to determine where the greatest demand for etha- nol exists. As opportunities are emerging, pipeline com- panies, such as Colonial, have begun route se- lection and planning for new pipelines. Routing of new pipelines requires consideration for property owners, water bodies, environmental issues, impact to other utilities, types of vegeta- tion, fault lines, and topography. All this infor- mation can be represented as layers in a GIS. “If I want to know what ethanol producers are closest to Colonial pipelines or what rail- way systems connect us, I’d have to use a lot of maps and I still might not figure out which combination of producer and railroad is best,” The efficiency of pipeline distribution with GIS Zamarin said. “The tedious process of shuffling makes new cross-country lines a viable investment. through paper maps and relying on manual in- terpretation has become an efficient process of spatial analysis when we put all the information into the GIS. We run spatial queries to identify told U.S. News & World Report. questions, according to Brook, who sees GIS which ethanol producers connect to railroads In 2007, U.S. farmers harvested a little more technology as a means to solving the nation’s and then in turn connect to our pipeline and in- than 13 billion bushels of corn, according to energy problems. tegrate that analysis into our business models to reports by the United States Department of “Whether you are analyzing regional or na- identify the best opportunity.” Agriculture (USDA). Before floods overran tional supply and demand, the impact of natural much of the Corn Belt, this year’s projected disasters, or transportation issues, a geographic The Debate over Ethanol yield was a record 14.6 billion bushels, with approach to problem solving can provide many While Colonial prepares to respond to the de- 3.2 billion bushels designated for ethanol and advantages,” Brook said. “Since most of the in- mand for biofuels—ethanol or others—the 2.35 billion bushels for export. More recent es- dustry’s problems are geographic in nature, it discussion of U.S. ethanol policy is intensify- timates lower total projected yield to 11 billion, seems that biofuels and GIS are beginning what ing. For decades, the U.S. oil and natural gas while corn used for ethanol is expected to jump should be a long and intimate relationship.” industry has blended ethanol with petroleum to 30 percent. For more information on GIS for the gas and add octane and oxygen, which reduces certain New questions abound regarding the use of pipeline industry, visit www.esri.com/pipeline. kinds of fuel emissions. corn crops. Should corn be consumed, convert- “Without ethanol blended into gasoline, gas ed into fuel, fed to animals, or exported? How today would cost 50 to 60 cents more per gal- much of the corn now being used for ethanol is lon, which in turn would raise fuel costs in- affecting food prices? corporated into the price of food,” Renewable The biofuels industry faces many complex Fuels Association spokesperson Matt Hartwig issues, but most revolve around geospatial www.esri.com/electricgas Energy Currents 21 Brazilian Utilities Sign Enterprise License Agreement with ESRI Contract Ensures Access to GIS Software, Updates, Maintenance, and Support
Two major Brazilian electric distribution past were manual and not completely reliable,” portfolio of generation and distribution busi- companies, AES Sul and AES Eletropaulo, said Sandra Heck, GIS coordinator for AES nesses with the capacity to serve 100 million signed an enterprise license agreement (ELA) Sul. “Asset management is conducted through people worldwide. AES Eletropaulo serves with ESRI’s Brazilian distributor Imagem a unique channel that involves access to data 6 million customers in 24 municipal districts Geosistemas e Comercio Ltda. The ELA will through the SAP and GIS environments.” of the metropolitan area of São Paulo. AES Sul provide deployments of current ESRI GIS AES Eletropaulo uses GIS to meet and keep serves 1 million consumers in the metropoli- software for the desktop and server as well as its company-wide goal of more rapid response tan region of Porto Alegre, the Rio Pardo and support, training, and maintenance. Both utili- to work orders and outages. The utility recently Taquari valleys, and the Central and Western ties are taking advantage of this program that updated its distribution maps and customer da- Frontier regions. allows them to expand GIS technology across tabase within an ArcGIS platform. “We are pleased to support AES Sul and each company while keeping costs low. “Since implementation of enterprise GIS, Eletropaulo with this new agreement,” said AES Sul recently integrated its accounting we have seen marked success in the produc- Gustavo Dias, a GIS expert with Imagem. data from SAP with the physical data in its GIS. tivity and quality in our work as well as a “This ELA will save the time and money typi- ESRI’s ArcGIS platform enables the develop- significant reduction in operating costs,” said cally expended on updating GIS technology. ment of GIS visualization and geoprocess- Silvio Baldan, a business analyst with AES Instead, the utilities will be able to focus on as- ing services that can easily be used by other Eletropaulo. “We are a company with the high- set management, customer service, and expan- platforms, such as SAP NetWeaver, to create est level of technology related to the electric sion of networks.” composite applications specifically for utilities. assets. It is essential for us to be aligned with The core technology for the ELA is ESRI’s Using ArcGIS Mobile and ArcGIS Server tech- international best practices, and this includes ArcGIS software, a complete system to author, nologies, AES Sul field crews keep data fresh the use of GIS from ESRI.” serve, and use geographic information. The with real-time updates of work orders and cus- AES Sul and AES Eletropaulo are divisions technology provides geographic information to tomer information. of major international power company AES. those who need it, including analysts, decision “With the integrated platform, AES Sul has As one of the world’s largest power companies, makers, and field staff, through its support of the guarantee of automatic updates that in the AES owns and operates a diverse and growing mobile, Web, and desktop clients.
Example of AES Sul Electric Distribution Network in ArcGIS Desktop
22 Energy Currents www.esri.com/electricgas Continued from page 17 Full Range of GIS Benefits Provided to Stewards of the Snake River
Small Utilities through ESRI’s Enterprise and traditional survey techniques. Pressure License Agreement Program transducers were also installed in the river to log water surface elevations related to By Robert Brook, ESRI Pipeline and Gas Industry Manager discharge. The river stage data was used to calibrate several one-dimensional hydraulic Software plays an increasingly vital role in how and consistent workflows without the costs as- models that are ultimately used to simulate businesses complete their daily mission-critical sociated with additional licenses. It facilitates water flows. activities. While software providers continue the implementation of mission-critical business “Now we have the physical environment to use traditional licensing models such as the solutions. GIS can revolutionize more than mapped in GIS and modeled with hydraulic single-user license or multiple-user shared li- 70 different utility processes ranging from asset modeling software,” Butler said. “We im- censes, in some cases, these models no longer and vegetation management and as-built data port results from our modeling work into fully satisfy the business issues faced by many integration to spill assessment, outage man- our GIS to create inundation flood maps for enterprises. ESRI has been working with cli- agement, and risk assessment. It removes the specific dam discharges.” ents to address these issues. An example of this handcuffs most departments feel are preventing GIS analysts at Idaho Power developed a is the new Small Utilities Enterprise License them from implementing effective solutions. series of Visual Basic models to streamline Agreement (SU-ELA) program. Lastly, this license option streamlines ad- the flood-mapping process and geodatabase The SU-ELA option is an affordable, fixed- ministrative requirements. The SU-ELA pro- design and implementation. When the in- cost licensing program that provides IT, busi- gram simplifies the contract and budgeting undation polygons are compared with the ness, and supply- process, saving utili- channel classification and substrate layers, chain benefits to GIS can revolutionize more than ties time and money. “ suitable and unsuitable snail habitats are utilities in the United Procurement costs 70 different utility processes ranging identified for each operating flow. States with 100,000 are reduced because from asset and vegetation manage- “We are now able to visualize the inun- customers or fewer. ELAs require only one dation area versus discharge relationships The program of- ment and as-built data integration payment per year for for the entire river reach and how they relate fers unlimited de- to spill assessment, outage manage- the three-year term. to snail habitats,” Butler said. “Laboratory ployments of core ment, and risk assessment. Administrative costs studies have determined that the snails ArcGIS products, ” shrink as a result of being studied have high mortality above related maintenance, and technical support for centralized coordination and management of certain temperatures and under freezing ESRI software. In addition, it includes access software distribution, support, and services. conditions. So if we can alter operations to to essential materials such as template solutions This new type of licensing is changing the minimize exposing critical snail habitats to and standard data models. way GIS is used by small utilities and allowing ambient air temperature and solar radiation, This type of license provides significant ad- them to implement true enterprise systems. For we can benefit the snail populations by re- vantages to a small utility. It allows the IT de- more information on the SU-ELA program, vis- ducing potentially harmful conditions, im- partment to use standard protocols and technol- it www.esri.com/suela or call 1-800-447-9778, prove our stewardship in the river system, ogy to establish organization-wide standards extension 2990. and still generate electricity at some of the lowest energy rates in the country.” Attend the Twenty-ninth Annual For more information on ESRI’s ArcGIS ESRI International User Conference Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst extensions, visit www.esri.com/spatialanalyst. This summer, from July 13–17, thousands of professionals across the globe will travel to the San Diego Convention Center in California for the highly anticipated 29th Annual ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC). For more information and to register, visit www.esri.com/uc.
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