Catalogs >
Bentley Systems Europe B.V. >
3D Design and Modeling of PG&E Brownfield Substations Streamlines Electrical Grid

3D Design and Modeling of PG&E Brownfield Substations Streamlines Electrical Grid
2Pages

Catalog excerpts

3D Design and Modeling of PG&E Brownfield Substations Streamlines Electrical Grid - 1

CASE STUDY Project Summary Organization: Pacific Gas & Electric Company Solution: Utilities Transmission and Distribution Location: San Francisco, California, United States Project Objective: • Automate the process of creating accurate 3D models for existing substations and replace the time-consuming method of manually converting 2D drawings. • Produce reality meshes as the basis for retrofit design through Bentley technology. • Use Bentley Substation to reference reality meshes generated by ContextCapture and complete substation retrofit designs with intelligent 3D models. Products Used: Descartes, Bentley Substation, ContextCapture, MicroStation®, ProjectWise® Fast Facts • PG&E’s substation engineering department is responsible for more than 1,000 transmission and distribution substations spanning two-thirds of California. • Accurate 3D reality models provided the basis for intelligent 3D design for retrofit projects and visualize the projects for community stakeholders. • ContextCapture automated the production of 3D models for existing substations, eliminating manual 2D drawing conversion and field measurement. ROI • Automatically generating a 3D model with ContextCapture takes 80 less resource hours than manually converting 2D drawings into 3D models. • Bentley Substation reduced the cost of recreating existing substation equipment in 3D by 50 percent. 3D Design and Modeling of PG&E Brownfield Substations Streamlines Electrical Grid ContextCapture Automates 3D Modeling for Brownfield Projects, Resulting in a 50 Percent Reduction in Modeling Costs Modeling Brownfield Substations The San Francisco-based Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) owns and operates more than 1,000 transmission and distribution substations spanning two-thirds of California. The Substation Engineering Department has been struggling to keep up with the volume of projects, given the push to modernize the electric grid. About 95 percent of the utility’s USD 1 billion substation budget goes to brownfield locations, where existing infrastructure is primarily documented by 2D drawings. The practice of manually converting 2D drawings to 3D models for use on retrofit projects was time consuming and inaccurate. PG&E replaced that process with reality modeling using Bentley’s ContextCapture and shortened model production time by one-third. The highly accurate reality meshes are integrated into Bentley Substation for intelligent 3D design of upgrades, then shared among design teams through ProjectWise, which is used as the central repository. Modernizing the Electric Grid Incorporated in 1905, PG&E is now one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. The investor-owned electric utility provides energy services to approximately 16 million people throughout a 70,000-square-mile service area in northern and central California. As a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, PG&E is part of California’s massive electricity generation system, which produces more than 296,000 gigawatt hours each year. The current design of the energy grid has become ill-suited for efficiently managing demand. PG&E is part of a nationwide push to modernize the electric grid, transforming it into a “smart grid” that is more efficient, reliable, and responsive to consumer needs. Substation Retrofit Challenges Upgrading PG&E’s electric grid requires advancements to existing equipment and infrastructure. Substations are a critical element of the electrical system because they connect high-voltage transmission lines with distribution lines that provide power to homes and businesses. PG&E spends about USD 950 million annually on projects at existing substations throughout its service area. The substation engineering department is responsible for a range of brownfield projects, such as expansions, upgrades, and retrofits. Before utilizing Bentley Substation, the majority of the existing substations were designed in a 2D environment. The substation engineers were creating 3D models of these substations to be used as the basis for retrofit designs. The laborious process started with the engineers taking the existing 2D drawings of the facilities and filling in information gaps with field measurements. After about 120 hours of manual effort, the resulting models were frequently inaccurate due to errors in the legacy documentation and because the engineers were unable to go on-site to measure energized equipment. Automating 3D Model Creation PG&E had been previously The utility has experienced successful in implementing Model creation using ContextCapture took less than near constant growth in Bentley Substation for the 40 resource hours with its advanced image capture and processing technology capabilities. demand for energy recently. 3D design and modeling of In the past 50 years, the number of new greenfield substations. California households has nearly doubled from 6.5 million in 1970 The BIM solution switched the focus from 2D drafting and to 12.5 million today. While the number of consumers has grown, design to 3D design and modeling. The substation engineering department wanted to extend this success to brownfield the way consumers use energy and electronics has dramatically projects and looked to Bentley for a time-saving solution for changed. Keeping pace with these changing demand patterns has creating accurate 3D models of PG&E’s existing substations. posed significant challenges fo

Open the catalog to page 1

3D Design and Modeling of PG&E Brownfield Substations Streamlines Electrical Grid - 2

"Having a complete 3D model at the time of constructability review allows us to measure electrical and physical clearance in real time, which helps eliminate costly conflicts during construction phases. With today's increasing substation complexity and decreasing substation footprint, having a 3D model is a must." - Ralph Hansen, Construction Supervisor, and Modoc Odom, Substation Foreman, Pacific Gas & Electric Company Find out about Bentley at: www.bentley.com Contact Bentley 1-800-BENTLEY (1-800-236-8539) Outside the US +1 610-458-5000 Global Office Listings www.bentley.com/contact...

Open the catalog to page 2