Most Challenging-GIS Implementation-North Delhi Power Limited

North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) distributes power to North and North West Delhi. For

any utility company, effectively  managing network  distribution requires good

network maps. With the help of quality maps, one can plan and utilize resources better.

That’s exactly what NDPL has done.

NDPL has used GIS (Geographic Information System) to capture ground maps. After

implementing GIS, it became a communications platform for various operations of NDPL. GIS

has enabled NDPL’s employess to know the details of each district, zone, grid

station, and even of each consumer, at the click of a button. For instance, if a consumer

faces a power cut problem and brings it to the notice of the NDPL authorities, they can

trace it out sitting their desk. They can ascertain the power grid from which the consumer

is connected and can also determine the exact transformer from where he/she gets power.

This helps in resolving problems faster than ever before. Similarly, if a customer wants

to increase the power load for their residence, GIS helps NDPL employee to determine

whether it can be done from the same transformer or whether they need to get another line

from a different transformer. Another interesting feature enables NDPL to determine the

shortest route to plant a new electrification network.

For instance, if NDPL wants to expand their existing electricity network, they can

determine the shortest route between two end points through the system, without actually

going out to the field, which was the case earlier. This has improved the efficiency of

NDPL and has also helped them to cater to the needs of the consumers faster. These

benefits helped NDPL to save a huge amount of money, a whopping 1.26 crore in the very

first year of GIS implementation.

IT

Solution Using a combination of GIS maps and GE small world solution suite, they

were able to get extensive details about their distribution networks.

Impact Saved around Rs 1,26,00,000

able to recover arrears worth Rs 19,457,393 using maps of specific locations extracted out

of GIS.

Implementation Partner



KEMA, Infotech enterprise

GIS also provides a detailed list of all NDPL consumers. Hence, if there is a scheduled

power cut at a specific location, they can get the data about affected consumers within

that specified location and inform them in advance. All NDPL users have access to it and

it can serve 200 concurrent users. They have used a software called GE SmallWorld and the

data is stored in the GE small world application server.

GIS also acts as an input to other enterprise software such as SAP and SCADA. But the

extensive use of information makes it a unique project in itself. For people going to the

field to lay a network or to check faults in any of the transformers, the system provides

invaluable help. They can download the GIS map of the area to a PDA and carry it with

them, hence making their life much simpler and work much faster.

One of the key challenges for them was data creation. With no prior knowledge and lack

of availability of a good consultant or agency, it was a challenge to gather such

extensive data. The key benefits of this project were faster service to consumers and

faster and more cost-effective new network layouts. Senior management can also monitor the

development sitting right at their desks. All this has reduced costs to a great extent,

which indirectly benefits consumers too.

In the next phase, NDPL plans to integrate the GPS system in their recovery van so that

they can monitor it on the GIS map itself. This will help them provide faster and planned

solutions to power failure problems. They also plan to integrate other applications such

as remote meter reading into a single application, which will help them get more

productive results.

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