Case Study: DSO Transition Roadmap – with a New Zealand DSO
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Client: Distribution Service Operator (DSO) in New Zealand
The client acknowledged the impact that disruption in the power sector is causing to their business and the challenges it brings in practical terms. The client wanted to:
Revisit their current business model, roles, capabilities and skills
Consider an evolution from their current role as an electricity distribution business to a DSO
EA Technology supported the client in defining their vision and developing the implementation roadmap for transition to a DSO model. Specifically, our approach consisted of the following key steps:
Engage key internal stakeholders right from the start to gain a full understanding of the organisation’s requirements and vision.
Conduct a one-day course titled ‘Understanding Network Transformation’ to bring staff up to speed on industry changes and enable a more proactive approach in adapting to a rapidly-changing sector.
Conduct a workshop with internal stakeholders to identify the future DSO aspirations.
Perform a gap analysis that includes an extensive literature review on international best practices and trends, internal documents and national related projects.
Combine the relevant lessons learned from our research activities – aspirations, boundaries, desired end-state of the DSO role etc. and develop the most appropriate DSO model option.
Select a DSO model with respect to:
Current and new actors
New and extended roles and responsibilities
Functional requirements
Interoperability requirements across the two layers
Technology, commercial, regulatory, customer and market considerations
Draw out the key milestones required to get the organisation from where it is today to the desired state, into an implementation roadmap.
The implementation of the Smart Grid Architecture Model methodology provided a structured and coherent way to describe, visualise and interpret the DSO business transformation requirements by capturing the future interactions needed between different actors, from a high-level business context down to the detail of what information is exchanged using which communication methods.
The DSO Roadmap enables the organisation to make a smooth transition to a DSO state that suits their needs and desires, strengths, and weaknesses. Furthermore, the approach of including the organisation’s key internal stakeholders from the initial stage and producing an accessible model of the future DSO vision engaged employees in the process, helping to create a successful transformation to a business that makes the most of the connected Distributed Energy Resources.
EA Technology have decades of experience in network transformation. Here are some of the areas we specialise in:
Relevant projects we have delivered:
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