Western Power Distribution (WPD) says it has become the first electricity distribution network in Great Britain to release detailed technical information on its assets, including how they connect to each other, using the power sector’s Common Information Model (CIM).
The CIM was developed to enable to the sharing of network data between operators but has primarily been used to convey information on transmission networks.
Jonathan Berry, DSO digitalisation and data manager at WPD, said some of the information it is releasing was already publicly available but was scattered about in various places and formats: “We’ve now put it in one place so you can understand the asset information and how they physically connect between each other.”
Describing the new data source as a “one-stop shop”, Berry told Utility Week: “If someone is interested in how they’re going to connect new low-carbon technologies and generation onto the network, the Common Information Model data just completely speeds up that process.”
The first tranche to be released covers the 132kV and 32kV networks in WPD’s license area in the South West. The company is planning to release information on its other license areas by the end of 2020 and is eventually hoping to extend the data to the 11kV network as well.
Although there is some overlap, Berry said the new information would be “complementary” to the Embedded Capacity Registers released by itself and other electricity distribution networks recently.