To face the challenges and impact of the inevitable trend toward privatization and deregulation, the Taiwan Power Co. (TPC) devised short- and long-term strategic computerization development plans. These development efforts created a master plan that included building an Automated Mapping and Facilities Management (AM/FM) system for Taipei City District Office (TCDO). This project included a pilot project followed by evaluation before the roll out to the complete service territory of TCDO.

TPC Pilot Project

TPC (Chinese government-owned) was founded in 1946 to develop, generate, supply and market electricity in Taiwan. In December 2000, the total generating capacity installed was 29,634 MW, composed of nuclear (17.4%), thermal (67.7%) and hydro (14.9%) supplying a peak demand of 25,854 MW.

TPC's distribution system comprises primary voltages of 22.8 kV and 11.4 kV with secondary voltages of 380/220 V and 220/110 V. The utility maintains 24 distribution offices with responsibilities for the construction, maintenance and operation of the systems that supply about 10.6 million customers. TCDO serves 600,000 customers in the densely populated metropolitan area of Taipei City, an area of 62.5 sq km (24.13 sq mile).

For the pilot project, TPC selected an area of 10 sq km (3.86 sq mile) in the TCDO service territory, including one of the seven administrative divisions of Taipei's downtown metropolitan area. After evaluating several proposals, TPC awarded the pilot project to Intergraph Corp. (Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.). The content of the pilot project included:

• Data conversion and database building

• Development and customization of computer-aided distribution planning and design (CADPAD)

• Computer-aided distribution operations systems (CADOPS) application software from ABB.

FRAMME, the foundation of these modules, provided all the tools necessary to maintain the electrical network model and data residing in the Oracle database. The pilot project took three years to install, commission and — via the evaluation process — reach the conclusion that AM/FM was technologically feasible. Furthermore, the system provided geographically based information, and furnished a unified and automated environment for planning, designing, maintaining and operating applications.

The time-consuming and costly process of converting data from the original manually produced paper maps required TPC to revise its master plan. The revised plan adopted a phased approach to the expansion of the AM/FM system and acknowledged that all segments of the AM/FM project did not need simultaneous implementation. TPC also made changes to the data conversion program, preferring to convert all paper maps class by class for the complete service territory.

Data Conversion

Type or Classification of Document	No. of Documents Converted	Scale of Document
Distribution schematic diagrams	47	1/3600
HV distribution maps (geographical routing)	304	1/1200
LV distribution maps	534	1/600
Conduit or duct line maps	534	1/600
Street lighting system maps	24	1/3600
Optical-fiber system maps	17	1/3600
Distribution substations indoor & outdoor cards	15,211	-
Conduit/duct line manhole cards	40,353	-
Landbase maps (1:600 scale high-density area)	577	1/600
Landbase maps (1:1200 scale low-density area)	165	1/1200
Feeder operating diagrams	551	1/3600

Pre-Phase 1 — OMS

An operating mapping system (OMS), developed concurrently with the pilot project, used the database derived from the manually drawn distribution schematic diagrams. Intended for operational purposes, the OMS focussed primarily on those activities that provided an immediate and greatest return on the investment.

TPC examined applications in relation to its data needs and found that a geographically based operating environment met these needs. The OMS used the graphic-editing interface to build and maintain the relationship between the end customer and the source feeder. Based on this automated environment, the process time from fault reporting to circuit restoration improved. Furthermore, all network switching and circuit alterations to the distribution system were correlated to the affected customer base. To satisfy the stringent system operational requirements, the mapping system had to reflect any switching or changes to the distribution network in the shortest possible time-scale. The development of the OMS proved to be a valuable step in the preparatory work for the full-scale conversion.

Project — Phase 1

To take advantage of the rapid advances in information technology, TPC upgraded its existing UNIX-based AM/FM system. In 1998, TPC awarded local vendor RPTI International Inc. a one-year contract for the following:

• Replacement of the existing FDDI network with the high-speed ATM backbone network interconnecting two main buildings in the district office and local area network (LAN)

• Upgrade the system environment from UNIX-based to Windows NT.

• Upgrade and customize three applications selected from a series of applications developed in the pilot project

• Mapping manipulation and maintenance tools

• Application of preventive patrolling and examination of distribution system facilities or assets

• Facility or asset management.

• Data conversion including the conversion of HV distribution maps with geographical routing.

Project — Phase 2

Based on the successfully upgraded environment established in Phase 1, TCDO launched the bidding process for the remaining phase of the AM/FM system. Conducted in accordance with the government procurement law, ORIGO, a local vendor, received the two-year contract.

The major challenge in this phase was to convert the large number of paper maps, which included the complex low-voltage (LV) distribution and conduit maps. This phase of the project included the customization and development of four applications:

• Transformer Load Management (TLM). Given the load characteristic model and customers' electricity consumption data, TLM predicts the loading condition for each or a group of HV/LV transformers. This gives maintenance staff the opportunity to redistribute the load on each transformer to effectively reduce the number of transformers failing due to overload.

• Street Light Management System (SLMS). Statistics confirm that LV outages and street lighting system failures are the most difficult to locate from the existing paper map records. TPC intends to develop the SLMS to establish the electrical connectivity and maintain the seamless relation between the streetlight and point of supply. This will assist in all street light repairs and is also capable of managing the street light inventory for billing purposes.

• Web Viewing. Due to the high cost of workstations, software and training only a few functions could justify digital access to the corporate AM/FM system. With the advent of Web viewing technology, TPC provided wider digital map access via a PC with Internet browser. Map viewers can log-on to the AM/FM system to access the digital map with high fidelity. The Web Viewing function maximizes the return available from providing the digital mapping access to the greatest number of staff while minimizing expenditure on workstations and software.

• Computer Aided Design (CAD). The existing mapping maintenance process is such that after the field crew completes work on site, the mapping department maintains the “as built” or “constructed” maps. This department then posts the information to the AM/FM system, from which the design staff extracts data in paper format. The CAD function provides all the drafting tools for the design teams to complete their work in the same AM/FM environment. This mapping maintenance process will be automated and streamlined from the initial design stage through to the as built maps.

System Integration Opportunities

The TPC's district offices have full responsibility for the management of their distribution systems. In the absence of TPC standards for information systems, there are many differences in the systems. Therefore, TPC considered there was room for some rationalization and standardization of the utility information systems. Based on the new AM/FM system, an automated and unified mapping system models the distribution network in both graphical and tabular form. TPC is now investigating further integration of these legacy systems, some of which could be further developed.

The integration opportunities under consideration include:

• Trouble Call Management Systems (TCMS)

• Distribution Construction Information System (DCIS)

• Feeder Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

System Investment and Benefits

To date, the total investment for the two phases is US$3.42 million. However, most of the benefits accrued in the AM/FM system are intangible and making it difficult to quantify in hard dollars. With the computer graphic package used to build spatial geography and the distribution facilities database, it is more convenient for TPC to plan, design, operate and maintain the distribution system. TPC will realize the benefit of the information systems in terms of improved system management and a saving in manpower.

Project Progress

TPC is now in the implementation stage of Phase 2, scheduled for completion in 2002. The evaluation results from the commissioning of the earlier phases showed that all the objectives and benefits were achieved as planned.

Firstly, the pilot project formed the basis of the technical feasibility study and evaluation of benefits that resulted in TPC deciding to roll out the AM/FM system to the whole service territory of TCDO.

Secondly, the most significant benefit of OMS was the improvement in customer service in terms of a reduction in the time to process and complete fault repairs.

Thirdly, the successful completion of Phase 1 paved the way toward a more open, expandable accessible AM/FM system that, upon completion of Phase 2, will give TPC a complete, consistent and up-to-date geographically based mapping system designed to cope with the industry's rapidly changing operational environment.

Yun-Wu Chen received the BSEE degree from the National Cheng-Kung University in 1963 and joined the Taipei Power Co. in 1964. In the past 36 years, Chen has played a pivotal role in developing many pioneering ideas in different positions held in distribution network planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance. The master plan for the AM/FM system was initiated in his capacity as deputy director of the business department. Presently, Chen is the director of TPC's business department.