Ensuring regulatory compliance in complex electricity distribution networks

The challenge

The fifth-largest country in the world, Brazil is home to over 200 million people. From big cities to coastal regions to the wetlands, outback and huge areas covered by the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforests, Brazil is especially challenging for utility companies. Amazonas Energia (AmE) provides energy to 18.3% of the Brazilian territory, with around 1 million customers across 107 locations. It is the main energy supplier to communities and cities in the middle of the rainforest.

In such a complex environment, AmE aimed to enhance network and outage management efficiencies to improve indicators and increase service quality. AmE’s former solution was outdated and incapable of adhering to regulations enforced by the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL). Furthermore, there were clear expectations for the implementation of the new technology.

The solution

AmE selected HxGN NetWorks, Hexagon’s fully digital GIS-based asset management solution specifically built for utilities and telecommunications. It supports service improvements and guarantees AmE adheres to regulatory compliance requirements. It also manages the registration of assets and consumer units (CUs) and increases operational efficiency to reflect improvements in regulatory indexes generated by post-operation teams responsible for disseminating data to ANEEL. AmE also chose HxGN InService, Hexagon’s integrated outage management system (OMS) and mobile workforce management solution.

As soon as the migration to the new technical distribution management system was complete, AmE immediately met regulatory compliance and several technical operation indicators, including the Continuity Equivalent Duration (DEC) and the Continuity Equivalent Frequency (FEC). The data update and migration process is continuously evolving with the aim of reducing latency time from a period of one week to one day. These indicators are directly linked to the technical quality of the electrical energy supply and ensure compliance with quality standards established by ANEEL.