Gas Networks Interoperable Digital Twin

Completed

Fossil Fuels: Oil Gas and Coal(Oil and Gas, Refining, transport and storage of oil and gas)
Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen)

Applied Research and Development

PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS (Computer Science and Informatics)
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Project Contact
National Grid Gas Transmission

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 March 2022

01 May 2022

2 months

£79,644

Energy

London

Project Contact, National Grid Gas Transmission

Project Contact, National Grid plc
Project Contact, Northern Gas Networks
Project Contact, SGN

Hydrogen is a strategic energy source to decarbonise the UK energy market and as such will place increased technical and operational demands on the existing gas network infrastructure. The development of a digital strategy utilising Digital Twins (DT) will enable National Grid to work with partners such as SGN, NGN & ESO to optimise both the existing network assets and provide improved method of evaluating future systems designs through connected data streams.Collaboration with these partners will eliminate the risk of each company developing their own standards and protocols for DTs in isolation which would mean that they cannot communicate. Each partner has valuable information and understanding about their assets and processes which will be shared to enable the future whole energy network digital twin. Other GDN networks will also play a part in the project through stakeholder engagement sessions.RAVMAC are a digital transformation company with over 60yrs industrial experience in manufacturing and engineering systems, they have recently lead the technical development of BSIs Digital Interoperability project funded by Innovate UK the knowledge and technical insights gained into global digital (interoperability) standards will prove invaluable in shaping the Discovery Phase of this project.It is envisaged at least in the early evolution of the technology development there will be several DTs cooperating and exchanging information to deliver the desired customer expectations within a designated supply chain. The overall ontology will describe and agree where and what DT holds the data and where interoperability is required e.g. in the gas network, each stakeholder (licensee) may either hold their respective DT for their organisational needs or collaborate in a shared DT domain to develop new operating practices and drive innovation. This approach ensures prime authorship, expertise and accountability remains with the appropriate stakeholders and ensures only data and information that meets the functionality and adds value is exported or imported.An integral part of a DT development is standardisation - a repository of data, processes, and change management, a single source of the truth of how the physical entity should perform and behave. As the DT evolves, more DT interfaces can be realised to improve line of sight and value within the system architecture, eventually building a complete picture of the network. These insights will enable better system performance through improved information and decision making, resulting in lower operating costs, improved network interventions and lower consumer costs.VIDEO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUDJnoPE6aA&list=PLrMOhOrmeR6ktSag0RbT7zPNVn0p1P2f6&index=29

14/10/22