Schneider Electric’s Cutting-Edge Technology for Gas Grid Management Goes Live at Gasunie

Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, and Gasunie, the leading European gas infrastructure company, have successfully completed a four-year-long natural gas grid management software replacement project. The transport of gases (natural gas, green gas, hydrogen in the future) through this high-grade transmission grid of the Netherlands is now managed by a new digital solution based on AGMS (Advanced Gas Management System) software built jointly by Gasunie and Schneider Electric.

AGMS software – modern, sophisticated and smart gas SCADA platform

The AGMS software, an essential component of Gasunie’s gas transport management system, serves as a modern, sophisticated and smart SCADA + Grid Management software platform for monitoring and control of the large and complex gas grids. The AGMS software was developed by Schneider Electric’s Smart Grid IT business unit while the overall implementation was managed by Gasunie and Accenture, a leading global professional services company. Schneider Electric’s role in the implementation was to ensure the integrated gas transport management solution maximizes the benefits of underlying AGMS technology and meets the performance and quality requirements set for the project.

AGMS software relies on Microsoft technologies (.NET framework, SQL Server, etc.). It is designed to support different deployment system architectures in a modular and scalable way while providing a high level of operational security and enabling compliance to the latest software security recommendations for the industry. The approach for developing the AGMS is based on EcoStruxture ADMS (Advanced Distribution Management System), a proven foundation in the electricity industry built by the knowledge and experience from many years of ADMS research and development. The AGMS is the first comprehensive operational platform for managing the natural gas grid, joining all users and applications on one common network model and one user interface. It enables an operator easy access to all relevant gas grid, asset, status, calculated, historical, forecasted and simulated data at one place in near-real time providing high-end situational awareness and improving the efficiency in operational decision-making.

Benefits of Schneider Electric AGMS Software

• The single user interface enables easier and less error-prone usage of AGMS applications. The AGMS’s user interface is the most innovative on the market supporting network visualization using schematic views and geographic view with landbase layers, empowered with user-friendly network navigation of network assets by a variety of criteria, decluttering and visibility profiles.
• Built-in network model, real-time topological analysis, and integration to simulation packages allow new and innovative features like validation and simulation of all operations. Topology processing provides flow direction indication, closed-in area detection, and topological tracing, as well as dynamic coloring based on gas type or Wobbe index, and visual tracking of the concentration of gas compounds.
• A single data model reduces the cost of grid data management and reduces inconsistency from the operational point of view. The AGMS contains powerful network model management tools for efficient network data editing, including import from external sources (GIS), configurable workflows for model promotion and powerful tools for support to calculated points.
• Gas quality tracking provides real-time tracking of off-spec gas from external production locations and supports operators in decision making on how to deal with off-spec gas.
• Linepack and balance calculations and demand forecast enable efficient natural gas grid operation planning.
• High-end situational awareness is empowered by advanced alarm management supporting multiple data sources, and operator's entries of important network management information, by time travel feature enabling slide to near-past and near-future situations in network views, etc.
• Fully digitalized business processes improve operation efficiency and reduce paperwork.
• The single software platform reduces the cost and effort of control room IT administration.
• A single point of integration to external systems reduces the number of integration nodes in the enterprise.
• Configurable operational security and system security based on Microsoft technology; also lower IT costs due to standard Microsoft technology stack.
• High level of performance, scalability, redundancy and system high availability.

“The AGMS software developed by Schneider Electric combines many years of experience in electrical grid operations with state-of-the-art technology. This enables Gasunie to reduce operational transport costs while maintaining the highest standards for safe and secure operations of the Dutch gas grid,” said Jeroen Zanting, Manager Gas transport of Gasunie Transport Services B.V.

“We are proud that our EcoStruxture ADMS technology is recognized by Gasunie as the best starting point for building AGMS as a breakthrough technology for the gas industry,” said Prof Dragan Popović, VP of Smart Grid IT business in Schneider Electric Energy. Schneider Electric will continue to develop new features and functionalities in AGMS software for changing market and gas supply technology requirements and for efficient and optimal operation not only for gas transmission system operators but for gas distribution utilities as well.