More Agility in CPFL Operations Across Brazil

Overview

Challenge

• Optimize the performance of the power grid map’s management system.

Solution

• VSP G600 was chosen by Hitachi to solve CPFL’s needs.

Outcome

• Responsive power-grid management system improves the experience of customers.
• The compression routine, which previously took up to a week, now averages 32 hours.
• Technology processes data at a faster pace.
• Verification of the network management system is three times faster than before.

Challenge

CPFL is responsible for distributing power to 9.1 million consumers across 12 of the 27 Federation Units and four of the five regions of Brazil (South, Southeast, Midwest and Northeast). To sustain this effort, network management must constantly evolve to optimize company operations and monitor processes while supporting consistent growth in consumers without comprising performance.

Electric power management is not simply about preventing or repairing household outages. It also supports the industry and local businesses, and works as a crucial element to sustain vital subdivisions of society in activities such as education, transportation and health.

Electric power management also assists with ensuring access to drinking water and sanitation and, in developing countries such as Brazil, helps to meet the heating, lighting and safety requirements in people’s homes.

To keep districts, cities and regions – which are ultimately supported by the power they receive – in full operational mode (and to keep up with growth), CPFL pays close attention to all details related to the areas it covers. The system responsible for managing the map of CPFL’s complete power grid is meticulously analyzed by the company. Streetlamps, substations, transformers, cabling – all are regularly tested and details are stored in a massive database.

To keep this amount of data up-to-date and available, the company relies on what has been internally referred to as a compression routine, a maintenance process created to organize and compress the database. With each new compression routine, everything that has been saved is reorganized in the best possible manner to optimize the space available for data storage. This intelligent organization process, where access to information is never impeded, makes room for new entries and keeps the entire company system up-to-date and operating with efficiency and agility. This translates into seamless navigation for employees, and improved research, interactions and issue resolution. This is an essential process for the company and its network’s overall sustainability.

Through this process, CPFL experienced an issue as the compression routine was taking days, or sometimes weeks, to complete. This delay affected new installations, customer service, and the efficiency and safety of company electricians who relied on information from the System Operation Center while working in the field. As a result, the slow process compromised overall sustainability, development and growth potential. This is why CPFL recognized the need to bring in a third-party vendor who can support a growing IT organization with experience in the energy sector.

Solution

CPFL recognized Hitachi’s position as a power equipment and infrastructure supplier, and the two companies worked together to develop a customized solution that would meet the demands of the power segment’s holding company. The two companies collaborated to improve the performance of the data storage system.

Hitachi recommended VSP G600 because of the performance of disks in its Flash Module Drive (FMD) and its data compression capabilities. FMD has intelligence to perform internal processes inside the actual disks, which are capable of storing information in a compressed format. This technology offered the potential to concentrate more data, allowing much faster access and increasing the speed of all processes executed by CPFL – including the exchange of information between areas. It also enhanced integration and optimization throughout the production chain.

“Hitachi’s efforts were particularly interesting, because they provided technical know-how, but they also understood our business needs,” says Márcio Félix, IT Manager, CPFL Energia.

After implementing equipment from Hitachi, CPFL found that its entire operation became more agile and assertive. Verification of the power network management system happened three times faster than before. The compression routine, which previously took days to an entire week, now executes in an average of 32 hours. Moreover, the company is confident in the safety of its main assets, including all information, data, and records.

Outcome

The responsiveness of CPFL’s power grid management system is improving the daily experience of residential consumers, companies and industries. The new virtual data storage platform allows CPFL to identify and correct problems within the power grid in a shorter amount of time. Improvements in the power grid’s management system are widespread. Faster and more accurate monitoring increases the speed of all operations, including repairs that avoid future complications and emergency calls.

Benefits include how quickly demands are being met at call centers, the reduced number of incidents, and the agile resolution of occurrences at homes, companies, hospitals, and across the community. With access to efficient information and an up-to-date electric power map, CPFL operators are able to provide quicker and safer recommendations to electricians in the field. Thus, they are remediating power outages much faster than before.