With a clear head and compassionate heart

A major task lay ahead of Energieversorgung Mittelrhein (evm).

Client Reference | Energienetze Mittelrhein GmbH & Co. KG - Ahrtal User report

With a clear head and compassionate heart

Digital system cockpit in event of emergency situations: Energienetze Mittelrhein realizes the reconstruction of gas supply in record time in the devastated Ahr region. Greengate AG with its Workforce Management System, including QGIS enables support of central disposition, technicians and persons in charge.

The flash flood in the Ahr region after extremely heavy rainfall on 14 and 15 July 2021 with 134 fatalities also destroyed large parts of the natural gas network, after water masses had receded, it was quite obvious that devastated grid damages had taken place such as among other things 133 km of destroyed natural gas pipelines, 14 damaged or destroyed gas pressure regulating stations, eleven destroyed Ahr crossings and thousands of affected grid connections. On the next day it was clear that the reconstruction would mean a race against time, specifically the winter of 2021/22.

A major task lay ahead of Energieversorgung Mittelrhein (evm). It is the largest energy and service provider from Rhineland-Palatinate and with its grid company, Energienetze Mittelrhein (enm), responsible for the gas supply in the Ahr region.

Martin Friedrich, Team Leader Workforce Management in the Technical Information Systems Department at enm, outlines in an interview the solutions adopted and describes the role of IT in restoring the gas supply in the badly affected lower Ahr region.

Interview | Martin Friedrich

From the grid operator's point of view: What was the first indication of the extent of the disaster?

Martin Friedrich: Water and sludge incursions and washing away of the entire pipeline ensured that there were large gas losses in the affected area during the disaster. Since it was no longer known where gas was still controlled and where it was leaking out of the pipeline, the valves were closed. With the shutdown, the pressure in the pipeline dropped, so that additional water was able to penetrate into the gas pipes and partly also into house connections via heating boilers, which were under water..

What was your core task in the weeks and months after 15 July 2021?

In addition to the pipeline reconstruction our focus was on repairing the gas connections in domestic, commercial and industrial sectors, this meant decommissioning the connections, repairing and recommissioning. We are responsible for ensuring that gas is available as quickly as possible. The customer is then responsible for the heating system.

What challenges do you face on day 1 after the Flood?

Personnel were ordered from various companies. At first we assessed outside damages especially the local pipe grid. We started immediately shutting down all services in buildings, before supply could be resumed, all gas connections had to be closed. We're talking about over 7,000 connections in the lower Ahr region, the taps had to be closed and sealed in every building so that the pressure could be put back into the grid as soon as possible.

More than 7,000 gas connections had to be checked inthe lower Ahr region: Which parameters were prioritized?

There was no priority necessary for decommissioning. We could only work on areas as far as access was possible, many areas were destroyed in such a way that there was no access possible for recommissioning, however we primarily focused on the pipe grid, and then we worked on areas that could be put back into operation the quickest way possible. "There are a lot of tasks that needed to be promptly coordinated.”

What results did you draw from this, as time passed?

In order to manage all these damages quickly, we decided on a really solid combined system of a Geo-information and the GS-Service. For many years this system has been proved in a day to day planning and maintenance program as well as in keeping record of operations and documentation. Although in general we also worked on established and well structured communities, streets and houses, we decided to work on maps because water knows no borders. "Water knows no borders. That's why we decided to use the map during reconstruction.”

How can you describe the cooperation between GIS and workforce management?

Firstly we clustered the flooded region and divided "Bad Neuenahr - Ahrweiler" into sectors, so everybody was well informed about all geo data. All data was visualized with QGIS maps, so the instruction service had all information because of the various colors showing the single objects and their processing status. The GIS was fed with current data from GS-Service and the dispatchers could see from the display who was working where and when.

Apropos: How did the technicians receive the correct information?

The orders were synchronized on the mobile app, the company's own staff as well as the external workers were also equipped in the course of training, therefore everybody was able to start directly without having morning meetings, the availability of 70 additionally prepared tablets meant that we had a maximum of 45 devices in use, i.e. 90 people outside.The GS-Touch app is the mobile solution of our GS-Service system, it offers a daily task overview with a map, where you can record defects, take pictures and report completed tasks on site. The information is synchronized with the database continuously or after the shift.

How did the information promptly return to the operations center? How did dispatchers and technicians communicate?

The technicians outside called the operations center to request new tasks. The dispatcher marked and filtered the selected work package, name and recorded information via the system, the work allocation was thus done and appeared on the tablet, it has proven itself during decommissioning and recommissioning. To illustrate it a little more concretely, the technician receives new tasks, synchronizes the task list, which is available offline. All in all, this was exactly what we needed.

Numbers and facts

5 MONTHS

after the emergency situation in the Ahr region, gas supply was completed. "With the support of numerous partners from all over Germany, we succeeded in rebuilding and repairing a total of 133 km of gas pipeline that had been affected and partially destroyed by the flood," explained Josef Rönz, Chairman of the Board of evm. Regarding gas control stations, river crossings and other facilities had been built. In total, the evm-Group invested around 25 million euros in reconstructing the gas network. By mid-December 2021, the result of these efforts was a complete service of all intact gas heating systems in the Ahr region. The evm-Group fully achieved its target to restore gas supply in the affected area by December 2021, a total of 8,250 grid connections in the Ahrweiler region were affected by the flood and initially cut off from the gas supply.

80 GRID OPERATORS

as well as energy suppliers, pipe and civil engineering companies, engineering firms and installation companies from all over Germany lent a hand from July to December 2021 in the Ahr region. "In total, more than 500 employees from external companies and about 230 employees of the evm Group were involved. I deeply express my sincere thanks to everyone for this fantastic joint effort," emphasized Josef Rönz, Chairman of the evm board.

Approx. 90 TECHNICIANS

at peak times were working simultaneously to carry out decommissioning, repairs and recommissioning of the gas connections. They were always in contact with the operations center and dispatch via the GS-Touch workforce app. Our mobile app was also used to document the complete work, this was necessary to carry out the subsequent activities before the beginning of winter in a professional manner according to applicable law.GreenGate AG, based in Germany (Windeck) and Switzerland (Seengen), has been developing highly adaptable and innovative software solutions for the maintenance of plants and infrastructures since the year 2000. Customers from the manufacturing industry as well as the energy, water and wind sectors use the GS-Service software in the area of technical plant and spare parts management, maintenance planning and for operational management tasks.

To what extent?

When necessary, the app was quickly set up or modified, we had work packages including short and coherent checklists with documentation of the most important data. All needed information ended in everyday scheduling and controlling, directly in the center of GS-service data pool.

With a clear head and compassionate heart: Your company received a lot of help from all over the country, especially technical workers from outside were readily available, Did they all worked on the same app?

Precisely, without the app we couldn’t have been able to integrate all technicians. They all had been trained on the system so they were quickly operational. Because of regular staff changes we did a lot of training. All tasks could be handled by GS-Touch system including the use for task completion. We preconditioned that a primarily set up checklist also controls all local work. This procedure is so self evident that for us it is easy to forget, but we all know that this is a fundamental help for external workers.

You talked about the easy handling of the app. Why was it necessary?

Because we didn’t know all needs from the very beginning. For us the situation was also very new and we were enabled to modify our GS-Touch. Either way we had a grateful start to our decommissioning work. The first area we worked on was not flooded, so it was manageable for us to start. We clustered an entire area, and from the beginning the tablets provided a helpful start enabling us to assign tasks and objects via app/tablet. Using a scanned in Identity card, the results could be easily related to the technicians. In case of problems, it was possible to correct items later on, therefore we connected all external technicians on the basis of our system data, which was ideal for us.

In the centrally flooded area, did you only sent your own technicians?

It varied. In some cases, regulators and meters had to be removed or the connection had to be completely disconnected due to the main connection having water damage due to water in the main line. The technicians were then able to enter comments in the app and document the whole thing with a photo. Via app the technicians were able to comment and document using a photo at the same time, we recorded all meter data in our GS-Touch during decommissioning.

"Besides the map view and the GS-Touch app on the tablets, the dashboards from GS-Web were certainly our real wild cards."

Martin Friedrich, Team Leader Workforce Management in the Technical Information Systems Department, enm

The race against time was omnipresent: In order to be operationally effective, how did you optimize all procedures?

Besides the map view and the app on the tablets, the dashboards from GS-Web were certainly our real wild cards. GS-Web is also a Greengate browser-based mobile application, one connects to a website, log’s in and starts, with GS-Web we had direct information about status and progress per area together with a number of tasks scheduled, open or completed. Together with a number of analyzed tasks’/processes. This was our biggest success in planning work in the field. Everyone understood where and what was being done because of the monitoring possibilities of GS-Web, for a utility this is optimal. It was also obvious that we had a solid data base for continuous public information. In this context we at enm were all aware that Greengate as our software provider increased the number of mobile licenses to 250 free of charge for half a year.

How was the recommissioning undertaken on the IT side?

For the recommissioning, we again created a task definition on the tablets in GS-Touch. The work steps and documentation were based on object properties that had been stored for each object based on findings from the decommissioning. This included documenting the venting, whether it be meters/controllers, removal if necessary, resealing systems if the pipes were damaged and recording data on the system.

In retrospect how did the recommissioning proceed?

It was simpler for our area because people were already familiar with GS-Web and GS-Touch. The acceptance from the start showed that we had something which actively supported the entire process. Such a major task would not be feasible with pieces of paper or Excel lists. With current, consistent inforn from the operational management system at your fingertips, one is already very well positioned. Via GS-Web an overview of the current status and progress in the respective area was always at hand. In addition, a reliable planning and forecast for the work ahead had to be derived.

To what extent are regulations actually relevant in this context?

Regarding regulations we are very precise, the last person to work on the installation is ultimately responsible. In the case of facilities where we were able to carry out the commissioning ourselves with an installer and pipes were tested for serviceability. Flue gas measurements were then taken. The primary goal was for the customer to once again have heating, hence cooperation with supporting installers from various guilds to put the system back into operation, no exception was made in this situation. A final assessment was recorded in GS-Touch to have an overview of the situation.

Please give us a brief summary: According to the experiences from the Ahr region, what are the prerequisites for being able to act quickly and precisely in the event of a disaster?

Firstly, one should always pay attention to consistent data, i.e. have an up-to-date digital shadow of the infrastructure and processes. Secondly, flexible IT systems that can be adapted to the situation are needed. Thirdly, colleagues who think and act pragmatically are indispensable. In the end, they are the real key to success.