Information Technology Solutions
The Power Industry and Open Access
As a result of the technology advancements over the last decade, accessibility to and exchange of information is now possible on a global scale. Open Access, as it relates to information, is a term that was coined back in 1995-1996 by the working groups for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) involved with the deregulation of transmission services. Shortly thereafter, the primary information system for gathering transmission service data and making it available to all interested parties was called the Transmission Service Information Network (TSIN), which was being planned for a private network, not the Internet. Shortly thereafter, a change in direction came forth, which resulted in using the Internet as the primary vehicle for exchanging reservation requests for transmission services, and the current system being proposed to handle the transactions related to these reservations (TSIN) was renamed to the Open Access Same-time Information System (OASIS).
The term OASIS quickly took hold, and many Transmission Providers (TP), as well as third-party vendors were involved in the development of OASIS Nodes that would be used to support the requirements for the Open-Access initiative. In general, Open Access technology refers to the realization of the concept of open accessibility and exchange of information. This concept, as applied to the transmission services, was the basis for supporting deregulation of the power transmission industry.
Open Access technology, as presented in this concept paper, refers to current information technology in support of the original intended purpose; open accessibility and exchange of transmission service information for the power transmission industry. However, Open Access technology can be applied to many different industries, involved with a wide variety of disciplines.
‘Same-Time’ Information
The term ‘Same-Time’ is not the equivalent to what is commonly referred to as real-time. Same-Time information systems are ones that will typically have the same information posted on them that is found in more closely coupled information system (i.e., back-end systems, etc.). Generally, information is posted and/or updated on Same-Time information systems at scheduled intervals, or when initiated by end-user intervention. Real-time information systems, on the other hand, are updated automatically when change occurs on an interconnected system. Real-time systems are typically much more complex than Same-time systems, and require higher degrees of integration and control than do Same-time information systems.
Information Exchange
It is important to understand that an organization’s information framework is an evolving architecture. Building the foundation of this framework on technologies that are flexible, can be extended, and have wide spread support throughout industry is critical for growth and future applicability of the framework. The information framework to support Transmission Providers (TP) with the exchange and management of critical business information is a vital asset that should not be overlooked.
Many large TPs require that information being utilized by multiple disciplines (scheduling, engineering, contracts, etc.) be supported in connection with transmission service operations. This is essential for a TP to remain competitive, as well as efficient in an industry that is undergoing many changes that affect the underlying processes governing their business. In addition, information being made available to/from the Open Access community should be consistent, and have a high degree of integrity with the information contained within the back-end systems that are utilized to operate the business. This not only provides creditability of the TP’s information, but, enables the TP to respond quickly to requests for transmission information, and quickly assess the relative impact on the TP’s current business operations.
Back-End Solutions for the Power Industry
Today, TPs deal with a wide-variety of different back-end systems to support their business operations. In some cases, two or more of these systems are integrated so that information can be exchanged from one system to another. However, this integration is typically ‘tightly-coupled’ between the systems. Tightly-coupled systems have the capability to quickly respond to changes occurring at the interfaces, however, changes in data format or organization in one system could adversely impact the operation(s) of the other system(s) interconnected with it.
One of the underlying concepts pertaining to Open Access technology is the exchange of information with back-end systems. Many elaborate schemes have been developed and exercised over the last several years that enable this exchange to take place, having various degrees of success. However, the majority of these schemes have one or more significant drawbacks (performance, maintainability, extendibility, costs, etc.), introducing inefficiencies and/or costly solutions to interconnect and effectively exchange information among the TP’s back-end systems in a practical way. Solutions should enable TPs to more fully utilize their existing back-end systems with Open Access technology.
Recent advancements in technology, more specifically; Service Oriented Architecture(s) (SOA) including Web Services, the Component Object Model (COM), and the eXtendable Markup Language (XML), have enabled SoftRoots to provide practical solutions that support the integration and utilization of information among many business systems within, as well as external to, a TP’s environment. XML enables the exchange of information in a generic, non-binding format (using tags), that supports data transformations, rules, and validation using an extendible framework. In addition, with the use of XML Schemas, exchange of information can be controlled and managed, so that information can not only be exchanged with a TP’s back-end systems, but also with external information systems that the TP is interested in interconnecting with.
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