Supporting the Energy Transition: Transforming 2D GIS into a 3D Utility Network with FME

TenneT, the electricity transmission system operator for the Netherlands and parts of Germany, is spearheading a large data migration project to build the digital backbone for the energy transition. To create a realistic and future-proof GIS solution for the business, multiple 2D and non-spatial databases were transformed into a modern 3D ArcGIS Utility Network. Going beyond the conventional data migration, the ambition was all about modeling a 3D electrical transmission grid into a geodatabase. In this presentation we’ll highlight how FME’s capabilities enabled us to solve the complex challenges of elevating 2D and non-spatial data into the third dimension. Additionally, we’ll discuss how simple mathematical solutions can be integrated into FME workspaces to overcome difficulties inherent to the limitations of a 3D geo database.