Central Data Platform for a Transmission System Operator

Making data available across a transmission system operator: a central data collaboration platform

For a German transmission system operator, MADIS helped create a central hub where business units can find, query and visualise each other’s data – and supports the quality of a multi-country balancing power tendering platform.

At a glance

18 million

people whose electricity supply the client secures

1 hub

central metadata catalogue for all business units

Multi-country

balancing power tendering platform tested

Summary: At a German transmission system operator, each business unit held its own data, but other departments needed it too, and collecting information without a central platform was time-consuming. MADIS helped build a central data collaboration platform where authenticated users can search, query and visualise integrated data sources. MADIS testers also support the platform through which transmission system operators procure balancing power.

The client

The client is a German transmission system operator that secures the electricity supply for around 18 million people.

The challenge

Business units owned data that other departments also needed, but there was no central place to find it. Information requests took time and depended on knowing whom to ask.

In a separate area, the operator takes part in a shared platform where electricity providers submit bids to deliver balancing power. The platform handles large amounts of data and strict publication obligations: demand and supply are published, but the identity of bidders is not.

• Data silos: valuable information was locked in individual business units.
• A large, complex codebase: legacy code, extensive infrastructure and deep domain knowledge required for the tendering platform.
• High-level requirements: features often had to be clarified with the client before they could be tested.

Our approach

Central metadata catalogue

Source systems and data points are integrated into a metadata catalogue, so users can search, query and visualise data on the fly.

Secure self-service access

Authenticated users across business units can find the data they need without lengthy information requests.

Testing the tendering platform

On the Java-based tendering platform, a MADIS tester covers both the administrative interface used by grid operators and the public interface used by bidders. Most of the testing focuses on backend APIs, with UI tests making up around 10–20%, using semi-automated and manual methods.

Smarter test management

Test stories are created automatically through CSV imports into the task management tool, and requirement conflicts are raised with the client before sprint close.

The solution

The data collaboration platform provides a central data hub for the operator, built on Microsoft SQL Server, Elasticsearch, .NET Core and Angular. Alongside it, MADIS’s testing work helps keep releases of the balancing power tendering platform reliable as it expands to more countries.

Technologies: Microsoft SQL Server · Elasticsearch · .NET Core 3 · Angular 8 · Java (tendering platform)

Results

• Faster answers: information requests can be served promptly using the central metadata catalogue.
• Better information flow: data moves more easily across business units.
• Reliable releases: feature-level testing before each release supports the quality of the tendering platform.

Facing a similar challenge?

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