Tutorial - Study Committee B3 - Beyond Visualisation: The 3D Digital Transformation of Substation Engineering

Presenters : Mark Peffer (ZA), Philip Konig (ZA) and Wolfgang Erich (DE)

This tutorial presents the key findings of CIGRE Technical Brochure B3.56 on the 3D digital transformation of substation engineering. It examines how the industry is transitioning from drawing-centric workflows — where design data is locked in 2D representations and must be manually re-entered at every project handover — to information-rich digital engineering environments built on intelligent 3D models and integrated engineering databases.

Participants will understand why 3D geometric experience alone has not resolved the underlying data quality, process integration and lifecycle challenges facing utilities today, and what is required to make digital transformation reliable, scalable and operationally useful. The tutorial covers the full maturity journey from 2D drafting to Digital Twin, the role of S-BIM as an integration platform linking design, analysis, procurement and operations in a Single Source of Truth, CAx technologies including Scan2BIM and Scan2Twin, VR/AR applications for safety and operational training, AI-assisted design and digital inventory workflows, and the architecture of operational Digital Twins across the asset lifecycle.

The session concludes with the Working Group's key recommendations — including the establishment of Data Quality Management frameworks with explicit validation gates — and opens the floor for structured Q&A drawing on the international survey results and contribution cases compiled by WG B3.56 across eleven countries.
 

Speakers

Philip
KŌNIG

Mark
PEFFER

Wolfgang
EYRICH