COPEL Distribuição S.A. Case Study
Transforming Electrical Substation Design
Improving Power Distribution Networks
Since its inception in 1954, COPEL Distribuição S.A. has been a cornerstone in distributing power across the Brazilian state of Paraná. With a mission to provide energy and solutions for sustainable development, COPEL manages over 200,000 kilometers of distribution networks, serving more than 5.1 million customers. Embracing cutting-edge technologies, COPEL has consistently focused on sustainable practices to solve problems and enhance processes.
Case Study Highlights
50% less development time, mechanical elements
30% less development time, electrical elements
420 project work hours saved
$630,000 annual cost savings
A Complete Digital Environment
In line with its vision, COPEL transitioned to a comprehensive Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment for modeling medium- and high-voltage power substations. This digital shift has significantly reduced rework, lowered material costs, and enabled the development of more ambitious projects. By adopting BIM methodology, COPEL has minimized waste common in projects developed using traditional CAD software.
Want to learn more? Download the full case study to see how COPEL is transforming power distribution in Paraná, Brazil, with innovative solutions and advanced tools.
Advantages with OpenUtilities
More Collaboration
COPEL adopted Bentley’s OpenUtilities Substation to integrate physical and electrical substation design, ensuring clash resolution and safer project execution.
Better Modeling with BIM
COPEL’s transition to a BIM environment for medium- and high-voltage substations has reduced rework, lowered costs, and enabled more ambitious projects, while minimizing waste typical of traditional CAD methods.
Faster Delivery
COPEL’s design process now saves significant time, reducing mechanical design by 50% (225 hours) and electrical design by 30% (195 hours), yielding annual savings of USD 630,000.
Sustainable and Accurate Designs
The digital design environment cross-references information from civil, electrical, and electromechanical designs in real-time, minimizing errors caused by manual input. This approach prevents unnecessary resource use and results in more sustainable designs. Additionally, digital designs contain information for maintenance and operations, improving asset management.
Bentley’s tools have enabled COPEL to achieve better team integration, facilitating collaborative work and real-time updates of design information. OpenUtilities Substation ensures greater quality and confidence in deliverables, generating reliable reports and quantitative data, culminating in more efficient, faster, and cleaner project execution.
