Pioneering the Future of Energy

Asset Management Gets Smarter

Traditionally, asset management was a static process. Time and investment were allocated based on criteria such as lifetime or default rates. Sibelga has been pioneering a different way of managing energy networks in order to keep investment costs under control and to address the shortage of technicians. Optimizing asset management to minimize downtime and reduce maintenance costs, while taking into account new network usages, is crucial.

Built on a digital twin of their networks, an asset intelligence program has been launched to deploy new Asset Investment Planning processes and tooling. Using smart sensors on the network, from cabinets and meters, allows Sibelga to monitor the condition of the grid in real-time while ensuring the data infrastructure is secure. With the use of AI, they can predict necessary maintenance by analyzing asset data.

Field Operations and Customer Engagement Go Digital

Sibelga also needed to transform the way it operates through greater efficiency and digitalization. With the help of Deloitte Digital and the selection of Salesforce as a strategic Customer Engagement platform it launched the Care and Domus programs.

The Care program ensured the creation of a 360° customer view, enabling frictionless multichannel customer experiences and engagement. Customer-centric contact center processes, connected to the rest of the Sibelga organization, along with a user-friendly customer portal and multi-channel customer interactions, brought efficiency and high satisfaction to the citizens of Brussels who sought advice or needed connection works.

The Domus program digitized network field operations and management through out. The primary ambition was to optimize team planning, which is key for Sibelga considering the shortage of technicians on the market, reduce costs, and improve the efficiency of field operations, as well as enhance the flow of information between field operations and the departments involved in overall infrastructure and investment management. The program involved deploying tablets for technicians, enabling them to capture information directly in the field and send it to Sibelga's systems, instead of having to refer to the administrative teams to encode this data into systems.

Customer Consumption Customized

Sibelga has also worked on developing services and solutions to help their customers better manage their consumption, especially in a context of high energy prices and decentralized energy production. A key building block in this journey is the deployment of smart meters in Brussels. From an IT perspective, more smart meters on the network means more data to collect, store, validate, and process. But the real challenge is to make those data available and meaningful to a broader audience, especially in a context where decentralized energy is growing and energy prices have been increasing. It has become critical for Sibelga to provide consumers with real-time insights into their energy usage, fostering greater awareness and encouraging more responsible consumption.

Initially, the IT department of Sibelga redesigned the entire data architecture. The aim was to guarantee the continuity of data collection and management operations and systems, and also to be ready to process even more data in the future while guaranteeing the security of the whole chain. The second step on the journey to facilitate the energy transition for all consumers was to process all the data received from communicating meters and build new data services to optimize their operations and to provide useful information to citizens and public institutions to optimize their energy usage.

With the launch of their MySibelga mobile application, customers can now proactively view their electricity consumption, check the progress of their consumption against forecasts, and confirm consent for remote data reading. 

Focus On The Future

The rise of micro-grids and energy communities introduces new complexities in terms of managing localized energy generation, consumption, and sharing. Sibelga is already active in facilitating the deployment of such communities in Brussels and, in the future, could ensure settlement and optimized energy sharing within these communities.

In the arena where energy transition meets technological advancement, Sibelga is standing tall, crafting a future where energy is not merely consumed but is strategically managed, considering its wider impacts and costs. With a vision that marries conservation, consumer empowerment, and innovative digital technology, Sibelga is not just navigating but pioneering the future of energy.