How digital twins can transform client engagement on remote energy projects
Professional services consultancy CNC Project Management (CNC) facilitates renewable energy infrastructure projects spanning the project lifecycle. By joining the Terria Spatial Digital Twin Early Adopter Program (EAP), CNC hoped to find ways to enhance the speed and interactivity of their geospatial modelling to improve client and stakeholder engagement.
The Challenge
Streamlining digital twin technology to enhance stakeholder and community engagement and consultation.
To genuinely consult with stakeholders for renewable energy projects, transparency and the ability to clearly communicate technical information are key. Presenting visual and auditory impact modelling scenarios for potential projects, can help non-technical stakeholders better understand proposals. This process has been constrained by 2D maps and often means project leads are required on site to provide expert explanations.
Recognising these challenges, CNC was motivated to transition to 3D visualisations in addition to traditional ‘flat’ 2D maps and reports, to better engage audiences with the intrinsic 3D qualities of visual impact modelling. But the lack of reliable 3D data for remote and regional Australia, limited 3D tooling and digital capabilities, and high costs associated with data hosting and sharing were significant hurdles.
Our Response
Empowering CNC’s vision for better client engagement
Terria launched the Digital Twin Early Adopter Program (EAP) to lower the barrier for organisations to adopt spatial digital twin technology. The EAP was designed to enable organisations to co-develop a proof of concept of a digital transformation use case critical to their own organisational needs. The EAP enables participants to trial Terria’s pre-market advanced spatial digital twin technology for their operations to improve efficiency, communication, collaboration and reduce risks.
Terria and CNC co-developed a 3D digital twin proof of concept of a visibility study for a feasibility stage transmission project. Sourcing 3D geospatial data of regional and rural Australia to build a rich 3D experience can be challenging. The project’s objective was to determine the level of digital twin that could be developed using 2D project data as well as open and commercially available data. This required a collaborative response, with the CNC and Terria technical teams working iteratively through the project datasets, testing various transformation techniques and outcomes with stakeholders to maximise the accessibility of results achieved.
Project data included 3D infrastructure models, digital elevation models, 3D imagery, and extruded 2D vector data. This was augmented by federated datasets from governments and commercial providers.
The Results
CNC and Terria co-developed a 3D digital twin proof of concept of a visibility study for a feasibility stage transmission project. Testing confirmed the potential to revolutionise the digital representation of renewable infrastructure projects, engagement, and consultation with stakeholders and communities. The primary measure of success hinged on client and stakeholder satisfaction.
The 3D digital twin created a vivid demonstration of the project’s potential scenarios for the new transmission infrastructure. This made the data accessible and engaging to both professionals and stakeholders during the current feasibility stage, and potentially the community at large as the project progresses in the future.
“A lot of stakeholders and Government interests were involved and they didn’t need to be have to be technically trained in geospatial or even reading maps. There was a lot more engagement for all backgrounds parties involved.”
Terria’s capacity to manipulate 2D data into 3D assets was crucial to CNC’s transition from 2D to 3D project assets. The sharing of technical knowledge between CNC and Terria underpinned this progression, enabling CNC to enhance their geospatial data presentation significantly. And further benefits of using Terria were recognised, particularly in terms of the platform’s capability to handle extensive datasets efficiently. CNC appreciated Terria’s responsiveness and robustness while handling large amounts of data.
“[Spatial digital twin] Visualisation in particular will help with the work we do with community engagement. having the ability to showcase what the project will look like helps convey a message that applies to everyone.”
The success of the project paves the way for future endeavours, aiming to capitalize on the strengths of digital twin technology.