Elia Group, one of Europe's top 5 leading electricity transmission system operators (TSOs), is at the forefront of the energy sector transformation. Operating 19,276 km of high-voltage connections through its subsidiaries in Belgium (Elia) and Germany (50Hertz), Elia supplies power to over 30 million end-users, including large industries and households.
Embracing Data Centricity
As a major player in the European ecosystem, Elia produces 50 million data points daily. Committed to driving decarbonization and meeting the EU's digital ambitions, Elia aims to become data-centric by treating data as a corporate asset and providing it to multiple stakeholders in tailored ways.
The Open Data Platform
Elia's journey towards data centricity led to the development of the OpenDataElia portal, launched in July 2021. Available in English, French, and Dutch, the portal offers datasets spanning six key areas: balancing electricity production against consumption, transmission, power generation, congestion management, load, and internal studies/research.
Key Features and Benefits
- Accessibility and Usability: The portal ensures data is accessible and usable by all stakeholders, with clear legal usage guidelines.
- High Quality and Trustworthiness: Elia's strong data governance and lineage processes ensure data coherence and consistency across the organization.
- Scalability and Integration: The Opendatasoft platform scales to handle nearly 1 million API calls per day, integrating seamlessly into Elia's wider data platform.
- Engaging Stakeholders: The portal provides compelling data visualizations, such as maps and graphics, to help stakeholders understand and utilize the data effectively.
Results and Impact
Elia's open data portal has dramatically increased data usage across its ecosystem, with 49,000 monthly users and 26 million API calls. The portal's reliability and scalability have enabled Elia to engage stakeholders in new ways, driving the company's data-centric transformation.
Conclusion
Elia's project showcases the power of open data in achieving real-world objectives around decarbonization and data centricity. By integrating open data within its broader data platform, Elia is leading the sector with strong governance, a user-focused approach, and a holistic strategy that puts data at the heart of everything it does.
Sopra Steria's Role in Elia's Data-Centric Transition
Sopra Steria significantly impacted Elia's open data journey by leveraging its digital transformation expertise to design and implement key components of the Open Data Portal. This included a strong data governance framework with a unified glossary and data lineage tracking, integration with Elia’s data ecosystem via APIs, and a scalable architecture for nearly 1 million daily API calls. Sopra Steria also automated real-time data publishing to simplify processes and added user-friendly features such as multilingual access and interactive visualisations for better stakeholder engagement. This collaboration enabled Elia to provide high-quality, accessible data in its transition to a data-centric organisation.
Download the client story
/cs.jpg?sfvrsn=f3f62adb_1)