The Foundation of Electrical Digital Twins: Maintaining Accurate Single-line Diagrams (SLDs)

Electrical single-line diagrams (SLDs), also referred to as one-line diagrams (OLDs), provide engineers, operators, and maintenance personnel with critical, foundational information needed to efficiently design and safely operate and maintain electrical distribution networks. However, there is often a failure to modernize or maintain them. Poor management of SLDs can lead to design errors, construction rework, longer mean-time-to-repair, or worse, safety hazards that lead to injury or death. Electrical design software and services exist that can maintain and digitalize SLDs beyond simple 2D CAD drawings by creating, in effect, a “digital twin” of the electrical infrastructure. Accurate, well-maintained SLDs offer safety, efficiency, and cost-saving benefits throughout the lifecycle of the site. This paper explains how this value is achieved and how accurate SLDs are created. Next, intelligent, digitalized SLDs are defined and their value over traditional diagrams described. And finally, considerations for creating and managing SLDs yourself versus outsourcing to a qualified service vendor are discussed.