One of nine business units within ESB, Engineering and Major Projects (EMP) is responsible for the efficient delivery of the large investment projects and engineering solutions required by ESB to enable a low-carbon future.  As part of its remit, the business unit manages over 12,000 individual parcels of land, ranging in size from just 10 square metres to over 400 square kilometres.  In total, ESB owns 9,736 square hectares of land, including substations, hydroelectric facilities and future development sites, making it the third largest landowner in Ireland.  

The EMP business unit had previously digitised its historic paper land and property records, but multiple data sets had begun to emerge, resulting in different versions of property boundaries and uncertainty about “the truth”.  With so much future investment in new clean energy infrastructure planned, the EMP business unit decided to invest in a single geospatial database of property information that employees could trust and use to improve their operational efficiency.  

Rapid project delivery, at scale  
The EMP business unit now has the firm GIS foundation that it needs to help it deliver new, clean energy projects more quickly.  “With ArcGIS Online, we can manage more projects simultaneously and at scale,” explains Cummins.  “The learnings from one project can also be brought forwards more easily into the next project, to help us accelerate our delivery times.  This will not only help ESB to achieve its net zero ambition, but will contribute to stronger energy security for Ireland at a time when energy consumption per household is increasing.”  

Confident, data-driven decisions 
Whereas previously there was often confusion about land boundaries and asset locations, the EMP business unit can now rely on the accurate, up-to-date information in ArcGIS Online to make confident, data-driven decisions.  It can, for example, easily check to make sure ESB land is not mistakenly included in Residential Zoned Land areas and ensure future clean energy projects are considered in national, regional and county planning policies.  “Having dependable information layers in ArcGIS enables everyone to move forwards with confidence,” Cummins notes.

Power generation balanced with nature
Through its use of ArcGIS Online, the EMP business unit will be able to better balance the demands of additional power generation facilities with the desire to minimise impacts on nature.  Already, a biodiversity team from ESB is using an ArcGIS Online web app to help it study the impacts of different water extraction policies at a hydroelectric power facility on the River Clady in Donegal.   Working in collaboration with partners, the team is amassing valuable biodiversity data in ArcGIS Online that will inform future projects.  

More efficient land management
Although it is still early days, the EMP business unit is beginning to use ArcGIS Online to improve the efficiency of its land management processes.  For instance, it is currently redesigning the process for renewing grazing licenses on ESB’s land along the River Shannon.  The new ArcGIS-driven approach will enable land managers to plan surveys and visits by geography and manage their time more effectively.  “We see so much potential in ArcGIS,” remarks Cummins with enthusiasm.  “We have a lot of ambition and will be using ArcGIS Online to help us get there.”