Flood Proof Electricity Grid Zeeland
1. Pilot description
1.1 Area description
The province of Zeeland lies in the southwest of the Netherlands with a total area of 293.000 hectares.
Size of the pilot area:
Number of inhabitants: 380.000 people (Pilotbook FRAMES, 2017).
Relevant economic activities:
Type of soil:
Type of area (rural/urban):
Relevant characteristics of the water system (main water bodies): The Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt Delta and North Sea are the water bodies in this region.
1.2 Flood risks
- Rainfall (minimal to no impact) / sea flooding
- The risk of flooding is low for a return period of 1:4000 years (interview pilot manager, 2019).
- Impacts: If a flood causes electricity failure in the Kloosterzande area (north of Hulst), the electricity assets in the town of Hulst will also be affected even though this area does not get flooded (interview pilot manager, 2019).
2. Pilot objective/goal
The aim was to better understand the vulnerability (including cascading effects) of the electricity supply network (medium and low voltage) in Zeeland and recommend robust spatial measures to make it more flood proof (Provincie Zeeland report, 2018). Thus, the main focus of the pilot is on Layer 2 (spatial planning) benefiting Layer 3 (crisis management) of the MLS approach.
3. Implementation process
By looking at the the activities, actors and methods/approaches used, this section will provide a better understanding of the the implementation process of the MLS approach. We will look describe the point of departure, describe who was involved (when, why and how) and what key decisive moments there were.
3.1 Point of departure of FRM strategies
3.2 Stakeholders involved
· Province of Zeeland
· Waterboard Scheldestromen
· Municipality Hulst
· Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment
· TenneT
· Enduris
· Veiligheidsregio Zeeland (Zeeland Safety Region)
· Nelen&Schuurmans (consultancy firm)
· More participants of Vital & Vulnerable Infrastructure (baseline monitor, 2017)
3.2.1 Roles of key actors
The Province of Zeeland was the main coordinator of the project activities.The electricity grid owners role was to provide information related the electricity assets and to consider the knowledge gain in their asset management plans. The Safety Region role was to provide knowledge and collaborate with the Province in crisis management. The role of the Municipalities was to collaborate in the process and embed the knowledge into the spatial planning policies. The National Government, in particular the Ministry responsible for electricity, i.e. the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, is responsible to take measures and prevent the vital services from flooding and its role is to embed the policy advise into the next Nationale Omgeving Visie (“The national environment vision”) 2021 (interview pilot manager, 2019).
3.3 Main activities
The pilot activities refer to the data collection, data analysis and dissemination of the recommended measures.
1. Data collection:
Stakeholders were contacted through phone calls, emails, individual meetings, group meetings, workshops. The first stakeholders contacted were: the Safety Region, the electricity grid owners and the Consultancy firm. The Safety Region has knowledge on crisis management and a large network of actors. The electricity grid owners provide information about the electricity network and the location of the electricity assets. The Consultancy firm provides technical knowledge on GIS and coordinates the stakeholders’ participation. The Province of Zeeland is the coordinator of the pilot implementation process. It was a challenge to communicate the low flood risk (1:4000 years) and get the attention of the electricity grid owners. The confidentiality of the (geo)information of the assets was a specific point of attention. A leading team was formed for the project including 4 people, one representative from each organisation. This team met every month to discuss the progress of the activities, decide on next steps, and conduct the vulnerability study (interview pilot manager, 2019).
The data used is (Provincie Zeeland report, 2018):
- flood scenarios (1:4000 years) from the National Database on Flood Scenarios;
- rain induced flood data until 2050 from the Climate Effect Atlas (http://www.klimaateffectatlas.nl)l; ground levels (AHN2);
- location of the assets - a very important step in the process. The team had to sign a confidentiality agreement with the electricity owners to ensure that the geographical location of the electricity assets will not be published in the future. This step built trust among the parties and improved the collaboration (interview pilot manager, 2019).
- critical height based on the type and year of construction of each station.
2. Flood hazard maps
The interactive 3Di model was used to make the flood maps using as an input the previous data for vital infrastructure with different flood return periods (1:400, 1:4000, 1:40.000 and 1:400.000 years) (Provincie Zeeland 2018).
The GIS modelling was carried out by the consultancy firm in 2 stages (interview pilot manager, 2019):
- The first stage the impact of dyke breaching was studied.
- In the second stage, the cascading effects of a dyke breaching to other vital services (Telecom hubs, nursing homes, institutions, fire stations and pumping stations) was analysed for the Kloosterzande area. At this stage, the stakeholder from the gas, drinking water electricity companies, water board and municipality of Hulst were involved.
3. Data analysis
The risk label method was used to study direct and indirect effects of power outage failure in the network. The critical water depth considered at risk is between 20-80 cm. The risk label was calculated based on the flood risk, the importance of the electricity and the number of people affected (higher risk in cities). The risk label method was applied to the whole Province and the analysis resulted in 23 assets at high risk considering direct and indirect failure (cascading effects) of the medium-voltage network. Even though an area with electricity grid failure is not flooded directly, can still be affected indirectly by water (interview pilot manager, 2019).
4. Data validation
The results were presented and validated by experts during a workshop on 22nd of February, 2018. The experts involved were actors from: Electricity companies (Enduris and Delta), Provincie Zeeland, Municipality Hulst, Nelen & Schuurmans (consultancy firm), Ministry EZ, Waterboard Schelderstromen, DNWG (infrastructure network), Safetyboard Zeeland (Zeeland Safety Region). It was discussed the electricity outage for households and the cascading effects to other assets. Moreover, the results of the analysis using the risk label method was presented and validated during the workshop (Provincie Zeeland report, 2018).
5. Dissemination of results:
The materials produced are flood hazard maps, other GIS files and a report.
4. Project outcomes and beyond
4.1 Specific outcomes
The goal of the pilot was accomplished at the end of the project: increase knowledge and awareness about the vulnerability of vital infrastructure to flooding and its cascading effects. The stakeholders were surprised (especially the municipality) by the cascading effects of an electricity failure in areas that will keep dry in case of a flooding (interview pilot manager, 2019). Other results are:
- Risk maps and table with the most vulnerable electricity grid assets
- Knowledge gained translated into recommendations on effectiveness of measures and policy advise to the National Government
- A flood threat warning app has been designed and needs to be tested (Electricity grid ppt, workshop in DK 2018). Based on the geolocation of the user, the app can inform about flood risk, flood impacts and the effective measures one can take (i.e. evacuate, shelter) in their area.
Process outcomes:
- New networks with the electricity grid owners
- Increase awareness about the vulnerability of electricity grid owners among stakeholders.
4.2 Flood risk management strategies (FRMS)
The next table shows the FRM strategies that were considered before, during and after FRAMES project. Based on the table, the outcome of the pilot enables a shift in FRG arrangements going from protection/ defence dominance to more complex FRG arrangements including prevention, preparedness and benefiting also recovery.
| Layers of MLS | Before FRAMES | during FRAMES | after FRAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.Protection/ defence | Hard infrastructure (dykes) | Hard infrastructure (baseline monitor, 2017) | No changes in hard infrastructure (interview pilot manager, 2019). |
| 2. Pro-action/ prevention via spatial planning | Low attention
Spatial adaptation-Delta program (interview pilot manager, 2019) |
Risk maps with risk label for the most vulnerable assets with several scenarios (interview pilot manager, 2019) | Implement spatial planning (baseline monitor), restriction in flood prone areas, relocation of assets in the electricity network (Provincie Zeeland report, 2018) |
| 3. Preparation & response | Low attention | Increase preparedness (plans fo
Risk communication: risk hazard maps (Provincie Zeeland 2018) |
Embed knowledge about vulnerability of vital infrastructure in spatial planning policies (interview pilot manager, 2019). |
| 4. Recovery | Low attention | No changes in recovery (interview pilot manager, 2019). | No changes in recovery (interview pilot manager, 2019). |
4.3 Lessons learnt so far
Knowledge needs for flood resilience
The knowledge generated through the pilot activities will be used to increase the awareness of electricity grid owners and National Government on the topic. The challenge is to embed this knowledge into new spatial planning policies (evacuation plans, grid reconstruction plans) (Provincie Zeeland report, 2018).
Knowledge needs related to content:
Applying the MLS approach on studying the vulnerability of electricity grids in Zeeland brought together stakeholders that they never worked before. Thus, new relationships and trust were build that can result in further collaboration/cooperation in similar topics related to vital services in other parts of the country. Moreover, these projects result in knowledge based evidence to open up opportunities for changes in spatial planning policies.
o Applying MLS approach
The Risk label method is a hazard-risk based approach used to analyse/map the risk of electricity assets in case of a flooding. This method is a result of the validation workshop. This method can be applied used for impact analysis of electricity networks in other areas (Provincie Zeeland report, 2018).
o Methods / techniques / tools applied to learn about vulnerabilities
An interactive 3D model was used to create the risk maps and the risk label method to assess the impact of assets failure in case of flooding (Provincie Zeeland 2018).
More detailed local flood risk maps are useful to improve the management plans of the vulnerable electricity grid assets.
o Methods / techniques to learn about impact on systems
Community based appoarch used to engage with all stakeholders resulted in new networks with electricity grid owners.
o Methods / techniques community involvement
The challenge is to leverage the National Government to embed the knowledge gained into the spatial planning policies (interview pilot manager, 2019).
o Main uncertainties / challenges encountered
Related to the decision making process of adaptive planning
o (structural) barriers encountered through the implementation process
- Communicating low risks (low change, 1:4000) to stakeholders can be difficult at times. However, stakeholders were overwhelmed (specially the municipalities) about the cascading effects of electricity failure in areas that do not get flooded.
- It is very important keep information confidential (via written agreements) when needed because that builds trust and increases the motivation and collaboration among partners.
- It is extremely important to get the right people (power, knowledge, networks) actively involved right from the start of the project (interview pilot manager, 2019).
4.3 Dissemination and up-scaling of pilot results
- The outcomes of this pilot were presented at meeting with all the electricity grid owners in the region. This can be a starting point to conduct similar studies in other parts of the country and increase collaboration in this field of expertise. Moreover, this knowledge was translated into policy advise for the National Government with the chance of being included in the Nationale Omgeving Visie (“The national environment vision”) of 2021.
- The electricity grid owners will consider the risk maps with the high risk labels in their asset management plan for the coming 3-4 years. The risk maps can be used to take decision about the most vulnerable assets (maintenance, reallocation, reconstruction, etc) (interview pilot manager, 2019).
- Similar vulnerability studies for other vital services (telecom, gas) and other climate change effects (droughts) could be executed (interview pilot manager, 2019).
4.5 Transnational exchange
What can the countries learn from each other considering the different layers of MLS approach?
· Protection
· Pro-action/prevention
· Preparedness & response
· Recovery
5. References
Baseline monitoring survey (2017)
Buijs, Jean-marie et al. 2018. “Adaptive Planning for Flood Resilient Areas : Dealing with Complexity in Decision-Making about Multilayered Flood Risk Management.” : 1–23.
FRR: Flood Resilience Rose survey (Britta, 2018)
Pilot book (2017), Frames Pilots
Provincie Zeeland report. 2018. Water Resilient Electricity Network Zeeland Water Resilient Electricity Network Zeeland Final Report.
Province of Zeeland, 2019. Interview with the manager of the Reimerswaal pilot on 14th January 2019
