Established in 1962, Assam Gas Company Limited (AGCL) is the oldest gas company in India, followed by GAIL (India) Limited (1983) and Gujarat Gas Limited (1989). Since 1967, AGCL has been recognised as one of India’s first dedicated natural gas transmission and distribution companies. Furthermore, it serves a vast customer base of more than 53,000 domestic consumers, over 1,350 commercial consumers and approximately 450 tea factories. It manages approximately 850 km of steel pipelines and about 3,600 km of polyethylene pipelines. Additionally, as part of its pipeline infrastructure, it possesses gas receiving and delivery terminals and conducts in-house repair and maintenance of advanced equipment. During 2022-23, the average number of connections per year was recorded at 10,000 units. AGCL, in the current fiscal 2023-24, intends to establish around 30,000 connections, with a target of achieving 50,000 connections in the next year.
This rapid pace of growth has necessitated the implementation of advanced technologies to effectively manage all aspects of business operations and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
Digital moves
ABB Limited, an automation firm, has delivered customised supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and telecom solutions to AGCL, covering 74 tea estates and six big industrial consumers in the first phase of the project, as the company aimed to optimise gas flow along its extensive gas pipeline network. ABB was then awarded an additional contract for 325 locations in a competitive bidding process, to be carried out over the next four years as part of Phase II. Currently, the third phase of the project is underway. After completion, all of the AGCL-owned tea estates will be connected to the SCADA system.
AGCL has also established a telecommunication network, deploying global systems for mobile and general packet radio service systems to interconnect the pipeline network via SCADA with remote terminal units. This will allow them to monitor, record and control the network with defined parameters from the master control station in Duliajan, Assam. Additionally, the company is working on linking weather conditions to the system, as the tea industry is heavily influenced by meteorological factors. This would help in planning the production for future weeks and forecasting accurate demand for manufacturers.
Jugantar is AGCL’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology. It integrates supply chain management, inventory control, billing and invoicing, and customer relationship management (CRM), and manages gas supply and distribution networks. It also generates accurate bills based on gas consumption data and sends them to customers electronically. Besides data-driven decision-making, the technology enables the analysis of consumption patterns while also ensuring regulatory compliance by facilitating audits. The ERP solution integrated with SCADA has also ensured error-free billing for AGCL without the need for physical data collection over vast, remotely located areas.
In a similar vein, the company is in the process of implementing systems, applications and products in data processing (SAP) for its payment gateway. In order to facilitate mobile payments for utility services such as electricity, AGCL has sought assistance from ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. The SAP system will include modules such as CRM, finance, materials and human resources. The data will be regularly updated in order to enhance organisational efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.
Overcoming challenges
In 2022-23, the company experienced a noticeable increase in its gas loss percentage. Historically, this percentage had remained relatively stable, at around 1 per cent. However, recent observations revealed a correlation between rising gas prices and the uptick in theft incidents and gas misuse. This trend was particularly evident among tea factories during the peak season, in the months of July, August, September and October, when the factories function continuously for 24 hours. Observations from the SCADA system revealed that several factories weren’t operating during the night time, which were then identified and apprehended. Subsequently, a retrospective analysis was conducted to ascertain the tea consumption, tea production and average consumption, with digitalisation playing an instrumental role in facilitating this.
Overall, SCADA technology has not only helped in detecting gas leakages and enabling the management of gas transmission but also provided greater visibility on demand and supply forecasts.
A geographic information system (GIS) has been implemented for AGCL’s steel trunk line and in a limited number of city gas distribution areas. However, currently, the GIS data is collected manually by property line contractors, who then transmit the acquired data to the GIS vendor. The data is then verified and subsequently mapped. The construction data received from the fields is also manually validated. This process lacks real-time updates, necessitating the manual tracking of information and causing delays. However, in the foreseeable future, there will be a seamless integration of geographic and asset data, where field employees will be able to instantaneously upload this information in real time directly to the database within the site. This would facilitate the automatic generation of as-built reports and work summaries. Additionally, the flow of data from the field to GIS in less than 24 hours has the potential to yield significant time savings of 40-50 per cent for contractors and around 70 per cent for supervisors. This streamlined process also offers substantial risk mitigation and safety benefits.
SCADA technology has not only helped in detecting gas leakages and enabling the management of gas transmission but has also provided greater visibility on demand and supply forecasts.
Another challenge is the lack of scalability and upgradability in AGCL’s GIS system. The system has a user interface that primarily caters only to trained professionals, whereas, a GIS system typically exhibits a high degree of user-friendliness, allowing anyone to conveniently access applications, upload photos and videos of locations, and perform routine scaling operations. Recently, the company has issued a tender to deploy a user-friendly GIS system that has garnered significant participation. This system will encompass several functionalities, such as attendance tracking and geo-fencing.
It has come to AGCL’s notice that their smart meters have been providing inaccurate data in terms of billing and consumption. In recent months, the company has issued a detailed smart meter tender, while also allowing the option of an operational expenditure (opex) model. This model has already been adopted by an Italian company. Therefore, the work order for approximately 1,000 prepaid smart meters utilising Bluetooth technology is now being given, with another 1,000 units allocated for the Italian company. This move is in line with AGCL’s objective to acquire around 50,000 household prepaid meters, implement a user-friendly and efficient billing mechanism, and replace the existing manual bill collection system.
The way forward
Over the course of time, technology has undergone significant transformation. The implementation of SCADA technology has facilitated the real-time monitoring and control of remote equipment, enabling effective management of gas flow and pressure, as well as enhancing emergency response capabilities. Furthermore, it has played a crucial role in preserving the integrity of pipelines and managing assets effectively.
AGCL is presently contemplating the adoption of several digital technologies with the aim of enhancing customer safety and facilitating collaboration within the organisation. In the future, digital technologies are expected to have a major and tangible impact on both the upstream and downstream segments of the oil and gas industry. Furthermore, as part of its future plans, the company is strategising an approach for establishing a solar segment, as well as venturing into the electric vehicles and compressed natural gas segments.
With inputs from a presentation by: Mr Gokul Chandra Swargiyari, Managing Director, Assam Gas Company Limited at a recent India Infrastructure conference.