From the 33kV grid to the customer's meter: 15+ years of network survey and design
Nama (Majan Electricity Company) · North Batinah, Dhahirah and Buraimi · 2008 to present
The requirement
People, homes and commercial buildings need power without interruption or delay, and that is the requirement behind every contract in this relationship. New housing and commercial areas need extensions built before residents move in. Existing feeders need reinforcement as load grows past what the original design carried. Newly planned areas need the network built in from the start rather than retrofitted around it. None of that is possible without an accurate, current record of what is actually in the ground and on the poles, across LT (415V), HT (11kV) and 33kV, from the grid substation out to the customer's connection.
Where TGO worked
- North BatinahSaham, Sohar, Liwa and Shinas
- DhahirahIbri and the surrounding wilayats
- Buraimi
What TGO did
- A 33kV network survey across North Batinah in 2008, establishing the baseline the later work built on
- Geographical survey and data collection across the distribution network, wilayat by wilayat, spanning LT, HT and 33kV assets
- Topographic site surveying to 10cm positional accuracy using high-accuracy GNSS and the NSA CORSNET, superimposed on Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning plot data in both Clarke 1880 and WGS84 projections
- Design of new extensions, load-balancing reinforcement works and beautification works for newly planned housing and commercial areas: AutoCAD drawings to Oman Electrical Standards and company templates, overhead line sag-tension and plan-profile work in PLS CADD, and civil design where the project called for it
- Statutory approvals coordination with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning and the concerned authorities, including Royal Oman Police, Civil Defence, Omantel, Ooredoo, PAEW and PDO, through a dedicated public relations officer
- Bill of quantities and cost estimates against approved unit rates, uploaded through the client's tender workflow system
- Route peg-marking at every angle and corner of an approved alignment, handed over to the executing contractor under the client's official handover procedure
- GIS as-built surveying and drawing creation to GIS specifications on the ArcGIS and ArcFM platform, including gap surveys and spatial-versus-BOQ difference reporting
- A GIS update process designed and implemented so the utility's own staff could keep the record current, plus GIS database administration for twelve wilayat under a standing contract
A utility does not renew a survey and design contract six times because the price was right. It renews because new connections go live on schedule, reinforcement work lands where the load actually is, and the crew already knows the network.
Why it matters
Reliable supply for a growing area starts with someone knowing exactly where the existing network sits and exactly where the load is outgrowing it. This is the longest relationship in TGO's record, spanning LT through 33kV and every wilayat in three governorates, and it held through the 2023 merger of Mazoon Electricity, Nama and Tanweer into Nama Electricity Distribution Company without a gap in service.
