WinDEBUT retires and VisNet Design takes over as the industry standard modelling tool for electricity operators to design and plan their low voltage distribution networks
VisNet from EA Technology, the low voltage energy network monitoring and management specialist, has launched an update to VisNet Design, its LV network design and planning product, so that it is now fully backward compatible with its predecessor, WinDEBUT. The WinDEBUT tool will come to end-of-life on 30 January 2026, at which point it will no longer be supported.
VisNet Design is built on VisNet’s decades of network design experience and is the successor to WinDEBUT, which has been the go-to low voltage network design and planning tool for the UK electricity distribution sector for over 30 years. Users can now migrate their existing network design projects and modelling data over to VisNet Design without any loss or duplication of data.
VisNet Design launched in 2022 and is used by electricity distribution companies to design and plan entirely new networks or expand existing ones to new connection points. The tool accelerates the time from an initial request to model a new connection to a fully costed design. The growing list of users includes National Grid, Northern Powergrid and NIE Networks.
Ian Cooper, Head of Innovation Delivery for VisNet at EA Technology, explained, “Local, low carbon energy projects plus countless other new connections such as housing developments and EV charging points are being continually added to the UK’s electricity distribution networks. But these growing volumes of new connections put more strain on the network infrastructure and the staff assessing them. Network engineers and connection designers are in a race to rapidly assess the impact of these new connections so that they can adapt the network to properly meet customers’ needs and keep the lights on while also managing costs.”
VisNet Design’s easy-to-use, intuitive web-based user interface enables network designers to plan and create new electrical transmission networks and modify existing ones more quickly. It presents all the necessary information in a familiar environment so that designers can easily assess the results and make any adjustments if required.
Cooper continued, “VisNet Design is an essential tool for electricity network operators, connection providers, contractors and design consultants. It brings together the data that designers need to accurately plan and assess the impact of new connections and extensions on the safety and performance of the wider transmission network.”
Visnet Design and WinDEBUT both use demand and generation profile data rather than peak load data. Operators and connection providers use this data to design reliable networks at the lowest possible cost to the customer.
