Case Study
From 13 Hours to 90 Minutes
Optimising Oracle Performance
Transforming data warehouse performance with WhereScape and Oracle for one of Europe's largest transmission system operators
The Client
Powering Europe's Energy Grid
TenneT is one of Europe's leading transmission system operators, managing the high-voltage electricity grid across the Netherlands and large parts of Germany. Their infrastructure keeps the lights on for over 42 million people. Behind this vast physical network lies an equally critical data infrastructure, and as data volumes surged in line with the energy transition, their Oracle-based data warehouse began buckling under the weight.
"Processing times had escalated to 13 hours per job. Our teams were starting every day with yesterday's data, and that was holding the entire organisation back." TenneT Data Platform Team
Energy
Netherlands
WhereScape, Oracle, Performance Tuning
The Challenge
When every hour costs insight
Critical Processing Delays
Job processing times had escalated to 13 hours per run, delaying critical data availability until well into the working day.
Infrastructure Bottlenecks
Performance bottlenecks impacting CPU, I/O, memory, and middleware, systemic and compounding.
Data Modelling Debt
Inefficiencies in data modelling techniques and code execution had accumulated over years of organic growth.
Scalability at Risk
The European energy transition was accelerating data growth, the platform needed headroom for the future.
Knowledge Gaps
The internal team needed to understand not just what was fixed, but why, to prevent recurrence.
The Journey
A systematic path to performance
Discovery & Diagnosis
- Conducted in-depth workshops with Data, DBA, and Infrastructure teams
- Performed forensic analysis of code, data models, and system architecture
- Identified compounding bottlenecks across CPU, I/O, memory, and middleware
- Built trust through transparent communication of root causes and approach
Optimisation & Tuning
- Set clear expectations for phased performance improvements with validation
- Implemented targeted hardware adjustments, particularly improving I/O throughput
- Restructured data models and refactored code execution paths for Oracle
- Conducted rigorous performance testing after each optimisation to prove gains
Knowledge Transfer
- Performed peer code reviews to embed efficiency and best practice standards
- Shared Oracle and WhereScape optimisation techniques specific to TenneT
- Integrated best practices into the ongoing development workflow
- Ensured the team could sustain and build on performance gains independently
The Transformation
From bottlenecked to blazing fast
13-hour job processing, congested pipelines, stale data by mid-morning, systemic bottlenecks across all layers.
90-minute processing, optimised I/O and data models, fresh data before the day begins, best practices embedded.
Ready to Transform?
Let's optimise your data performance
By identifying and addressing performance bottlenecks across hardware, data modelling, and code execution, Engaging Data significantly optimised TenneT's Oracle-based data warehouse. The project not only restored operational efficiency but also positioned the client for future scalability and growth.