What path is your grid data taking?

Secondary substation automation across medium and low voltage grids is a key requirement for modernising UK & ROI Networks. With the increase of Operational Telecom (OT) capability, utilities can improve reliability, enhance efficiency, and optimise grid performance, while also establishing an infrastructure to cater for new market opportunity.

Currently, intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) and applications are automating grid functions, typically for monitoring and control. They collect, process, and communicate power line data, including frequency, voltage, and existing levels of current. On top of that, they send automated, control signals, apply real-time adjustments to changes in load,  generation, and failure conditions.  

To support IED and connected assets, utilities have deployed multiple layers of secondary networks. The problem is, these secondary layers are often based on different technologies and are unable to support new business needs. Some use proprietary mobile technologies with narrow bandwidth. This creates challenges from solutions that struggle to meet the expanding needs of connectivity, driven by the evolving business. Connecting new distributed energy resources (DER) is often difficult  and requires extensive effort to design connectivity. Each network layer must also be managed and maintained separately, thus increasing OpEx.  

Plus, secure, reliable communications for supporting new and critical applications, including distributed generation (DG) integration, inverter control, as well as automated fault isolation and reclosing, cannot be provided by existing secondary network systems. 

Using specific networks can also hamper control, co-ordination, and increase connection latency among the various grid applications at the network edge. 

So, given these challenges, what’s your best path for automating this rapid growth of data? 

 

Why not click on this path ? … 

https://networks.nokia.com/power-utilities/field-area-network.