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Plc Control

Spanish Utility Uses Ethernet To Modernize Electric Substations For The Smart Grid

Objective:
Provide a exceedingly Reliable Backbone Network that can be used for multiple applications including Smart Grid, Smart Metering, Distribution Automation, SCADA, Video Surveillance, Customer Internet Access and VoIP

Company Overview
The utility is a power distribution company with more than 75 years of history. It operates its own network with 100 distribution substations and 16,000 customers that consume more than 80GWh per year. The company also plays an important role in the telecommunications market; it serves as an Internet Service Provider for its electricity customers and provides modern services such as VoIP. It is moving fast forward towards distribution automation and as of the year 2009 it already has the ability to remotely control 25% of its distribution substations and transformation points. This system also manages power quality meters installed at connection points with the transmission system as well as power quality meters at Low Voltage outputs connecting end users.

As a progressive utility it focuses on distributed energy resources and is currently deploying solar panels in the city council buildings. The connection of all the solar panels to the SCADA system is done through the company’s communication network. The utility is currently involved in a pilot project for remote metering and is preparing to deploy smart meters to 15% of its total customers by the end of 2009. The ambitious goal is to have 100% of the electricity users equipped with smart meters by the end of 2013.

Customer Requirements
The utility needed a reliable, broadband, multipurpose communications network capable of supporting various types of services that at the same time could integrate with its electrical distribution network. In other words they needed a redundant, robust, interactive and self-healing network to make Smart Grid a reality.

The requirement for the communication equipment included immunity to electromagnetic interference as the devices had to be installed in electrical substations where the presence of high degrees of EMI is common. The devices had to be designed to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as high levels of humidity, dust and temperature variations as distribution substations are located underground or outdoor at street level. Of special relevancy was the operating temperature range that was required to permit the devices to work without failure in the extremely hot temperatures that are very common in the service areas and where cooling fans in the devices are not an option.

The network was required to have redundant links, high-bandwidth, low-latency and very short recovery time in case of link failure. Redundancy and short recovery time were required because the network needed to transport critical protection and control
information from electrical substations to the central SCADA system. Low latency and high bandwidth was crucial to ensure real time applications such as video surveillance and VoIP met the quality of service requirements to fulfill customer expectations. Another requirement was the small size of the network device as in many cases there would be very little space available to install the network devices.

Solution
Advanced Multipurpose Network utilizing the RuggedSwitch® RS900G as the Ethernet communication fiber optic backbone to support mission-critical data and value added applications by connecting substations to the operation center.

Application
The utility decided to take advantage of owning its electricity distribution infrastructure to build the Smart Grid.

The first step in migration towards the intelligent infrastructure that would see the convergence of the electrical grid and communications infrastructure, was the creation of a fiber optic Ethernet communications backbone connecting all distribution substations.

For this purpose the utility chose RuggedCom's RuggedSwitch® RS900G utility / industrial ethernet switch equipped with gigabit optic ports. The topology of the network consisted of multiple fiber rings interconnected to the control center. The communications backbone enabled access to one fourth of the utility's distribution assets, permitting remote access, monitoring and control using the company’s SCADA system located in the control center.

Another customer service that the utility was able to provide on the same backbone was internet access and voice over IP for home users. The last mile access was realized with different technologies, such as PLC (Power Line Carrier), ADSL and WiFi. All of these last mile technologies were then connected to RuggedCom switches that formed the Ethernet communications backbone. The infrastructure was able to provide further benefits with more groundbreaking applications being implemented such as remote control and management of street lighting systems allowing intelligent management of each sector of light points that allowed energy savings as well a light pollution decrease.

Solar panels that were installed on buildings were connected to the Distributed Energy Generation Management system via the same Ethernet communications backbone. The utility also decided to further capitalize on the communications network and implemented video surveillance for the local police department allowing real time cameras for traffic management and public safety.

In 2009 the utility began replacing existing electric meters with smart meters and the RuggedCom RS900G Gigabit Ethernet switches supported the transmission of electric utility meter data over the Automatic Meter Reading network from consumers’ homes and businesses to the data center. The AMR will continue to be deployed during the next four years to all consumers within the utility’s service area in Spain.