Power Utilities Talk to the innovation leader! Communication needs at all levels Telecommunication needs for power utilities differ to a great extent from the requirements encountered in a carrier or an enterprise environment. Utility companies indeed have a different challenge as they need to deliver power to their customers, in an efficient way, 100% guaranteed. A reliable telecommunication network is an important building block to achieve this. Maximising the lifetime of legacy equipment Utility companies have built up their power grids over many decades. The lifecycle of the grid components is long. Step up transformers, protection relays or circuit breakers may well be in place for 30 years and are still running fine. The network needs to handle all this legacy equipment for quite some time. Operational simplicity as a prerequisite Most of the power utility personnel are engineers with multidisciplinary skills and know-how. As everything is interconnected, they need to have a thorough understanding of multiple technical aspects of the grid’s operations. The same is true for the staff in charge of the operational telecom network. They need to understand all applications supporting the grid like SCADA, protection, energy management and the impact of the operational telecom on these critical applications. Hence, they should be relieved from having to handle a highly complex telecom infrastructure. Therefore, the network must be easy to manage - making sure that all technical staff can effectively focus on their mission-critical applications. At all times! Zero impact of environmental conditions Power substations do not look like telco rooms or data centres. Air-conditioning: probably not. Room temperatures: unpredictable. EMC/EMI: you bet! The electro-magnetic fields that are present in the substations are significant, especially when a short circuit occurs. On this occasion the network plays a vital role. The network equipment needs to be hardened and needs to comply with the most demanding environmental standards like IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613. When every bit matters If the grid suffers a short circuit, the affected part should be taken out of service in no time. So, protection relays are installed at each end of the power transmission lines. These devices constantly monitor the current in the line and will detect any anomaly. For the grid to respond in time and in a correct manner, communication between these protection devices is of the utmost importance. This functionality is often referred to as “teleprotection”. If an anomaly is validated, the protection relay will command a circuit breaker on the line to switch off. The fault is cleared properly if both circuit breakers at the end of the line are “tripped”, i.e. have put the line out of service. All this needs to happen in milliseconds. In the case of differential protection, the delay of the data transmission has to be constant and symmetrical. These applications result in some stringent requirements in terms of network performance. If the fault isn’t cleared properly, chances are high that the fault propagates through the grid resulting in a black-out (dependability). Also, false trip signals should be avoided by all means (security). The underlying telecommunication network needs to be highly reliable and secure. Underpin the specifics of the industry Power utilities have developed their own way of working. They have managed to define telecom standards solely for utilities. For example, the IEEE C37.94 was drafted to interconnect “teleprotection” data over fibre optic links. Another example is the IEEE standard 1588v2 which adopted a profile specifically for power utilities for time synchronisation in the substations. Obviously, these specifics need to be supported by the network. Worldwide proven experience Since the market introduction of XTran back in 2014, more than 50 power utilities across the globe have selected the platform for a smooth transition from their SDH/SONET legacy network to packet based solution. Their testimonials provide the strongest endorsements of the market leading status of XTran for this market segment. ORES (Belgium) Eandis (Belgium) NW Power (US) El Paso Electric (US) CFE (Mexico) ENERGINET (Denmark) Why our customers prefer an OTN Systems' solution : Highly scalable networks Low cost of operation Support of timing-sensitive applications Support of all possible protection schemes High network security Degree of redundancy depending on application Customized solutions The company's expertise and support XTran VIEW SOLUTION » All networks carry information. Some networks carry it exactly the way you want. CONTACT PRODUCTS XTran OTN SUPPORT Care Training INDUSTRIES Metros & Lightrail Mining Power Utilities Railway Oil & Gas Motorways & Tunnels Other Industries ABOUT OTN Systems Management team Careers LATEST NEWS OTN Systems exhibits at Enlit Europe in Milan Join the enthusiastic OTN Systems team! Meet the XTran experts at ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi Join OTN Systems at the GCC - CIGRE POWER E-Conference 2021 UPCOMING EVENTS 30 Nov 2021 - Enlit Europe 15 Mar 2022 - SmartTransit East 29 Mar 2022 - UTCAL Summit 03 Apr 2022 - CIGRE KYOTO Symposium 20 Sep 2022 - InnoTrans Copyright © OTN Systems. 2021. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of use Webdesign & Development by Zenjoy in Leuven • Powered by Nimbu YOUTUBE LINKEDIN