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Power Generators Opt for ABB's SCADA Solution

ControlGlobal.com
12/02/2009

By Andrew Bond, Industrial Automation Insider

Brookfield Renewable Power, one of the leading "green" power generators in the Americas, has selected ABB's Network Manager SCADA solution to monitor, control and manage its entire fleet of power generation facilities in North America.

The company's plants have a combined generating capacity of more than 3,500MW. They include 132 hydro plants, one of the largest wind farms in Canada and a thermal power plant and are distributed across ten states and provinces of the United States and Canada from British Columbia to New England and south to Louisiana.

Better Information

The Network Manager SCADA-based solution will provide Brookfield with faster and better information on how its widely dispersed assets are performing and heighten operator situational awareness, thereby ensuring correct decision making and power system stability.

All 134 facilities will be monitored and controlled from one national and three regional control centers in each country, providing full redundancy and backup in the event of a malfunction or shutdown of a control center. The solution will also support compliance with the mandatory and stringent NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) CIP (Critical Infrastructure Protection) grid reliability standards, which are designed to protect the power transmission system from sabotage and unlawful cyber access.

Maltese Power

Meanwhile ABB has won a further order for an integrated Network Manager SCADA solution to monitor and control the power stations and substations on the island of Malta. The project scope includes design, engineering, installation, commissioning and a three-year service agreement.

The system will enable better supervision and control of the island's electrical power supply system and hence, maintain a reliable supply under varying operational conditions, with facilities for optimal load shedding and rapid restoration of power in case of outages. It is also seen as providing a platform for smart grid operation and for managing future interconnections in the Mediterranean region.

The project will be executed by IBM and ABB for Enemalta Corporation, the integrated government utility responsible for the operation of the power generation, transmission and distribution network in Malta. With more than 400 installations worldwide, ABB now believes Network Manager to be the world's leading network management system.