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Power Systems Automation     
Nº 11 - May 2009
»» Orders from REN, Portugal
    - Remodelling and expansion of Zêzere substation
    - Supply of an innovative Wide-Area Monitoring System
 


Remodelling and expansion of Zêzere substation

Efacec’s Automation business unit received an important order from REN, for the supply of systems and services for the remodelling and expansion of Zêzere 220/150/60 kV substation.

This turnkey supply consists of a substation automation system, based on the CLP 500SCC platform integrating third party protection relays, as well as one Efacec’s SCADA system, based on SCATE X, for the local control centre.

The Zêzere substation is integrated into REN’s transmission network, in the central region of Portugal. The scope of supply for this substation shall include the following new bays:
- One 220/60 kV Transformer bay
- One 60 kV Line bay

This order is, once again, a sign of REN’s preference for our solutions and services, showing their recognition and trust in Efacec’s substation automation systems.

 


REN's substation inside view 


Supply of an innovative Wide-Area Monitoring System

REN ordered to Efacec an innovative Wide-Area Monitoring System, for its transmission networks monitoring. The need of electric power networks monitoring, at the European level, became clear during the serious incident occurred in November 2006, when the European network was split into three “islands”, due to an outage at the German’s transmission grid. As a result, it was necessary to carry out a wide frequency shedding.

In Portugal, great part of that task was performed by Efacec systems. The Union for the Co-ordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE), in order to prevent similar events, promoted a set of actions, among which real time monitoring and measurement of the power network state play an important role, a task which is assured by REN in Portugal.

The scope of the Efacec supply includes the configuration, integration and commissioning of the remote monitoring system, composed by one central system, to be installed at the National Dispatch and by Phasor Measurement Units (PMU), to be installed at REN’s Recarei transmission substation.

At the substation level, the PMU units operate as acquisition units, measuring the voltage samples, time-tagged by a synchronized GPS clock, and transferring those measurements through a TCP/IP network to the central system. At the National Dispatch, the central system concentrates and processes that information, thus supplying the operator with data for electric network management optimization. The central system, with its flexible architecture, is prepared for future expansions, being able to integrate new PMU units from different vendors.

With this system, REN shall grant a more secure network management and a greater awareness regarding the operation conditions, and consequently, it will be able to respond quicker to different emergency circumstances.


REN's substation 


For Efacec, it is extremely important to participate in this innovative initiative in line with the state of the art, with such a relevant impact. This order highlights the Efacec leadership as a supplier of automation solutions for power transmission networks at the domestic market.

 
www.ren.pt