2009 was an excellent year for the Automation Unit. With a total amount of around 32.3 million euro the unit achieved the target established in 2008.

In the last quarter of 2009, we received a set of important orders, in the domain of electric power networks automation, highlighting the following:

-	REN, Portugal: supply of substation automation systems for 7 transmission substations
-	ANDE, Paraguay: supply of substation automation systems, featuring protection, measurement and control systems for 2 transmission substations
-	EWA, Bahrain: supply of integrated control systems for 24 substations of 66/11 kV, as well as for the expansion of integrated control systems for 5 substations of 220/66/11 kV

Along 2009 the Automation Unit carried out an important set of projects implementation, comprising systems installation and commissioning, all over the markets it has been present.

Among all installed systems, we can highlight the following scope of installations:
- Power Network Management
- Conventional and IEC 61850 compliant Transmission and Distribution Substation Automation, including protection relays
- RTU
- Power Plant Automation
- Maintenance and Repair Services

More recently, during the last quarter of 2009, Efacec has implemented the following projects:
- Expansions for Substation Automation, REN, Portugal
- Substation Automation, EDA, Portugal
- SCADA/DMS Disaster Recovery, EDP, Portugal
- Substation Automation, EWA, Bahrain

Efacec was present at DistribuTECH 2010, which took place at the Tampa Convention Center in Florida, United States, between the 23^rd and 25^th March 2010.

On 1^st of February 2010, a delegation from the North American NSTAR utility visited Efacec Automation’s facilities in Maia. This visit was organized together with Efacec Advanced Control Systems.

MOBI.E is a strategic Portuguese Project, involving Efacec and other important companies, aiming to promote and develop the technical and commercial infra-structure for the electric mobility.

Efacec has participated in a MOBI.E conference, where a demonstration system was presented.

In January 2010, Efacec welcomed a delegation from MOBI.E partners and NISSAN UK.

On March the 1^st the “BEST Engineering Week” took place at the University of Coimbra (UC). The Efacec Group participated in this event, in the “Efacec Day”, making a presentation of its activities, focusing on the Automation business, with the purpose of attracting young engineers into the Automation Unit.

The first edition of the European Business Awards for the Environment – Prémio de Inovação para a Sustentabilidade (Innovation Award for the Sustainability), promoted by APA, the Portuguese Agency for the Environment, took place in Lisbon, on 3^rd of March, 2010. The Award Ceremony was chaired by the Minister for Environment and Spatial Planning, Dulce Pássaro.