ETAP: The Software of Choice for Nuclear Power Systems

The nuclear industry has a high level of regulatory standards that are met by ETAP’s strict quality measures, evident in the fact that, in the US, ETAP is the only High Impact power system analysis software approved for nuclear use.

ETAP is Verified and Validated (V&V) against field results, real system measurements, established programs, and hand calculations in order to ensure its technical accuracy. Each release of ETAP undergoes a complete V&V process using hundreds of test cases for each and every calculation module.

ETAP is driven to constantly be refined and enhanced for the nuclear community. ETAP annually hosts the ETAP Nuclear Utility User Conference in order for attendees to discuss project experiences and the capability for ETAP to optimize nuclear utility power systems.  This year’s conference takes place June 21-23, followed by a symposium on June 24.

The United States is home to 64 nuclear power plants which are responsible for producing approximately 20% of the nation’s electricity. The important nature of nuclear power plants is unmistakable, which makes it all the more significant that 94% of U.S. nuclear plants use ETAP electrical engineering software to manage their power systems.

ETAP prides itself in providing superior engineering services and is proud to be the software of choice for nuclear power systems management across the United States.

ETAP Power Labs: Shaping the Engineers of Tomorrow

It’s no secret. Jobs are getting harder and harder to come by, especially so for recent graduates. This is just as true for electrical engineering graduates looking to start their career.

According to the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment growth rate of electrical engineers is 6% over the decade of 2006-2016. The projected 6% growth in electrical engineering is lower than the average for other occupations, meaning that it’s not getting any easier to be an electrical engineer.

Recent graduates might feel as though they don’t have the requisite experience to directly compete with older and highly qualified individuals, but ETAP has a solution. Fortunately for aspiring engineers, ETAP is being placed in universities worldwide in the form of Power Labs. ETAP Power Labs assist power engineering students in developing best practices and familiarizing themselves with the latest advances in power system analysis technology.

Our industry leading electrical engineering software helps give students a jumpstart on their peers in order to make them more competitive workforce candidates. By gaining valuable hands on experience with our comprehensive power system software, recent graduates will be able to even the field and brighten the prospects of starting their electrical engineering journey.

The Future of Power Systems: Smart Grid and Microgrid

According to the United States Department of Energy, today’s power system is 99.97% reliable, but the remaining 0.03 percent costs a total of $150 billion a year. It’s a fact that if grids were just 5% more efficient, energy saving would be enough to permanently eliminate fuel and greenhouse gas emissions.

At one point it seemed inevitable that the future of power systems would be based on the Smart Grid. However, the energy crisis has forced the utilization of renewable and clean energy through small-scale Microgrids. Interaction of these two growing new technologies requires development of more complicated control strategies. In other words, while each Microgrid has to satisfy its own localized constraints and objectives, limitations and objectives enforced by the whole Smart Grid and/or other Microgrids enforce extended and more conservative constraints.

As a solution to all commitments and obligations of power systems, ETAP does not offer just one or two tools, but an enterprise solution to satisfy all interconnected and even interacting requirements of every power grid. Its ability to provide load and generation estimation, real time monitoring, forecasting, archiving, simulation and optimization make it the ideal brain for the smart acting grid.

ETAP Real-Time™ Power System Automation Workshop

Our Power System Automation workshop last week provided attendees the skills, knowledge, and techniques necessary to become proficient in ETAP Real-Time. We had electrical engineers, automation engineers, and maintenance and operations personnel in attendance who developed a thorough understanding of ETAP Real-Time applications and the integration process.

This hands-on workshop provides the skills, knowledge, and techniques necessary to become proficient in setup, capabilities, operation, installation, and maintenance of Intelligent Load Shedding, Energy Management System, and Intelligent Substation Automation System.

See other workshops at http://etap.com/training/events.htm

ETAP Automation India Demonstrates Best Practices and Implementation Methodologies to the India Power Sector at India Electricity 2010

ETAP Automation participated in India Electricity 2010 on Dec 9, 10, 11, to showcase its products and solutions for the Indian power market.  India Electricity is one of the biggest events focused on India power sector, organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Ministry of Power (MoP) together.

The staff at ETAP Automation focused their India Electricity display and demonstrations on power system simulation using ETAP, and power plant automation solutions using ETAP Real-Time™.   ETAP Real-Time software provides intelligent power monitoring, energy management, system optimization, and real-time prediction. Through continuous monitoring, simulation, and optimization of electrical, process, manufacturing, and management systems that are in place, ETAP Real-Time reduces downtime losses.  Features such as the Energy Management System, Intelligent Load Shedding, the Distribution Management System, and Smart Grid Systems give the ETAP Automation team in India the edge over the competition.

ETAP Automation also gave visitors a sneak peak at ETAP’s upcoming release on Solar and Wind power modeling.

Characteristics of a Good Power System Training Station

Many utility and large industrial operators are currently seeking power system training stations for operator training. Operation Technology, Inc (OTI) has been developing power system simulators utilizing power management system data for nearly 20 years, with the first system installation in 1991. Since then, the system has been enhanced and is currently a full-fledged power management system.

The following characteristics are important in a successful and efficient operator training tool:

1. Interchange information from existing SCADA systems
2. Complete understanding of an electrical system including its component capabilities
3. Historical data retrieval for playback and generation of study scenarios
4. Collection of analysis modules such as load flow, short-circuit, arc-flash, device coordination, transient stability, optimal power flow and more
5. Ability to easily transfer information to other departments such as planning, maintenance, etc

Currently ETAP is the only software in operation that meets such characteristics. All power simulation modules in the software have the capability to bring power management system as well as historical data from its playback archive to develop scenarios for operators to study. Historical data from playback is a great way to generate real-life scenarios for operators to study alternate solutions, while the power management system data function can even help during normal operation to predict system response before any action is taken.

ETAP Scholarship Program to Motivate and Inspire Next Generation of Power Engineers

With demand for power engineers on the rise, Operation Technology, Inc. has announced a new ETAP scholarship program to motivate and attract electrical engineering students in the power engineering field. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected careers in engineering to increase 11% per year until 2016. Additionally, the Center for Energy Workforce Development estimates that 46% of all electric utility engineering positions will be vacant by 2012 due to the large number of baby boomers that will be retiring. The lack of power engineers in today’s market and the dismal projections of qualified workforce in the near future necessitates the need to educate and attract power engineers more important than ever.

The goal of the ETAP scholarship program is to assist students reach their educational goals through financial support and practical experience using ETAP software in universities worldwide. The scholarship program is targeting students whose focus of study is in Power System Analysis, Power Management System, Smart Grid Technology, Renewable Energy, and more. In addition to the scholarship amounts to be awarded, ETAP will also be issuing a free ETAP 115 Power System Engineering Workshop to each of the scholarship recipients, valued at $2,000. This 5-day training session will serve to supplement students’ experience using ETAP in a classroom setting by exploring the skills, knowledge, and techniques required to develop a thorough understanding of the software.

Operation Technology, Inc. is committed to support power system engineers of today and tomorrow. We believe that by providing opportunities and ETAP experience to engineering students, we will inspire the next generation of qualified power engineers. Interested students should email scholarship@etap.com for additional information on the program and application procedure.

The True Value of a New Power Engineering Grad

Many of us can remember the feeling of being a young engineer, or even worse, a new graduate without real engineering experience and without a job. This feeling is very prevalent in today’s new graduates. They are graduating at a time when many companies cannot afford to bring in new people because of the state of the economy.

Almost every job posting states a requirement for 3 years of experience or more, which means many new graduates have the same frustrating thought: “How do I get 3 years of experience if no one is looking for a person without experience?”

Well, the good news is that demand for a new age Power Engineer graduate is emerging, one that carries a different weight to many companies looking to bring in the bright new young minds of this world.

While many people can get confused with just operating a remote control for a TV, young engineers see and accept technological advancements as one of their primary reasons to exist.  So they picked their college of choice very carefully, preferring one that taught and used real world applications. Many universities understand this and are standardizing on ETAP Power Labs as a means to educate students.

ETAP is a power engineering software that has changed the expectations and efficiency in which power system analysis is done.   Many young engineers are thus graduating with the knowledge of utilizing ETAP for power system analysis.

After graduation, on-the-job training is not needed for them since they spent 4 years going through classes that teach load flow analysis with a power flow software or short circuit analysis with a short circuit software. As many companies see the benefit of hiring graduates with ETAP experience and accept this change in culture, we can easily see the new requirement on job descriptions will no longer be 3 years or more; the new requirement is “Experience with ETAP.”