Discover Drakenstein Municipality's operational transformation with ETAP for better power efficiency

Phased approach to implementing improvements

• Apply standard communication protocols for hardware architecture to prepare for centralized monitoring of the entire electrical network using robust control functionality on primary and secondary substations.
• Enable real-time data visualization from substations and all assets within the digital twin model that was created in Phase 1.
• Implement intelligent load shedding based on actual operating conditions of the system, including the type and the location of the disturbances.
• Prepare customized SCADA views and set up the notification system.
• Begin planning for Phase 3 for geospatial and advanced distribution functionality, including outage management and operator training.

The vision of this project is to embark on a digital journey by taking a phased approach to create visibility of the electrical network, improve network efficiencies, reduce downtime, time of outages and inadvertent tripping. Additionally, the municipality recognized the advantages to adopting a comprehensive unified vendor agnostic platform that is equally easy to use for beginners and advanced operators managing the power system.

The first phase focused on creating visibility of the four primary substations, integrating a multiple manufacturer systems within one unified platform, while also integrating new and legacy equipment. An electrical digital twin using ETAP was developed using ETAPapp for data collection, and various analyses were then applied, including load flow, short circuit study, protection and coordination, in order to identify how to optimize the network.

Phase 2 focused on creating visibility into all other primary and secondary substations, integrating control functionality and applying intelligent load shedding capabilities. As well, preparation for Phase 3 started, with planning on implementation of additional advanced distribution management tools for outage management, geospatial integration, and operator training.

The municipality has 9 primary substations and 40 secondary substations, with a mixture of legacy and new substation equipment. To address the limited visibility of the electrical network, their legacy equipment will be upgraded.

Phase2:

• ETAP Digital Twin – Real-time model-driven electrical visualization and analysis working with data acquisition and control hardware
• ETAP iCE – Fully compliant intelligent controllers and remote terminal units for optimal performance, fast response, and cybersecurity
• ETAP eSCADA – Distribution SCADA for intuitive real-time network monitoring on computers, tablets and mobile devices, including customized HMI views and notification system with alarm, event, trending and tabular views
• ETAP iLS – Proactive intelligent load shedding with embedded predictive analytics, adaptive optimization algorithms, and active validation 

Phase 3:

 Advanced Distribution Management, including:

• ETAP DMS – Integrated geospatial visualization, distribution network applications and management system
• ETAP OMS – Intelligent situational awareness for improved outage response and restoration
• ETAP OTS – Accelerated and cost-effective model-driven dispatcher operator training 

• Unified platform for power modeling and real-time distribution management using a digital twin network model
• Secure, vendor-agnostic control hardware and integrated software that integrates old and new equipment
• Optimized system analysis, power monitoring, and load shedding
• Accurate and immediate visibility on the status of the distribution system
• User-friendly and customizable distribution management software
• Modular solutions with the flexibility to add more functionality over time

The hardware design involved the use of various IEC communications protocols between IEDs and RTUs for new equipment, the RTU to master station, and RTUs to substation equipment. At substations where legacy equipment was still in operation, the Modbus port protocol was used to integrate the voltage ratings.  The various manufacturer RTUs were programmed to bring the signals into the system. 

After this, the various ETAP interfaces where customized to provide visualization of the electrical network. An extremely powerful tool provided by ETAP is the ability to develop ‘What if’ scenarios and simulate them to see what effect each scenario would have on the network in order to decide whether changes could be implemented.

The interfaces that were created include ETAP Real-Time which allowed accurate examination of power flows throughout the network, HMI View with advanced graphical elements, a Web Interface and a Smartphone viewer. As a result, any of the operators or engineers can now easy easily see if there are any issues and quickly identify them and notify the relevant team to resolve the problem.

Additionally, ETAP SCADA provides a communication viewer which monitors the health status of the RTUs, an alarm viewer with different priority levels, an event viewer, a trending view, and a tabular view. All of these have made visualization of the electrical network much easier to identify problems and issues on one unified, vendor-agnostic platform. This also enables the municipality to optimize their network to ensure that it is reliable and safe, and to reduce any issues that may occur such as nuisance tripping on the networks.

Improve distribution efficiency and reduce downtime

• Disruptions were minimized through careful planning and phased implementation of software and hardware
• Full network visibility was ensured through vendor-agnostic platform and wide support for controller communications standards and protocols
• Problems can now be rapidly identified and downtime is reduced using intuitive visualization of the entire electrical network
• Operational efficiency is increased with faster response times and enhanced reliability 
• Ongoing optimization of network efficiency is improved by using real-time and historical model analysis tools

Thanks to ETAP, we also have our own web interface and a smartphone view. It allows operators or engineers to easily access our network, check for issues, and quickly identify and notify the relevant team to resolve any problems.
Shaun Naicker, Operations Director, Altek Solutions