Leveraging renewable energy sources with advanced grid management

• Overcome the technology challenges for the project’s distributed energy power system
• Implement a platform for grid management for secure operation
• Optimize operations, improve visualization and refine asset management
• Ensure a return on investment for the client

Red Sea Project is a groundbreaking endeavor in Saudi Arabia under the Saudi Vision 2030 economic development program. The project is powered by a fully renewable energy system, including large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) system and a substantial 1.3 GWh energy storage system. The goal is to effectively provide 100% clean energy to the development. SEPCOIII has been involved with the design and construction of a wide range of permanent utility assets, including support facilities such as desalination plants, power generation facilities and distribution networks for water, electricity and natural gas.

The project spans approximately 28,000 square kilometers, encompassing lands, islands, beaches, deserts, mountains, and volcanic areas. Due to the remote location, multiple renewable energy sources and networks were planned. The initiative also plans to enhance support for large power grids by incorporating a variety distribution systems with the coordination of multiple energy sources. Incorporation of renewable energy sources and implementation of advanced technology was a requirement, to ensure environmental sustainability and operational efficiency.

SEPCOIII recognized that integrating large volumes of local asset data into a unified database with robust data protection measures was essential. Their aim was to implement a user platform and associated dashboards that could be seamlessly integrated with real-time data from the field, utilizing predictive analytics and event forecasting to support informed decision-making.

The scope of work included all of the grid element below, managed through a centralized transmission and distribution management system (TDMS):

One (1) Main Grid:

• Total Solar Generation: 334 MW (SF 1 - 102MW, SF 2 - 222 MW)

• Total BESS (3 Nos.) associated with SF1, SF2 & SS1: 225 MW (75 MW each)

• 3 back up combustion engine station: Approx.100 MW

• Future wind plant (not in Current scope) - 95 MW

• Compact Switchgear Unit 33 KV (SE Current scope) : 83 Nos.

• AMI and MDM for Client Total Meters: Approx. 1000

Three (3) isolated Microgrids:

• 5 MW PV

• 5 MW BESS

• 3.7 MW DGs

• One CSU 33 kV

ETAP Grid™, a comprehensive, turnkey real-time solution for centralized and remote network operations and management using the electrical network's digital twin model. This solution is used to create a state-of-the-art transmission distribution management system (TDMS) that fully supports renewable energy systems. The following modules supported all stages of the project, from planning, design, modeling through operating with geospatial visualization for a city-scale operation:

• ETAP Electrical Digital Twin Modeling and Analysis, including
• ETAP Arc Flash
• ETAP Protection and Coordination
• ETAP Power Flow
• ETAP SCADA
• ETAP Intelligent Load Shedding
• ETAP Operator Training Simulator
• ETAP eProtect Protection & Asset Management
• ETAP Distribution Network Analysis
• ETAP Microgrid
• ETAP Mobile APP
• ETAP NetPM^TM
• ETAP Power Management System
  

• A real-time power generation management system and energy management system for a fully functioning city, consisting of a helpful user interface, operator models, distribution management, network management, outage management, and integration with adjacent systems for accounting, metering and other systems.
• A system that can quickly and accurately detect the change in voltage and frequency values for primary, secondary, and tertiary systems
• A system that can support an optimized automatic bus transfer scheme (ABTS) combined with BESS automatic regulation for islanded mode, to improve the stability of the power supply
• Solutions to assist with all phases of project execution, beginning with planning and user requirements, into system design, integration on site, testing, site acceptance, start-up, and with user training.

ETAP Grid™ distribution management software, implemented by SEPCOIII, tackled the technology challenges for the project’s distributed energy power system. The solution is now used to manage and supervise the power distribution system to achieve better optimizations and improve system stability. 

Empowering grid resiliency and reliability for Smart City operations

• Reduced maintenance and site visits thanks to real-time remote monitoring
• Improved insights through digital simulation to optimize the network
• Ability to quickly make informed decisions with real-time energy control and monitoring
• Streamlined asset management and energy accounting workflows
• Centralized integration for efficient work order management system
• A long term solution that will continue to help optimize the project’s energy requirements      

ETAP provides the simple and beautiful and functional HMI in this project...The ETAP transmission and distribution system shows very good abilities and performance for the microgrid systems

Haishan Wang, Engineering Director & Engineering Manager of Red Sea Project, SEPCOIII