High Voltage SCADA systems to standardise assets!

RWE npower renewables, one of Britain’s biggest renewable energy developers and operators, is using High Voltage SCADA systems installed by Emerson Process Management as part of a standardized High Voltage SCADA approach across its wind assets. The systems provide comprehensive visibility and control of the high voltage electrical network at wind farm and control center levels, helping to increase availability and reduce costs.

The installations at Novar 2 wind farm in Scotland and at Kiln Pit Hill and Hellrigg in northern England are now fully integrated into the company’s existing portfolio SCADA system DCDAS (Distributed Control & Data Acquisition System), which was also provided by Emerson.

The High Voltage SCADA solution at RWE npower’s wind farms is based on Emerson’s OpenEnterprise™ package, which consists of a single OpenEnterprise Server, ControlWave® Micro RTUs (Remote Terminal Units) and third-party OPC Servers.

The OpenEnterprise package can retrieve data from remote locations using a wide variety of communications including ADSL, ISDN and satellite. When combined with Emerson’s range of RTUs and flow computers, OpenEnterprise provides a system that is fully equipped to meet the challenges of low-bandwidth, high-latency and poor-quality networks.

Emerson’s ControlWave Micro RTU is a highly programmable controller that combines the unique capabilities of a programmable logic controller (PLC) and a RTU into a single hybrid controller. The ControlWave Micro can maximize the performance of a wide range of control systems, with a design emphasis on low power consumption, scalability and modularity.

Each wind turbine has a single ControlWave Micro RTU, which is used to control and monitor the turbines’ high voltage switchgear, as well as software interfaces to third-party measurement transducers. Remote access to the system is provided using Windows Terminal Services.

“Completing these three projects represents an important milestone in the development of a standardized High Voltage SCADA approach across the RWE npower renewables’ wind assets,” said Paul Witchard, SCADA Systems Manager at RWE npower renewables. “Based on this success, a further three systems are being installed at the UK wind farms at Middlemoor, Goole Fields and Bradwell. These wind farms are under construction and will join the network during 2013.”

Emerson began working with RWE npower renewables in 2006 when it provided the DCDAS system, a portfolio SCADA system initially connected to 19 operational wind farms at various locations within the UK. In total, 30 wind farms are currently integrated into the system with an installed capacity of approximately 800 megawatts, the majority being onshore but with two offshore wind farms off the North Wales coast. The High Voltage SCADA server also hosts the DCDAS wind turbine interface software applications, providing a reduction in initial cost and maintenance.

“The DCDAS system provides real-time data for live monitoring and control of our wind assets from our 24/7 control centre in Swindon, UK. The High Voltage SCADA system uses the same communications infrastructure as DCDAS to enable monitoring and control of the high voltage switchgear, either locally or remotely. This will help us maximize availability and revenue, make fewer site visits, and improve maintenance scheduling.”