Cybersecurity in the Energy Sector of Cost Rica.

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, also known as ICE or the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity, has officially joined ISASecure®, a wholly owned subsidiary of ISA. ISASecure is the globally recognized certification program that validates conformance to the ISA/IEC 62443 series of standards for industrial automation and control systems (IACS) cybersecurity.

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad was founded in 1949 with the mandate to take advantage of water resources efficiently and responsibly for the electrification of the country. A Costa Rican state company, its mission is to provide energy, connectivity and safe and sustainable digital services to the inhabitants of Costa Rica. Their electrical matrix takes advantage of the earth's steam, wind, water, solar energy and biomass. It also focuses on the development of smart grids and electric mobility.

This new partnership with ISASecure reflects the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity’s ongoing mission to strengthen the OT security maturity of Costa Rica’s energy matrix and ensure OT cybersecurity procedures are continually maintained to the highest standards.

Erick Obregón Navarro, ICE Dirección Ciberseguridad y Protección Empresarial, Gerencia General shared: “Joining ISASecure and the adoption of the ISA/IEC 62443 standard supports the implementation of key industrial cybersecurity capabilities, such as:

1. Protection of industrial networks and SCADA systems.
2. Definition of security levels and layered control approaches.
3. Network segmentation and reduction of the attack surface.
4. Secure management of access and industrial components.
5. Continuous monitoring and incident response.

“We look forward to our partnership with ISASecure to ensure our energy systems and Costa Rican residents are protected from cybersecurity attacks.”

“It is an honor to welcome the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) into the ISASecure program,” said Mark DeAngelo, ISASecure program manager. “Today’s critical infrastructure demands comprehensive, rigorously validated cybersecurity. We look forward to collaborating with the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad as we advance our mission of industry partnership, certification and standards-based product development to help achieve a more secure world. It is an honor to welcome our first Costa Rican company to ISASecure.”

---

@ISA_Automation  @automation_com @GrupoICEcr #Pauto #Cybersecurity

Hydropower project upgrade completed.

Major US power provider reduces maintenance costs by 30%, cuts troubleshooting time in half.

SRP’s Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River in Arizona (USA)

The completion of a multi-year modernisation project at four Salt River Project (SRP) hydroelectric dams along the Salt River in Arizona (USA) has been announced by Emerson. SRP’s Roosevelt, Horse Mesa, Mormon Flat and Stewart Mountain dams generate 265 megawatts of hydropower – enough to power more than 60,000 homes annually.

SRP modernised its legacy excitation systems ─ vital for power generation ─ and seamlessly integrated them with the distributed control systems already in place at its four hydroelectric dams. By standardising on Emerson’s Ovation™ Automation Platform and implementing modern control strategies, SRP reduced operations and maintenance costs by 30% and cut troubleshooting time by half – helping ensure operational continuity and strengthening grid performance. Enhanced operational visibility keeps critical start-up and shutdown procedures efficient, avoiding delays that could have doubled their duration.

“As the long-time operator of the Bureau of Reclamation’s dams, we have a responsibility to ensure delivery of a reliable, clean and continuous source of power the community depends on,” said Shari Brady, SRP Hydro electrical engineer. “By standardising on Emerson’s fully unified Ovation automation platform across our hydro fleet for excitation and plant control – and through close collaboration between project teams – we completed all system installations on time, even with aggressive schedules. We now have greater operational insight and easier troubleshooting, which helps us maintain unit reliability in the 90th percentile.”

Rising electricity consumption driven by record growth in the Phoenix area along with extreme temperatures in the service area have required energy providers like SRP to continue to invest in improving its infrastructure, including generator excitation.

“Increased visibility and reliability of hydro operations helps Salt River Project ensure continuous operation to efficiently supply their customers with the power they rely on 24/7,” said Bob Yeager, president of Emerson’s power and water business. “SRP’s vision for standardising on a fully unified automation system was a transformative step that will position them for success – even in the face of shifting energy markets and increased need for power – for decades to come.”

The custom Ovation Excitation Systems, two of which are for pump and energy storage units that require unique integration when switching to pump mode, are seamlessly integrated into the existing Ovation distributed controls. The new cohesive plant system improves SRP’s hydroelectric capabilities, which help strengthen grid reliability and meet the demands of an evolving grid using more renewable energy resources like solar and wind.

The new, fully integrated automation platform simplifies operations and maintenance by using the same spare parts, streamlining training, maintaining operator familiarity and managing a single point of contact for automation support and service.

---

@SRPconnect @EmersonExchange @Emerson_News @EMR_Automation @HHC_Lewis #PAuto #POwer #USA