We hear more and more The electrical network monitoring and

the monitoring and control market

control of networks.
But do we know exactly
what it means?
In this first chapter, we
are going to find out
how the monitoring
and control market is
segmented.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER
The 2 priorities of any electrical network operator are to reduce the
cost of the electricity product while ensuring continuity of service.
The monitoring and control market breaks down into 3 broad segments:
■ Energy Transmission where the requirement is centred on real time
control with management and optimisation operations on networks comprising
production units and EHV substations.
■ Energy Distribution where the requirement is centred on real time
network control and in particular network reconfiguration of MV/HV and
MV/LV substations should a fault occur.
■ Industry-Building where the requirement is centred on network control to
guarantee the availability and quality of the energy at the lowest cost.

Where are the candles, boss?

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■ Merlin Gerin ■ Modicon ■ Square D ■ Telemecanique

The electrical network monitoring and control market

2 PRIME CONSIDERATIONS: The 2 priorities of any network operator are to reduce the
COST AND CONTINUITY cost of the electricity product while improving the continuity
of service.

Any electrical network operator must take care to reduce the cost and
improve the quality of the electricity product.

In all countries, the unit cost of the electricity product in kWh is now a
priority requirement.
■ in EHV production and transmission (energy), it must be kept sufficiently
competitive with other sources of energy.
Privatisations in the energy sector make this requirement even more poignant.
■ inindustry-building, to reduce the process cost price by reducing the
energy bill.
Quality of energy supply is in the process of becoming a new prime
consideration.
■ inenergy, to maintain a good image in the eyes of the consumer, but
even more pressing is the need to reduce network down time, and the
corresponding lower level of invoiced energy.
■ in industry-building, to monitor the availability and non-disruption of the
kWh used by the process and to explore the opportunities for applying
tariffs that reflect down time and the quality of the current purchased.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

DIGITAL SYSTEMS The advent of digital systems in monitoring and control

OPEN UP OPPORTUNITIES has enabled optimised operation of electrical networks.
IN MONITORING AND
Until now electrical networks were protected by devices such as electromechanical,
CONTROL electronic and digital protection relays. Monitoring and control already existed
in the form of metering equipment (such as ammeters, etc.) and indicators
(status lights, push-buttons, etc.).
The advent of digital systems in monitoring and control has enabled new
standard functions to be developed and has had a radical effect on
network operation and maintenance. It has enabled optimised operation of
electrical networks.
With the benefit of Monitoring and Control, the operating company is kept
informed of the network status and thus had at its fingertips the data it needs
to analyse and control the electrical installation (in some cases assisted by
automatic controls).
BEING INFORMED
The monitoring or supervision function of an installation
The operating company has all the data on its network in real time:
locations of devices, configuration mapping of the network, metering at
various points in the network, alarms, etc.
ANALYSING DATA
Data logging function
The data provided to the operating company may be preprocessed to
make it easier to use:
■ archived for access should the need arise (e.g. to analyse an incident).
■ formatted to simplify interpretation.
■ alarm related messages, etc.

OPERATING THE INSTALLATION

Telecontrol function
The standard function is telecontrol whereby the equipment is operated
remotely. This network control system may have a number of automatic
controls such as power source transfer, reconfiguration of an MV loop
following a fault, etc.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

3 BROAD MARKET It is usual to think of the electrical network monitoring

SEGMENTS and control market as having 3 segments:
■ Energy transmission
■ Energy Distribution
■ Industry-Building

ENERGY TRANSMISSION
where the requirement is centred on the production units, EHV substations
and HV/MV substations.

ENERGY DISTRIBUTION
where the requirement is centred on HV/MV substations and MV/LV substations.

INDUSTRY-BUILDING
where the requirement is centred on HV, MV and LV electrical distribution.
Unless the market segment is defined, the matching of “user requirements”
to “monitoring and control systems supply” is meaningless. The importance
of each monitoring and control function and the type of solutions adopted
depend on the end user.
A substation and network monitoring and control package is a crucial link
for a Transmission & Distribution application.

Electrical substation
HV equipment
Transformers
MV equipment

Local
incorporation +
Network monitoring
Substation monitoring

Network protection

=
Network

T&D
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The electrical network monitoring and control market

REMINDER Each MT application is segmented according to 3 standard P&C

configuration levels:
Level Equipment: monitoring the energy network and the order of tripping
of break mechanisms. Protection relays are interlinked to each HV bay in
EHV transmission and to each circuit breaker cubicle in MV distribution
(RSN and MV/LV).
Level substation: operating and maintaining a substation locally and
managing data exchange for remote operation. Substation monitoring
systems are interlinked to an EHV, RSN, or MV/LV substation.
Level network: operating and maintaining the telecontrol network of electrical
substations. Control is in terms of EHV transmission network substations,
those of the MV distribution network (RSN and MV/LV substations) or all of
the substations of an electrical installation in the industry-building sector.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

REMINDER (cont’d) Monitoring and control systems are increasingly integrated

into the MV equipment engineering business.

Historically monitoring and control has always existed:

■ on an MV cubicle: provided by electromechanical protection relays linked
to a local monitoring and control station whose functions were carried out
by metering equipment (ammeters, voltmeters, etc.) and monitoring
devices (status lights, push-buttons, etc.).
■ in a substation: provided by a wallboard made up of status lights and
push-buttons.
■ the transition to digital systems has radically changed protection
products (Sepam) that have now integrated local monitoring and control
functions into the MV cubicle.
■ the vast opportunities for teletransmission linked to protection products
throw the monitoring arena wide open to equipment engineering companies.
The MV panel builder business is branching out: from cabling work it has
ventured into engineering design, programming, parameter setting, …
beyond the supply of plain MV panelboards.
■ the transition to digital systems has had a dramatic effect on MV
equipment which is now considered more in terms of performing an
electrical function in an electrical network.
But we must not lose sight of the fact that supervision is not an end in
itself for our customers, but a means of improving the efficiency of their
electrical network.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

THE ENERGY We mention this segment for information purposes only. It is restricted to
specialists handling very large projects.
TRANSMISSION SEGMENT
Customers range energy producers, to transmission
providers and consumer centres in the form of HV/MV
substations.

The target network is made up of production units (power stations) and

EHV substations.
The requirements are centred on real time network control, in
particular, network management and load optimisation operations
(Energy Management System).
Monitoring and control combines:
■ a remote control centre (dispatching),
■ a set of telecontrolled EHV substations,
■ a set of power generating stations to be managed,
■ a teletransmission network.

The control centres are data processing rooms communications are generally
transmitted over specialised, dedicated telephone lines.
Substation telecontrol requires substations to be equipped with an RTU
(Remote Terminal Unit) interface function.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

THE ENERGY The customers are utilities managing MV networks.

DISTRIBUTION SEGMENT
The target networks are made up of HV/MV and MV/LV substations
(overhead and underground).
The companies (Energy Distribution) running these networks have to offer a
competitively priced and quality electricity product, this strengthens the
interest in telecontrol for MV/LV substations.
Nowadays most utilities employ telecontrol to manage their MV network.
The requirements are centred on real time network control, in particular
when reconfiguration operations have to be made following breaks on
MV distribution loops.
Where monitoring and control comes into its own is in reducing the down time
on these networks, and thus the disruptions to users.
The cost of undistributed energy is a decisive economic factor in the decision
to use telecontrol on MV distribution networks.
The privatisation of the Distribution sector is making the requirement all the
more urgent.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

THE ENERGY Monitoring and control combines:

■ a remote control centre for the whole of the network,
DISTRIBUTION SEGMENT ■ a set of HV/MV and MV/LV substations adapted for telecontrol,
■ a communications system linking the control centre and these substations.
(cont’d)
The control centres are data processing rooms with terminals manned
round the clock by operators running the network.
The HV/MV or MV/LV substations can be telecontrolled by RTUs (Remote
Terminal Units) and incorporate additional monitoring and control functions.
Communications are made either by:
■ specialised, dedicated telephone lines to the HV/MV substations,
■ radio, telephone or MV current mode to the MV/LV substations.

Network control center

Operation
Operation
Reconfiguration
Load management

Specialized lines

Radio / Phone / PLC

HV-MV substation control

data logging local control remote control

RTU
MV-LV substation control
protection & control
Protection Automation Control Measure remote control local control remote control

RTU RTU
Wiring
Wiring
Wiring Wiring

HV MV MV MV MV MV MV MV MV
RMU RMU MV overhead
LV LV switch

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

MONITORING AND The monitoring and control of an HV/MV substation combines 3 main
functions:
CONTROL OF AN HV/MV ■ data exchange to and from the control centre (RTU)
SUBSTATION ■ local control of the substation (PC screen or wallboard)
■ recording of all events in the substation (data logger).

2 technologies are used:

■ conventional: as many devices as there are functions and thus large
amounts of cabling in the substation.
■ integrated: a digital system that processes all the functions and provides
data exchange via an FIP type local network in the substation.

Bus Wiring

data logging local control remote control data logging local control remote control
wallboard

RTU RTU

Wiring
protection & control

Protection Automation Control Measure Protection Control Measure

Wiring
Wiring Wiring
Wiring

HV MV HV MV

Integrated solution Conventional solution

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

MONITORING AND The monitoring and control of an MV/LV substation combines 5 main
functions:
CONTROL OF AN MV/LV ■ data exchange to and from the control centre (RTU)
SUBSTATION ■ detection in the event of an MV fault (fault sensor)
■ supplying energy to operate MV equipment when the MV network is not
powered (charger-rectifier-battery)
■ interfacing with MV equipment
■ local control (often limited to push-buttons, status lights or simplified
terminals).
To reconfigure an MV network which is out of service, the utility has “smart”
points on the MV loops (2-3 per loop as a rule). These points are MV/LV
substations (underground/overhead) that are telecontrolled from a network
control centre. Thus the operator loses no time in isolating the part of the
MV network that is down and restoring supply to the maximum number
of users.
The monitoring and control of an MV/LV substation processes the following
functions:
■ interface with the MV switches,
■ interface with the network control center,
■ flow detection of the MV fault current,
■ charger-battery,
■ man-machine interface,
■ enclosure with environmental hazard.

MV-LV substation control

remote control local control remote control

RTU RTU
Wiring Wiring

MV MV MV MV MV MV MV
RMU RMU MV overhead
LV LV switch

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MONITORING AND The configuration of the monitoring and control of an MV/LV substation can
be depicted as follows:
CONTROL OF AN MV/LV
SUBSTATION (cont’d)
Communication
medium
Radio/Phone/PLC

Teletransmission device

Cabinet
MV MV Eqt Local
Apparatus interface control
RTU
MV network Sensors Data
control processing
Current
function Voltage ■ MV fault
Energy ■ Automation
Power supply/Battery

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

THE INDUSTRY The customers manage the electricity at industrial or

BUILDING SEGMENT commercial facilities connected to the MV and LV networks.

The networks do not cover a wide geographical area.

The MV and LV networks, generally linked to stand-by sources (MV and LV
generator sets), are interlinked through a monitoring and control system
common to the electrical installation.
The requirements are centred on the availability of energy (depending
on how sensitive the customer’s process is) and its cost (reduction of
the electricity bill).

Reduce cost-billing
Check quality supply
Size and
maintain
electrotechnical
ELECTRICAL equipment
UTILITY
SUPPLY
Get updated
image
Improve reliability
Manage cost for account
Measure quality

PROCESS
Get safety
FACILITIES

Industry-Building monitoring and control combines 4 main functions:

■ energy cost savings through tariff management
■ safety through a centralised alarm system
■ control via the remote control of electrotechnical equipment
■ event log-assisted maintenance.

Monitoring and control consists of:

■ a network monitoring and control station
■ devices in the substations that interconnect with MV and LV equipment
■ a communications system between the various elements
■ possibly plc’s to manage load shedding/restoring, source management.

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

THE INDUSTRY The network monitoring and control station is often an easy-to-use PC, that
enables an operating company to detect (via alarms, meters, etc.) and act
BUILDING SEGMENT promptly (by telecontrol of an MV circuit breaker, etc.).
(cont’d) The products used in the electrical substations or MV, LV panels are generally
protection devices that communicate directly with the monitoring terminal
(e.g. Sepam 2000).
Communications are via bus or digital systems that considerably
simplify the cabling in the installation (e.g. J-Bus, Batibus, etc.).

■ Network control center

Operation

■ Substation

data logging local control remote control

protection and control

MV switch

■ Equipment

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The electrical network monitoring and control market

SUMMARY TABLE The monitoring and control market can be summed up in the form of a
customer /level of monitoring and control table
Customers: Energy Transmission/Energy Distribution/Industry-Building.
Level: Equipment/Substation/Network.

THE MT APPLICATIONS OF THE P&C MARKET

Energy Industry/Building
Transmission - Distribution - Distribution - Electrical distribution
EHV substations HV/MV substations MV/LV substations HV + MV + LV
Network
EMS DMS DAS
control
Electrical
RTU RTU control
Substation of networks
control Control of Control of Control of
EHV substations RSN substations MV/LV substations
Network Transmission Distribution Distribution Distribution and machine
protection protection devices protection devices protection devices protection devices

EMS : Energy Management System (transmission network management system)

DMS : Distribution Management System (distribution network management system)
DAS : Distribution Automation System (distribution network operating system)
RTU : Remote Terminal Unit (local data acquisition unit in a substation)

THE SCHNEIDER P&C OFFER

Energy Industry/Building
Transmission - Distribution - Distribution - Electrical distribution
EHV substations HV/MV substations MV/LV substations HV + MV + LV
Network Milénium
Milénium 8800 Milénium 8500 8200 - 8100
control
SMS/
Talus Sprite
Substation ISIS 1000
control ISIS 7000 ISIS 2000 ITI/Telpam/TC

Network Circuit monitor*

S range Sepam VIP
protection Sepam
*Circuit Monitor: LV or MV PowerLogic metering device without protection function.

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