Substation Monitoring System; Safe, Reliable, and Economical Operation of the Distribution Grids

 

Substation monitoring system is used to monitor and control distributed power generation remotely. Substation monitoring is important to ensure consistent power supply to end-users. There are different monitoring methods, including both wired and wireless technologies. Wireless technologies include Ethernet, GSM, GPRS, and more. Substation monitoring system consist of various equipment such as APFC panels, relays, transformer, circuit breaker, etc. The system monitors specified parameters such as power factor, temperature, current, voltage, frequency, etc.

 

Substation monitoring system refers to the set of equipment that are used to receive, process, and exhibit signals of interest to be monitored and alarms created to be sent to a central location. Substation monitoring can be either passive or active. The passive system monitors the status of the various appliances or devices from a remote location and if a problem occurs, the alarm is generated at the central station instead of at the locations where the devices are controlled. Whereas, the active monitoring system is used to generate an alarm if the temperature rises or if there is a power failure at the central location.

Substation monitoring system helps in the detection of a wide range of faults and alarms are generated at various locations as and when required to deal with faults quickly. One of the major advantages of using substation monitoring is the cost factor involved. As these systems are able to process and display more than one data source at a time, they are less expensive than systems that require operators to physically access each appliance individually. For example, when a fault is detected at the gate, it alerts the control room that an important device at a particular location is not operating normally and the necessary repairs or replacements can be initiated before damage occurs.

The development and implementation of substation monitoring system is for safe, reliable, and economical operation of the distribution grids. With the increasing demand for the reduction in distribution and transmission losses, the demand for substation monitoring system is also increasing. For instance, in January 2021, the government of Mexico planned to modernize the Buen Tono high voltage electric substation that supplies power to the capital’s metro lines, following a fire that shut down the first six lines of the subway network over the weekend.