Power system automation
Primary equipment decides what the system can do. Automation decides whether anyone knows what it is doing.
Operations · In short
Power system automation is the control, monitoring and data layer that sits above the primary electrical equipment. Enersys Engineers designs and delivers substation automation to IEC 61850, RTU and gateway integration, PLC and drive control for plant auxiliaries, energy management and monitoring systems, and the telemetry links that load despatch centres require — covering power, control and automation circuits end to end.
Substation automation
- IEC 61850 station bus architecture with bay-level and station-level devices
- Protection, control and monitoring integration from multiple relay makes
- Time synchronisation by GPS or NTP for sequence-of-event accuracy
- Interlocking and select-before-operate control schemes
- Event and disturbance record collection and retrieval
- Gateway to the utility master station and to the load despatch centre
Plant control and drives
- PLC control panels for auxiliary systems, material handling and process interlocks
- VVFD integration and drive network configuration
- Intelligent MCC with motor protection relays on a fieldbus
- Annunciation, alarm management and first-fault indication
- Operator HMI with mimic, trends and event logging
- Interface to the plant DCS where one exists
Energy management and monitoring
- Sub-metering architecture for section-wise and process-wise energy accounting
- Energy management system with consumption trending and benchmarking
- Power quality monitoring — harmonics, unbalance, dips and interruptions
- Demand monitoring and load shedding schemes to protect contract demand
- Generation reporting for captive and renewable plants
- Remote monitoring and reporting to the owner’s corporate network
Design first, then hardware
Automation projects fail when the data model is designed after the panels are built. The signal list, the interlocking philosophy and the reporting requirement determine the I/O count, the protocol and the panel layout — so they are settled first.
Because Enersys carries out the protection design, manufactures the panels and configures the automation, the signal list is derived from the same single-line diagram the protection scheme came from.
Frequently asked
Can you integrate relays and meters from different manufacturers?
Yes. Protocol conversion between IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-101/104, Modbus and DNP3 is standard scope, and mixed-vendor substations are the normal case rather than the exception.
Do you retrofit automation onto an existing substation?
Yes. Retrofit typically means adding a gateway and RTU to existing relays and meters, and it is far cheaper than replacing primary equipment to gain visibility.
What is a load shedding scheme?
An automatic scheme that disconnects selected non-critical loads when demand approaches the contract limit or when an incomer is lost — protecting the consumer from demand penalties and the plant from a total collapse.
What usually goes with this
These are the adjacent scopes clients most often need alongside it.
SCADA & automation panels
The panel that makes the installation visible — to the operator, and to the load despatch centre that requires the data.
Read more →ManufacturingPMCC — Power & Motor Control Centre panels
One lineup that both feeds and controls the plant. Draw-out construction is what lets you change a starter without shutting the section down.
Read more →ConsultancyEnergy design & system studies
The analytical work that decides whether a plant runs smoothly or trips on its own faults.
Read more →ApprovalsSLDC, RLDC & NLDC registration and scheduling
Registration is a one-off. Scheduling and deviation settlement are for the life of the asset — and they carry real money.
Read more →Need power & automation? Tell us the scope.
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