POWER December 2021 - 31

TRANSMISSION & DISTRIBUTION
can enable even more agility by moving
the intelligence out to the edge of the
network in substations where it is closer
to distributed assets. Transformers now
come with central processing units
built in, and they are connected to the
internet through wireless routers. This
eliminates the need to bring data all the
way back to a central control center to
analyze. Instead, Ameren's operators can
now make and automate decisions out
just as much about control. Utilities can
build triggers into their remote monitoring
solutions that automatically kick off
an action based on pre-set conditions.
This streamlines workflows, frees up
time for your operators, and speeds
time to resolution. For example, a utility
can integrate its asset management
solution with workorder management to
automatically create a work order for a
downed asset.
It's simply not practical anymore to have
human operators sifting through terabytes
of monitoring data across thousands of
assets-wading through thousands of
signals and alarms each day to differentiate
between issues that are actionable
and issues that are statistical noise.
on the edge.
Armed with this intelligence and connectivity,
Ameren's assets in the field
can communicate with each other, exchange
information, and train themselves
to optimize performance and
availability (Figure 2). They can automatically
balance electrical load, failover
transformers, and take other proactive
actions to prevent overload or failures
on a granular level before they happen
without human intervention.
Five Considerations
But not all intelligent remote monitoring
solutions are created equal. Here are
five things to watch for when evaluating
a solution for your unique needs.
Unified Network Management.
Operators are dealing with growing, increasingly
complex grids, making it essential
that they have complete visibility
across traditional boundaries of transmission
and distribution networks. Look
for a remote monitoring solution that
provides operators with a single, unified
view of the whole electrical network that
delivers enhanced situational awareness
and advanced network applications. This
includes remote supervisory operation,
advanced distribution management,
transmission management, generation
management, and market management-all
in a single, intuitive view.
Intelligent Automation. Remote
monitoring isn't just about visibility-it's
December 2021 | POWER
Self-Healing Powered by AI/ML.
Some of these automated actions can
revolve around self-healing. Intelligent
remote monitoring solutions can use AI
and ML to make the grid less prone to
outages. Imagine that a storm takes out
a series of transformers in an area. Typically,
a technician would be sent out to
make repairs and get the system back
up and running, but customers could
be out of service until the service call
is complete. A service mesh would automatically
reconfigure the network to
close the coverage gap. Operators could
then work with technicians in the field to
get the damaged equipment back online.
This is done through self-healing algorithms
that train themselves to identify
and resolve issues on the fly.
Visualization. No one wants to look
at spreadsheets and databases all day.
Your intelligent remote monitoring solution
should have a visualization engine
built in that presents pertinent data in
a way that operators can easily and
quickly understand and take appropriate
action. Alerts should be color coded
and conspicuous, and should provide all
the necessary context needed for resolution.
Standard and custom reports
should be intuitive and easy for nontechnicians
to understand.
Scalable and Elastic. Grids will continue
to grow in size and scope, and
your remote monitoring solution needs
to scale in step. Who knows what towww.powermag.com
2.
Intelligent and well-connected remote
monitoring systems allow a wide range of assets
to communicate with each other. Meanwhile,
artificial intelligence and machine
learning tools enable automated actions that
can assist operators in maintaining a reliable
and resilient power grid. Courtesy: Hitachi
Energy
morrow's technology will bring? It's
important that you build for today but
plan for tomorrow. This requires a flexible,
modular architecture built on opensource
platforms so you can essentially
plug in new assets and third-party systems
easily and seamlessly with little or
no configuration required. You may also
want to consider a hosted solution built
for the cloud that gives operators visibility
and control wherever there is an internet
connection. In terms of features,
start with monitoring and then expand
as needed to include control, reporting,
redundancy, and network topology in response
to current and future needs.
Build for Today, Design for Tomorrow
Today's grids are nothing like the grids
of yesteryear. They are decentralized and
dynamic, and need to be carefully and intricately
managed and modulated to deliver
electricity on demand to wherever it
is needed. Human operators need help.
Thankfully,
intelligent remote monitoring
solutions powered by AI/ML provide
near-real-time control and analysis of grid
production and health as well as predictive
optimization and planning.
Make sure you look for a solution that
provides unified network management;
can streamline workflows through automation;
is self-healing; presents alerts
and other information in a compelling,
visual manner; and can grow in size and
scope with your electrical grid. Doing
so will result in operational efficiencies,
renewables integration, improved reliability,
and grid resilience-essentially
a future-proof electrical grid built for
today's capabilities and designed for tomorrow's
opportunities. ■
-Bryan Friehauf is senior vice president
of Enterprise Software Solutions at
Hitachi Energy.
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POWER December 2021

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