pwr_february-2025 - 34

OUTAGE MANAGEMENT
tracking and management. The solution
provides predictive outage analysis that
helps operators determine the probable
fault location so that field crew can quickly
commence restoration activities. "
The company said the SurvalentONE
3. Research by Deloitte based on data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows how power
disruptions are occurring more often, and lasting longer, in recent years. Courtesy: Deloitte
hensive view allows us to track system
performance at both macro and micro
levels. We've developed sophisticated
algorithms that can rapidly assess outage
scope and impact, enabling more
efficient resource allocation and faster
response times. "
Outage Management Systems
Several companies have designed OMS
packages, offering a wide range of services.
At the core of a modern OMS is
a detailed network model of the distribution
system. A utility's geographic
information system, or GIS, is often at
the heart of this network model, finding
outage locations and also areas where a
failure may be imminent. Those include
locating equipment issues along the grid
that could lead to a blackout.
An OMS also can help organize power
restoration efforts, and manage resources
(such as the number of workers needed),
based upon the size of an outage
and its likely duration. An OMS also can
improve safety performance and ensure
regulatory compliance. A highly integrated
system can leverage distribution automation
that supports fully automated
fault location, isolation, and service restoration
(FLISR), which will minimize the
impact of an outage. It can provide higher
visibility into localized outages, and allows
for better planning and restoration
of larger network outages.
Safety is improved through increased
situational awareness and real-time connectivity
between the control room, the
field crew, and SCADA (supervisory control
and data acquisition), which helps
utilities better monitor the network and
crew activity for potential safety hazards.
The OMS also can provide a record
of performance, including during major
weather events, and an electronic audit
trail helps ensure compliance with regulatory
reporting requirements such as
34
system and customer average interruption
and duration indices.
" Oracle offers an outage management
system used in many utility control
rooms around the world, but because
outage management has been and remains
such a critical process for both
utilities and facilities, there are many
mature options in the market to choose
from, " said Eyford. " GE Vernova, Hitachi,
Hexagon, AspenTech, Schneider, Survalent,
Minsait, Trimble, and ETAP are
some of the more common platforms,
but there are many others as well. In
addition, industrial automation systems
and microgrid controllers from providers
like Schneider Electric, Siemens, Eaton,
and GE can act in much the same fashion
for the local devices and networks
that they supervise, and in many cases,
they can provide additional visibility and
flexibility to the utility's central outage
management capabilities. "
An OMS also supports the improvement
of distribution reliability by providing
historical data that can be studied
to find common causes, failures, and
damages leading to blackouts. Improvement
programs can be prioritized with
an understanding of the most common
modes of failure. Hitachi Energy said
its Network Manager OMS is part of
the group's ADMS. It said the system
features a " highly integrated system
leveraging distribution automation that
supports fully automated fault location,
isolation, and restoration, minimizing
the impact of an outage. " The company
said its system " provides higher visibility
into localized outages, and allows for
better planning and restoration of larger
network outages. "
Survalent offers its SurvalentONE
OMS, which it calls " a comprehensive
outage management solution that empowers
utilities to reduce the scale and
duration of outages through efficient
www.powermag.com
OMS " enables transparency between
the control room and field crew, as well
as processes for rapid damage assessment,
to ensure the right crews and
equipment are dispatched at the onset
of restoration. SurvalentONE OMS
integrates seamlessly with SurvalentONE
SCADA and DMS applications to
ensure that all applications share the
same data. For example, FLISR events
are automatically captured in the OMS.
This ensures that all operators, dispatchers,
customer service reps, and executive
team members are equally informed
about the status of outages and restoration
activities, and all integrated applications
are leveraging comprehensive,
accurate data about the system. The
solution's enhanced customer communications
capabilities include automated
text messaging and social media update
capabilities to provide customers with
up-to-date outage information, including
the estimated time of restoration and
safety information. "
MCG Energy Solutions said its outage
management software " provides
features and functionality to manage
outage systems tickets across the entire
lifecycle, including execution and coordination
activities with field operators
and [grid operators]. " The company said
its Versify OMS software and operator
logbook software, known as OpLog,
" utilize a unique workflow enabled architecture
that may be configured to
manage complex processes associated
with outage management, control room
operations [Figure 4], [and] switching
within generation, transmission, and
distribution businesses. "
4. Automated solutions are part of outage
management systems, with features and
functionality that would enable systems and
assets to be controlled from a central location.
Control rooms are becoming more sophisticated
through the use of software and digital
technologies. Courtesy: StockCake
POWER | February 2025

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