Modern Pumping Today January 2025 - 12

CASE STUDIES
MORE PRECISE
TIMEKEEPING
DEVICE PROVES
CRITICAL FOR
UTILITIES
Substations require exacting
sub-millisecond time synchronization
BY DEL WILLIAMS
P
recise timekeeping is
fundamental to the function
of the power grid and is used
in many applications to improve
reliability, reduce costs, predict
and prevent faults, and check
operation of devices. As such,
the power grid requires precise
time synchronization across
system-wide devices, often with
sub-millisecond accuracy.
To accomplish this, extremely
precise satellite clocks serve as
the time source for the network
time protocol, and the information
is distributed to the other devices
on the network. In fact, satellite
clocks are standard within electric
utility substations and at certain
distribution line locations.
" If all of your distribution points or
substations have access to a satellite
clock, they share a common source
for correlation, " says Nathan Irvin,
product manager of networking
products at NovaTech Automation, a
leading U.S. provider of automation
and engineering solutions for
power utilities headquartered in
Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
12 | JANUARY 2025
Despite being extremely
accurate, utilities are continuously
seeking even greater precision in
timekeeping. Luckily, advancements
in satellite clock design and
programming can enhance accuracy.
Currently, the accuracy is pushing
towards achieving a margin of plus or
minus 20 nanoseconds.
Utilities anticipate significant
benefits from the improved accuracy,
including more precise location of
faults, multi-rate billing, power-flow
monitoring, and event reconstruction.
HIGHLY ACCURATE
SATELLITE CLOCKS
Satellite clocks work by connecting
with orbiting satellites that maintain
precise time using highly accurate
atomic clocks. At the substation,
the satellite clock receives time
from the satellites in orbit. Utilizing
advanced algorithms, it then accounts
for external factors to provide an
accurate time.
To improve the speed of connection
and accuracy, some clocks provide
multi-constellation support, which
provides the ability to lock into
MPT
any available satellites orbiting
the planet. The satellites include
GPS, maintained by the United
States but used globally; European
Union's global navigation satellite
system GALILEO; China's BEIDOU
satellite navigation system; and
Russia's GLONASS global navigation
satellite system.
The satellite clock serves network
time protocol (NTP) to other devices
on the network. These devices are
typically " agnostic " and can be used
as a time source for any device in the
substation, regardless of brand.
Still, companies like NovaTech
continue to invest in research
and development to achieve
even incremental improvements
in clock accuracy in the submillisecond
range.
SEEKING TIGHTER PRECISION
Novatech has long served the
utility industry. The company's
flagship product, Orion, is a
communication and automation
processor that can connect to nearly
any substation device in its native
protocol, perform advanced math
WWW.MPTMAG.COM
http://WWW.MPTMAG.COM
Modern Pumping Today January 2025

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