Hi,
there are many SCADA solutions available, however I would like to know if there are special SCADA solutions specially designed for Power Distribution sector. most of the available SCADA solutions are general purpose aiming on plant/floor automation etc.
Special features looking in power distribution sector can be such as load flow analysis base on real time data, fault locating, dynamic mapping based on the information received from field devices etc.
further, we encounter difficulties when adopting general purpose SCADA system with power sector. here we have to represent power distribution network with available tools. however this is very challenging and difficult to represent a large distribution network using conventional tools available with most SCADA solutions and to represent their dynamic behavior (like real-time voltage drop, conductor loading etc.).
SCADA systems are designed to communicate with sensors that measure some variable, the SCADA systems job is to represent the system in a visual form and provide tools to communicate with those sensors. The power distribution system may be different than other sectors because it uses its own set of protocols to communicate back and forth with the SCADA. This is similar to the Building automation sector where the common communication protocol is BACNet.
General purpose SCADA systems (Ignition included) are designed for Supervision and Control. What makes them different from Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS), Building Automation, etc. is what they don’t do with the data. I’m referring to the applications. For Ignition we only have MES. (so far).
My field is with the EMS and DMS so I can talk about those. What’s different in that area is that parts of the system are connected to other parts. Wires go places and are connected to switches, transformers, cap banks, etc. For small utilities, I can use a general purpose SCADA and draw some lines on a screen and it will meet their needs. For mid to large utilities that’s not good enough. They need the load flow analysis, fault tracking, etc. that you mention. Ignition’s not there yet. The underlying data model is still based on discrete tags. There is no connectivity. Until the devs get that built in, you will have to go to Siemens, Schneider, ABB, etc. and buy a DMS or EMS from them. Even after the devs make the changes, you will have to wait for someone to create the required apps.
Unfortunately, an EMS/DMS takes a large dev team to write and maintain. So these systems cost in the millions. So only the big utilities can afford them. And they want all the bells and whistles. And that takes a big dev team to build and maintain.
I’m hoping that Ignition will break that cycle some day
