THE TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF A REMOTE CONTROLLED DISTRIBUTION SUBSTATION

The connectivity, flexibility, intelligence, and real-time control capabilities of computer system and its field sensory instruments have lead electric utility companies to consider the use of computers, smart sensors and telecommunication networks. The application of a computerized system in such an environment includes data acquisition, supervisory control, status monitoring, operation optimization, and data management. The electrical utilities demand fast data sampling, higher sensor and computer display resolutions, distributed control processing, reliable communication, easy-to-use software and operator interfaces. The computerized system should deliver the right information, to the right people, at the right time. The computerized system would use a distributed processing technique to achieve a comprehensive power quality monitoring, demand estimation and system monitoring and control at a low overall cost. The system would comprise of a personal computer based at a centralized Master Control Center and a number of remote data gathering and control cells with local display stations. This paper presents the technology and the economic benefits of using a computerized system hereinafter called SCADA (Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition) for remote sensing and process control. The paper also discusses the SCADA application in a power distribution system.