NPPD Opts OSI's SCADA/EMS System to Optimize Transmission Performance

By CIOReview | Tuesday, October 20, 2015

FREMONT, CA: The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), Nebraska’s largest electric utility has chosen Open Systems International (OSI), a provider of high-performance automation solutions for the utilities to supply SCADA/EMS system. The SCADA/EMS system is based on OSI’s monarch platform.

An energy management system (EMS) is a system of computer-aided tools used by operators of electric utility grids to monitor, control, and optimize the performance of the transmission system. The monitor and control functions are known as SCADA. The computer technology is referred to as SCADA/EMS or EMS/SCADA. It specifically points to the collective suite of power network applications and to the generation control and scheduling applications.

Energy management systems are commonly used by individual commercial entities to monitor, measure, and control their electrical building loads. They can be used to centrally control devices like HVAC units and lighting systems across multiple locations, such as retail, grocery and restaurant sites. EMS also provides metering, submetering, and monitoring functions that allow facility and building managers to gather data and insight that allows them to make more informed decisions about energy activities across their sites.

The latest SCADA/EMS system for NPPD includes .NET based Graphical User Interface (GUI); Remote Console GUI; Dynamic Tabular Display Subsystem; Data Engineering and Maintenance Subsystem; Advanced Alarm Management System; Real-time and Historical Trending; Communications Front-end Processor; Historical Information System and Data Archiving; Inter-control Center Communications Protocol; Calculation & Scripting Subsystem; Load Shed and Restoration; Automatic Generation Control and Dispatch; Market Operations System; and Network Security Analysis software. It also provides State Estimation and Contingency Analysis functions along with an Operator Training Simulator for realistic simulation of the transmission network.