Category: SCADA

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January-June 2010 Research Activities: Status Report to Our Clients and Readers

EMS, SCADA, DMS Study. The first volume (North America) of this expansive four-volume study will be released in July. We have already surpassed the levels of participation obtained in the past two studies, with more than 100 mid-size to TOP 10 electric power utilities providing their control systems usage patterns and plans. Meanwhile, the international research effort is coming along well, with utilities from more than 20 countries participating within the first two weeks of commencing this portion of the study. The Supplier Profiles volume is being updated with fresh information from all leading integrators of T&D control systems around the world.

Substation Automation Study. This study is revving up to get underway with client inputs and reviews of the survey questions. The new survey will be fielded worldwide in late September through early November. We again hope to obtain participation from about one half of significant world electric power utilities.

Global Electric Utility CAPEX Report: Completed in the first quarter of 2010, this report has been quoted in business publications and used in briefings by some of the very large management consulting firms around the world. The formal title is Global CAPEX and O&M Expenditure Outlook for Electric Power Transmission and Distribution Investments: 2010-2011 – Funding Outlook for Smart Grid Development.

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Preliminary Findings from Mid-2010 Study of Energy Management Systems, SCADA and DMS/DA Systems

June 21, 2010 update. This interim client summary is based on tabulations of 65 survey completions from very large, large and mid-size North American utilities, together accounting for about 20% of served end-users. Bold print indicates a change from the preliminary findings released on June 14. These observations on some of the key topics covered in this year’s study (the 12th Newton-Evans Research world study of EMS, SCADA and DMS/DA over the past quarter century) will continue to be updated for clients as our sample size increases dramatically. The current sample represents about 20% of North American end users of electricity. The next update will feature observations and findings from more leading investor-owned utilities and will represent about 25% of served North American end users.

Smart Grid Initiatives – Funding

  • Most utilities plan to proceed with self-funded approaches to smart grid initiatives. Nearly 80% indicated that they would be making some effort over the next 24-36 months on funding smart grid initiatives.

Control Systems Upgrades and Replacements

  • Several upgrades and system replacements are being planned for EMS (23%) and for SCADA (29%) during the 2010-2012 periods.

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The Potential Role of Technology Transfer for Managing the Emerging Smart Grid…

A Look at Commercial Aviation’s Cornerstone Operations Control System to Provide Regional and Nationwide Operations Management for Electric Power

I want to take this opportunity to provide our web site visitors and our Market Trends Digest readers (upcoming spring 2010 edition) with some summary information about what we believe to be one of the country’s most advanced implementations of something akin to what we have been discussing for the past few years as an emerging requirement for the national’s smarter electric grid operations.  The FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure System (or FTI) is perhaps the best example I have seen of a system of effective management tools for nationwide situational awareness and visualization so vital to the daily operation of a communications-centric community as air traffic.  

Recently I had an opportunity to tour the FAA’s Telecommunications Infrastructure control center.  I came away from this “system of systems” quite impressed,  this after visits to perhaps 60-65 major utility and pipeline operations control centers in several countries in the course of my career.  In fact, this particular system is probably the largest (encompassing the entire United States) and without a doubt, one of the more sophisticated and most complex communications control and network management systems in existence. 

Continue reading The Potential Role of Technology Transfer for Managing the Emerging Smart Grid…

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Remote 2008 Conference & Expo – SCADA, Device Networking, M2M, Wireless Technology, Onsite Power and Security for Remote Sites

The Remote 2008 Conference and Expo will be held November 5-6, 2008 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel, Atlanta, GA. This technology-driven and solution oriented event brings together innovators and users from multiple industries, including utilities, power, oil & gas, telecom, industrial, water & public utilities, agriculture and facilities management.

The conference will focus on the leading advancements for the monitoring and management of distributed equipment and facilities, remote assets, automated process & system controls and device networks. Industry experts will speak on SCADA, security (cyber and physical), control, automation, onsite and back-up power, M2M, networking, emerging wireless technology, telemetry, environmental monitoring, grounding and remote smart services.

Newton-Evans CEO Charles Newton will be Keynote Speaker on Thursday morning, and he will speak on Trends in Substation Automation, Control Center Operations and Field Automation for the World’s Utilities. Mr. Newton will provide a synopsis of findings from Newton Evans Research Company’s 2008 global study of substation automation and control center SCADA operations. These research studies encompassed current issues, including cyber security for NERC CIPS compliance, communication protocol usage and overall smart grid investment focus for utilities located in more than 50 countries. Coverage of additional remote monitoring and control functions such as FDIR (fault detection, isolation and service restoration) being performed by electric utilities will be included in the presentation.

Additional information available from the Remote Site and Equipment Management website.

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News Release: International Control Systems Operations and International Study of Electric Power SCADA and Energy Management Systems

Ellicott City, MD——-March 21, 2008. Newton-Evans Research Company today released preliminary findings and observations from its multi-month study of transmission and distribution monitoring and control systems used in international electric power utilities.

Click here to read the rest of the article (.pdf opens in a new window.)

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Interim Findings from SCADA Study

Some of the interim findings of Newton-Evans’ North American EMS/SCADA/DMA study have been cited in an article published by www.metering.com. The article, titled, Significant activities underway to develop smart grid components, highlights the Automated Metering Infrastructure and Outage Management System portions of our study. Click here to read the article (Article opens in a new window.)