mally ,” said Cordova .
Glades had three primary goals in mind with their replacement . Given the inconsistencies with their existing system , reliability was foremost in mind . Scalability was also a key criterion . They wanted a system that could grow with their network , which also meant the ability to integrate with peripheral devices at their substations . Finally , the new system needed to be user-friendly .
“ Our typical substation has voltage regulators , transformers , and circuit switchers ,” said Cordova . “ We also have voltage regulators , capacitor banks , reclosers , and trip savers downstream . For maximum operability , we need all of these devices integrated into our SCADA system .”
Cordova added , “ We have a team of nine , and not having to travel to update these devices saves us money , time , and most importantly , improves employee safety . We want to reduce how much time people spend directly interfacing with the equipment at our substations .”
Cordova attended a user symposium hosted by a leading substation automation provider , Pennsylvania-based NovaTech Automation , where he was introduced to the company ’ s Orion RTUs and SCADA systems .
“ I attended a two-day class that included a demonstration of their system ,” said Cordova . “ I was able to work with some of their equipment and configure it , which was very informative . Having that kind of hands-on experience and access to product information enabled us to complete a thorough evaluation . One of the things we were impressed with was the intuitiveness of the Orion web interface .”
A stepwise implementation Glades approached the replacement of their system in a phased , step-by-step approach beginning with the replacement of a single RTU . The idea was to connect an Orion RTU to their existing SCADA system to evaluate its performance and compatibility before making a more significant investment .
“ We took advantage of the Orion RTU ’ s integrated online connectivity to serve up communications more efficiently ,” said Cordova . “ By typing the IP address of the new RTU , we could directly access it through a web browser to see the substation online .”
Based on this initial phase , Glades decided to move forward with a second RTU implementation .
About the same time , the second RTU was delivered to the next network location , a transmission station , the existing SCADA top-end failed unexpectedly , causing Glades to lose situational awareness at that location temporarily . Chronic technical support response time issues with the existing vendor-led Glades to decide to upgrade their entire system at this point – 16 substations and their SCADA top-end .
NovaTech addressed the need for situational awareness of the field through the SCADA system configuration . Devices in the substation serve up their own data on a graphic view . A top-end unit in the office governs all these units and allows a single viewpoint
8 TEC Magazine • December 2021