need to make our operations center ’ s life easier .”
Cordova adds , “ As an example , we have added an overview page that gives us a view of the entire system in one glance , eliminating the need to scroll through multiple screens to see what has happened at any of our 16 substations . If there ’ s an alarm , the overview page shows you exactly what happened and where in a very easy-to-understand layout .” of the network without entering the IP address of each substation . To further improve efficiency , NovaTech installed an Orion SCADA server in the Glades ’ IT room to act as a hub or data concentrator .
NovaTech is designing a load management page that will help Glades decide which feeders to turn off in a blackout rotation response to a volt electric emergency .
Today , Glades is about halfway through their coop wide RTU replacement having installed Orion units at seven of their substations together with a data concentrator . When completed , they will have replaced their RTUs in all 16 substations .
“ With the latest advancement in technology , there ’ s so much more that can be automated . Many utilities are under-utilizing their systems simply by not turning on features that could eliminate manual interventions ,” said Cordova .
Collaboration for optimal configuration According to Cordova , the implementation has been very smooth despite executing the upgrade while working under the constraints of the pandemic .
The project scope included product , configuration , assembly services , testing , and site commissioning .
“ In our case , there was a lot of data that we could have been collecting that we were not ,” said Cordova . “ Bottom-line , we were simply not taking full advantage of what we had . So , this time , with the help of NovaTech , we have configured a much more useful and tailored product that also is much better supported .”
For the project , NovaTech assigned an engineer to build the system from scratch while working closely with Glades ’ technicians .
“ Having an expert involved helps us considerably because it enables us to customize as we build ,” said Cordova . “ This ensures that we have the features we
A cautionary tale The lack of customer support that Glades experienced prior to selecting NovaTech resulted in a sub-optimized system configuration that created unnecessary manual work for their staff and increased their exposure to product failures because of the lengthy vendor response times .
10 TEC Magazine • December 2021