“The wind always gives us a hard time because, you know, the wind blows here sometimes 70 to 80 miles per hour. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Solution
Lonnie Teal of SGS Engineering designed a standalone SCADA system that used Brownfield Power and Light’s existing feeder protection relays—SEL-351S Protection Systems—along with an SEL-3530 Real-Time Automation Controller (RTAC). The SEL-3530 was chosen for its HMI capabilities as well as its ability to communicate with other manufacturers’ devices via industry-standard protocols. SEL-3031 Serial Radio Transceivers were also added to the system to provide communication between third-party devices.
Results
Brownfield Power and Light’s new SCADA system came in under the $50,000 budget, and the system was up and running in just four days. Personnel can now perform the following activities remotely from the safety of their office:
- Operate the circuit reclosers and circuit breakers.
- Monitor a circuit that is heavily loaded, and shift the load as needed.
- Gather, view, and analyze events via the HMI.
“The City of Brownfield ended up with a complete SCADA system for control and real-time data under $50,000. That was the main goal, and thanks to Schweitzer, we were able to achieve that goal.”