- TCN alternates full-scale Scada/EMS application with Stop-Gap Network Automation.
- This step intends to improve grid monitoring and data acquisition from remote stations.
- IoT and VPN technological solutions aided the process.
Municipal engineers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) have deployed a stop-gap solution to improve grid monitoring and acquisition of data from remote stations (power stations and transmission substations) to the National Control Centre. This was achieved by utilising the Internet of Things (IoT) solution and Virtual Private Network (VPN) by using various Internet Service Providers (ISP). A report from TCN noted.
This temporary use of the Network Automation System was deployed to assist TCN in conveying critical operational measurements data from remote stations to NCC using Web Technology, which is an integral component of the IoT. So far, the data received from remote stations has enabled NCC to obtain more insight into the power flow on the grid and has enabled NCC to make decisions that have positively impacted the security and integrity of the grid.
According to TCN, the stop-gap solution became necessary as TCN could not access and receive comprehensive operational data of the entire power grid for managing the fast-growing system. The existing inadequate SCADA System cannot provide adequate grid visibility, as parts of the current SCADA system are moribund and damaged, coupled with an insufficient telecommunication network infrastructure. The fact that several stations were never integrated into the existing SCADA at all made grid visibility and management very difficult and inefficient.
The deployment of this stop-gap solution mitigates most of the challenges posed by the absence of Remote Terminal Units at the stations, which were not captured in the last SCADA World Bank Project of 2004 and the stations that use Substation Automation Systems that are proprietary in design. The design made it difficult to integrate other substations into the existing inadequate SCADA System. Today, however, with TCN’s stop-gap solution the grid operators can see a much wider part of the grid making grid control a lot easier and more efficient.