Substation Remote Services: Tracking asset performance from afar

Power distribution system assets sometimes are installed in very remote locations — where service technicians must be helicoptered in, at considerable cost, just to confirm that the assets are operating properly

On the other hand, service technicians may arrive at a remote substation just a little too late, to find that the assets are already severely damaged. Either way, maintaining remote assets is a big gamble.

Substation Remote Services, offered by Siemens, is a way to balance cost and risk for remote assets, and a cornerstone of a power system maintenance strategy.

For example, a new Australian wind farm currently nearing completion, has already begun delivering renewable power to the Australian grid.

The Network Services organization within Siemens Smart Grid Services is responsible for ensuring reliability at the wind farm — specifically by offering a 99.7% availability warranty for electrical balance of plant (eBoP). To achieve near-perfect network availability, Siemens implemented a 24/7 remote monitoring system, supervised from Nuremberg, Germany.

Also, before they were energized, the wind farm’s medium-voltage cables were tested using LIRA technology, confirming that there were no manufacturing or installation defects that might, later on, affect system performance.

Substation Remote Services help optimize maintenance and operation at the wind farm. Also, they ensure data privacy and security without affecting how assets function. And they generate relevant output to directly support decisions based on current infrastructure conditions.

Substation Remote Services are offered as stand-alone service contracts, or as a module of more advanced service combinations.

From their Remote Diagnostic Centers (like this new one being built in Denmark), Siemens manages condition monitoring and incorporates expert advice on assets. At these facilities Siemens combines central expert knowledge for asset and network analysis with local network knowledge for daily operation.

More about Siemens Remote Services, see the fact sheets below.