National control center (PcVue)

The corporation Iberdrola Renewables implemented the project for National command center. The selected software solution - SCADA- a system PcVue, for observation of wind farms in the USA. Each of 2479 turbines provides from 300 to 350 data points that approximately makes from 700000 to 850000 data points of input-output approximately on two tens servers.

Solution

Iberdrola Renewables performed the project for National command center (Portland, the USA).

Implementation

Essential element of this system is SCADA system. The control block containing the programmable logic controller (PLC), the transformer of power, a payment of management and also the input-output device located in an upper part is installed in each wind turbine.

Data from speed sensors and the direction of wind, rotational speed of a shaft and a great number of others gather and transferred to a PLC. Defining the directions of wind, the management system uses the mechanized device for a turn of all wind turbine in the required direction, providing maximum efficiency of electricity production. All wind turbines are connected to a local network, at the same time the control block at the top of each tower uses Ethernet for connection to the tower basis.

The local network is connected is organized by the principle of a dual fiber optic ring including a management system which regulates and collects data configures settings of the turbine and provides an intelligent system of signaling, search and fault recovery and also issue of reports using the central rallying point of data and the equipment of the management located to Portland, the State of Oregon.

The central control station is equipped with a system SCADA PcVue which is kind of "brain" of wind farms. This system connects separate turbines, substations, meteorological stations, the aviation radar for detection of birds and bats and other observation systems behind conservation to a central control station. With its help operators can watch work of all wind farms as whole. Registering actions with certain time frames, PcVue allows the operator to define what actions for setup and correction should be undertaken already in the manual mode.

Powerful benefit of use of PcVue as main system of SCADA consists that it is not tied to any certain types of controllers.

Nuances of the solution

For data acquisition from different PLCs Iberdrola Renewables uses OPC. In real time with gateways Iberdrola applies OPC Data Access Client PcVue and OPC DA XML Client to data exchange, and OPC DA Server is applied to simplification of data exchange with third-party applications. All collected data are sent century National command center.

Feedback

"PcVue is recognized reliable, scalable and simple in configuring. PcVue provides uniform user representation which provides evident display, and general management with the uncountable systems on site from a PLC, HMI and management systems installed on turbines, - Harm Toren, the head of operational and production service Iberdrola Renewables told. - As in addition to control and control of our turbines we watch relocation of aircraft and weather, we need a system which provides the graphic user interface, simple and convenient for viewing, that we could react on the first demand of".