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Energy Storage & Grid Integration


Smart Grid Network Best Practices

The Smart Grid is changing the way utilities generate, manage, and deliver electricity. The benefits are numerous as Smart Grid technologies help utilities save time, money, resources and improve customer service. If on the verge of Smart Grid innovation, electric utilities should follow the...

Substation Automation T&D


RTU and HMI Redundancy in Electrical Substations

As the substation RTU takes on more applications, such as Human-Machine-Interface (HMI), alarm annunciation, math & logic and “relay communication processing”, its need for high availability increases. Anything that takes the RTU out of service – configuration change, firmware update, or...

Asset Management & Maintenance


Evolution of Outage Management Systems

Examining the evolution of outage management systems BY GERALD GRAY & JOHN SIMMINS, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Once again, a major storm event, in this case Hurricane Sandy, has brought increased attention to a utility’s capability to respond to and mitigate damage to its...

Distribution Automation


How Distributed Generation is Changing Grid Design

Distributed generation resources takes a giant step forward BY KEN GEISLER, Siemens For the majority of its existence, the electrical grid has been powered with large, remote “centralized” generation. Centralized power plants often need to reach substations serving load centers that...

Utility Automation & Monitoring T&D


How Much DER Fits?

The electric power industry is increasingly having to evaluate the growing penetration of distributed energy resources (DER). New sets of challenges exist for planning and operating the grid, especially with the distribution systems in which these new resources must be integrated. Now electric...

Smart Metering T&D


DOE Grants $2.2B for Transmission and Storage Projects

In a landmark move aimed at accelerating the U.S. transition to a more resilient and sustainable energy grid, the Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a groundbreaking investment of $2.2 billion in innovative transmission and energy storage projects across 18 states. This significant funding...

T&D Automation

Distribution Management Ecosystems

How utilities can yield significant operational benefits

BY JEFF WALZ, Siemens Smart Grid

As North American electric utilities continue to transform their existing electric delivery assets into a smarter grid, strong emphasis is placed on systems, products, and services that provide value in automating and managing the electric distribution network. Within this context, utilities are focusing on four main themes in distribution: reliability, efficiency, safety, and interoperability.

These themes relate directly to the operational objectives...

T&D Automation Articles