Hitachi Energy’s Network Manager WAMS modernizes real-time grid management

By 2050, nearly 90 percent of global electricity is expected to be generated from renewables such as low-carbon, converter-based energy sources like solar and wind ¹. With the high penetration of renewable generation and HVDC connectors, power system operations are fundamentally changing and now there is an urgent need to dynamically observe the grid and enhance situational awareness.

Enter wide area monitoring system (WAMS), a digital solution that reveals the true state of the grid based on high-frequency data streamed from phasor measurement units (PMUs) located across vast geographical areas. PMUs are devices that accurately measure the magnitude and phase angle for the AC voltage or current at a specific location on a power line and can be used to determine frequency and identify real-time system conditions.

Hitachi Energy predicts that WAMS will undergo a strategic shift from being a post-event fault analysis application to the forefront of utility control room operations. WAMS will become a critical application for real-time grid management. 

Advancing the future of grid operations

Taking advantage of these market forces, Hitachi Energy has significantly modernized its Network Manager WAMS, enabling control room operators to proactively manage the grid, detect real-time disturbances before they cascade into serious disruptions or widespread blackouts, and maintain the grid’s stability and reliability today and in the future. Hitachi Energy has:

1. Introduced data from the field into control room operations 
   With the rapid increase in converter-based renewable sources, it is crucial to arm control room operators with a real-time readout of unplanned variations in voltage or currents. PMUs provide high-frequency, high-resolution visualizations of power system dynamics. Through its WAMS, Hitachi Energy has put PMU data in the hands of control room operators.
   
   The company is combining traditional energy management system (EMS) measurements with high-resolution PMU data points, giving operators enhanced awareness of the dynamic state of the power system through real-time visualizations of sub-synchronous oscillations, system interactions, and voltage angle stability.

2. Integrated with Network Manager SCADA/EMS
   Hitachi Energy has integrated Network Manager WAMS with its supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and EMS to grant operators access to all the information through a single pane of glass. This unique integration brings new, advanced indications into the operator environment and enables operators to directly use PMU measurements and high-frequency WAMS calculations within existing EMS applications, such as state estimation, parameter estimation, and voltage stability analysis.
   
   Integrating WAMS with EMS and providing access to network model data opens the door to advanced PMU-based applications, such as oscillation and stability monitoring, linear state estimation, inertia monitoring, and fault location, among others. Operators gain an early warning of unsafe operating conditions and can deploy reserves and classic generation to shore up inertia and avert disruptions and catastrophic power blackouts.

3. Developed a single user interface
   To  ease access and administration and improve usability and reaction time for grid operators, Hitachi Energy has developed an intuitive, modern user interface (UI) that unifies SCADA/EMS and WAMS into a single view – believed to be the first common UI in the marketplace. This powerful UI assists operators in daily operations and gives them the unified visibility they need to manage the grid proactively.

“Digital control solutions accelerate our ability to meet the urgent demands of the energy transition and provide a sustainable energy future for all,” said Andy Howell, Global Head of Enterprise Software Solutions, Grid Automation for Hitachi Energy. “At Hitachi Energy, we develop our digital solutions with the following major tenets in mind: we use technology that scales for future growth; can handle large amounts of data; is highly secure, flexible, and intuitive; eases operational and administrative burdens; and empowers users to take actions that improve grid stability and elevate the lives of end consumers. Today, Network Manager WAMS delivers on the promises of our digital solutions and solves some of grid operators’ largest challenges at scale and speed.” 

Building Network Manager to be future-ready 

As the power grid continues to change, the systems that control it must become more flexible, optimize the outcome of the grid, allow for faster time-to-value, and minimize the total cost of ownership. Hitachi Energy is continuously modernizing its entire Network Manager grid and generation management portfolio, including the tech stack on which it is built. Network Manager WAMS has been cloud-enabled to provide critical scale and accelerate the application’s computing power for processing large volumes of data. This demonstrates that Network Manager solutions are executing against its vision and ready for the future. 

To learn more about Network Manager’s SCADA, transmission, distribution, generation management, and energy market solutions:

• Visit us at CIGRE 2024 Paris Session, Hitachi Energy Palais des congrès, Stand No. S175.

• Meet with us at T&D World LIVE Atlanta, booth 301.

• Register for our upcoming webinar, “Conduit Power rapidly launches Network Manager in the cloud.”