REFERENCE CASE STUDY
The client
Empresa de Electricidade da Madeira (EEM) is a publicly-owned utility responsible for the production, transportation, distribution and commercialization of energy on the Madeira Islands: Madeira and Porto Santo. EEM has over a decade’s experience managing these islands’ electrical networks in conjunction with a large penetration of hydro, wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) production.
The challenge
With increasing investments in wind production and energy storage, as well as a large dissemination of solar PV on homes and smart charging for electric vehicles, EEM needed a new platform capable of providing reliable and secure operations in real time. EEM recognized the potential vulnerabilities of its previous system and its inability to reliably operate and be managed on a small island grid. EEM desired a system that could provide control over the grid not only to increase overall security, but also to optimize resources. Additionally, EEM sought a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to efficiently manage the rising number of renewable resources and distributed energy resources (DERs) being added to the island’s power grid.
The solution
To effectively manage the large penetration of renewables required to make Porto Santo fossil-free, EEM has partnered with Hitachi Energy to use the Network Manager, an integrated network operations platform that includes advanced distribution management system (ADMS) capabilities, to extend grid control and optimization. Network Manager will provide the functionality for EEM to optimize the safe and efficient operation of sub-transmission, medium- and low-voltage distribution networks on the Madeira and Porto Santo islands.
The results
With Network Manager, EEM will be able to efficiently manage their distribution assets, as well as adequately prepare for the changing world of distribution – improving reliability and reducing the impacts of outages. With Network Manager in an active testing phase at EEM, there are already some clear benefits that EEM is anticipating upon full implementation of the solution:
- Increased grid control
- Open architecture for easy integration to other systems
- More energy usage information
Network Manager lays the path for future reliable renewable generation on the Madeira Islands through its operational efficiencies, renewables integration, improved reliability and grid resilience.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Location | Madeira Islands |
| Industry | Publicly-owned utility |
| Solutions used | Network Manager ADMS |