Transmission grid control centre upgrade

Advisory services for establishing a new state-of-the-art backup control centre and replacement of the existing load dispatch centre

Client
Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC) Oman
OETC monitors and controls the Omani electricity transmission network from their load dispatch centre (LDC) in Muscat. The main electricity transmission network operates at high voltages of 132 kV and 220 kV with new transmission assets at 400 kV transmitting 22 TWh per annum.

Background
OETC will replace their current SCADA-EMS that has reached the end of its economic life time. 78 substations are connected to their load dispatch centre through substation control systems with remote terminal units using the IEC 60870-5-101 communication protocol. The LDC is interconnected to three distribution control centres: MEDC, MZEC and MJEC. OETC wants to establish a new state-of-the-art backup control centre (BCC) and upgrade their existing LDC. The new system will communicate with substations and uses thee IEC 60870-5-104 protocol.

Services
DNV wrote the technical specification and prepared the tender dossier for OETC to float the tender. DNV carried out the technical evaluation and assisted with awarding the project. DNV managed the factory and site acceptance testing, assisted the supplier with their implementation planning and reported project progress to the OETC steering committee.

Our high-level design described the SCADA hardware and software, automatic generation control, and integration of energy management, together with telecommunication and inter control centre connectivity. For both the new BCC and the existing LDC, ergonomics and civil design were taken into account. We liaised with generation and distribution companies, supervised the project including installation, commissioning and acceptance testing. An important topic was interconnecting the LDC and BCC to the Salalah control centre as well as to the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) via an inter control centre communication protocol.

Benefits
Oman Electricity Transmission Company will improve the reliability of the service, security of supply and the operation and control of the electricity transmission network. They will reduce operational costs and achieved full grid code compliance in operation and dispatch. Interruptions of system operations will be eliminated and the user friendliness in operation and maintenance significantly improved.