Cross-departmental communication structure

Description

Cross-departmental communication structure
Stadtwerke Rhede has been using SAE technology for a wide range of tasks in the above-mentioned areas of application since 2013.
Various fibre optic and copper rings are used to connect the RTUs distributed throughout the city. So far, three FO rings, two copper rings and two mixed rings, which consist equally of copper and FO, have been built.
Up to 25 stations per ring are connected and additionally monitored via SNMP protocol (Simple Network Management Protocol).
Besides the continuous control of the components of the FO ring, the advantage is in the design itself: If a station is not supplied due to a fault in the line, it can be controlled from the other side.

Stadtwerke Rhede uses the rings for local network automation, monitoring and control of street lighting, control of the waterworks and gas transfer stations, among other things. Biogas and RES plants are connected directly to the control center via GPRS or LTE using Lucom modems. The compact net-line FW-5 telecontrol station is deployed for these applications.
In the switching stations themselves, the modular RTU net-line FW-50 are installed as the telecontrol equipment. The installation as well as the parameterization in setIT is carried out by the employees of the utility themselves, partly with the support of the SAE project planning department.

All information is transmitted to the “ControlStar” control system from Kisters. It communicates via the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol with the telecontrol technology connected via FlexDSL modems. The RTU in turn communicate via Modbus RTU with the connected short-circuit and earth-fault indicators ComPass B from Horstmann as well as with the network analysis systems type UMG96 from Janitza.
The ComPass B measures the active and reactive power and detects the short circuit and earth fault direction.
The UMG96 monitors the power quality.
The data enables targeted network monitoring, which is of enormous importance both in terms of supply security, potential savings in network expansion planning and for identifying overloads in the network.
In addition, information from protective devices is also recorded in the switching stations using IEC 60870-5-103. In gas transfer stations and in waterworks, the existing PLCs are connected to the telecontrol system via Modbus or 3964R.

“Next to the reliable SAE technology, we especially appreciate the comprehensive support and smooth communication.
Christian Möllmann,
Stadtwerke Rhede

Safety in the ring
The redundant communication paths of the fibre optic or copper rings as well as redundant coupling computers from Kisters reduce the probability of a communication failure to a minimum.
The use of secure protocols (https) and VPN encryption via a dedicated APN at the provider’s premises provide a high degree of IT security for the connected RES stations. Furthermore, the installed network components (FlexDSL) are monitored via the SNMP protocol.