Location
Düsseldorf
Year
Products
FW-5-GATE, FW-50, BCU-50
Protocol
IEC 60870-5-104, IEC 60870-5-103, https, ftps
With around 25.5 million passengers in 2019, Düsseldorf Airport is the largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia. Over 70 airlines take off from here to more than 200 destinations worldwide.
Located in one of the economically strongest regions in Europe with 18 million inhabitants within a radius of 100 kilometers, Düsseldorf Airport is of outstanding importance for meeting the mobility needs of the citizens and the economy in NRW and the south-eastern Netherlands. In addition, as the largest workplace in Düsseldorf with more than 20,000 jobs, the airport provides considerable employment impulses for the state.In order to guarantee the safety of all passengers, Düsseldorf Airport is subject to strict guidelines, which also apply to electricity. To supply the approximately 610 hectares of land with electricity and monitor both the outgoing feeder fields and the diesel generators, the airport has been relying on SAE telecontrol technology to equip its control stations since 2016.
High degree of automation
The airport’s electricity network is a ‘closed distribution network’ in accordance to paragraph 110 of the Energy Industry Act (ENWG). In total, there are around 60 low-voltage systems at the airport, which are almost 100 percent automated. For example, the circuit breakers and load breakers can be controlled remotely. Since the old components were discontinued with the introduction of Windows XP, the entire telecontrol technology is now being replaced: 15 network stations have already been converted, and another 14 will follow soon. In addition, 48 messages and actual values are compared and transmitted for monitoring the diesel aggregates.
The airport has a control room manned around the clock.
Between the control room and the master station and between the master station and the substations, the data is transmitted via the IEC 60870-5-104 protocol. In the substations, protective devices from various manufacturers are also connected via IEC 60870-5-103 protocol.
As network analysis systems, the Sentron Pack4200 from Siemens are used, which are coupled via Modbus-TCP to the SAE telecontrol (FW-5-GATE, FW-50 and BCU-50).
Comfortable & safe
According to the customer, the advantage of using SAE technology lies in the “very easy parameterization and connection”. This is autonomously carried out by the airport staff. To ensure IT security, only secured protocols (https, ftps) and redundant communication paths are used. In addition, Düsseldorf Airport only uses its own copper and fibre optic cables for communication. We look forward to the further course of the project.