Microgrids from Siemens to improve distributed energy supply in Brazil

Siemens will design and install twelve microgrids for the Brazilian utility Centrais Elétricas do Pará (CELPA). These microgrids will be built in power generation plants (distributed energy systems) in the state of Pará. A central control center in Belém will be able to monitor and control these self-contained island networks. Siemens will deliver and install the suitable automation, protection and control technology. This will improve the analysis of plant data and thus increase the availability and reliability of the plants. It will also make it possible to optimize and better plan the service and maintenance work of the service teams, so that fewer deployments on site are necessary. The two power plants furthest apart are at a distance of 890 kilometers from each other. The systems are scheduled to go into service at the beginning of 2018.

The twelve plants are powered with diesel generators and are geographically distributed across the Brazilian state of Pará. With a total output of 80 megawatts they supply power to approximately 160,000 people. The plants are located in Afuá, Alenquer, Faro, Gurupá, Juruti, Monte Alegre, Muaná, Oeiras do Pará, Porto de Moz, Prainha, São Sebastião da Boa Vista and Terra Santa. The region in which the plants are located features rough and almost impassable terrain, and is mainly accessible by river. From Belém to Terra Santa takes about seven days by boat.

"We offer a complete, easy-to-operate system for simple and reliable energy management. In this way we can improve monitoring and control systems and thus increase generation rates, while reducing fuel consumption and improving the reliability of the plants. Another advantage of this system is that downtimes are reduced and the plants can be operated with the highest efficiency parameters," states Sérgio Jacobsen, CEO of Siemens Digital Grid in Brazil.

The scope of delivery from Siemens also includes the equipment for collecting and monitoring local data such as the RTUs (remote terminal units) and the communication interfaces. The protection technology components are supplied by Reyrolle. A monitoring station where all data can be viewed will be installed in each of the 12 plants. Monitoring of all plants will be carried out by a control center based on Sicam SCC. Siemens is to install and set the parameters of all components of the microgrid and will also provide service and training for the plant operators.

Source: siemens.com