Siemens has received an order from Amprion to supply a new grid control system for the transmission grid operator’s Brauweiler main control center. The goal is to build a cutting-edge grid control system in partnership with Amprion, one that fulfills the requirements that grid control systems must meet today and in the future. The Spectrum Power 7 system used will not only assist the control engineers in monitoring and managing the transmission grid but also improve operational management of renewable energy sources.
“In our partnership with Amprion, we will help make the new Brauweiler main control center a benchmark in the ENTSO-E environment. Equipped with our new Spectrum Power 7 system, Amprion will be well prepared to meet future grid management challenges,” said Jan Mrosik, CEO of the Siemens Energy Management Division.
Amprion’s main control center is located in Brauweiler on the outskirts of Cologne, Germany. From there, the company monitors the approximately 11,000-kilometer high-voltage grid. The Brauweiler main control center will also perform other coordination functions within the integrated European grid managed by ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) as well as for the German energy market. The new grid control system for Amprion’s main control center will be installed in a new building, which will use a rear projection wall, possibly the largest in Europe, for visualization.
“With Siemens as our technology partner, we will build the world’s best grid control system in the coming years,” said Amprion’s CTO Klaus Kleinekorte. “With our experience in managing a highly available transmission grid for supplying power in Germany and Europe, combined with Siemens’ forward-looking grid control system, we will have an outstanding technological solution that will make us well prepared to meet current and future challenges.”
Siemens will customize its modular Spectrum Power 7 grid control system to Amprion’s requirements. An innovative, enhanced user interface will be used which significantly improves the ability of control engineers to take action in the event of critical grid states. The system will implement new display methods and operate with a technological keyboard in which the keys are arranged according to the process-based workflow. An interface module integrated into the control system will also allow Amprion to connect additional third-party systems to the control system in the future for handling different business process, so that the grid operator can flexibly adapt to changing market requirements. Amprion will use the new control system for simulations, online grid calculations as well as for infeed and load management.
A new adaptive protection function will be integrated in the control system. Combined with overhead line monitoring, this function is used to dynamically adapt the system limits to climatic conditions. In addition to Brauweiler, Siemens will also install the system in a redundancy facility. Both systems have an identical structure and can operate independently.