Cooper Power Systems has joined Elster’s Advanced Grid Infrastructure (AGI) Initiative.
The AGI Initiative is a collaborative effort between utilities, Elster and key technology providers to create solutions to modernize and improve the operation and reliability of utility distribution networks. One of the major objectives of the AGI Initiative is to leverage advanced metering infrastructure AMI to enable smart grid applications for the distribution system. Elster and Cooper Power Systems have successfully demonstrated DNP/IP SCADA communications through Elster’s EnergyAxis AMI system and Cooper Power Systems intelligent capacitor controller. Utilities are evaluating improved voltage control as a practical means of achieving voltage and energy conservation. Capacitor controllers such as the Cooper Power Systems CBC 7000 allow utilities to better regulate distribution voltages and reduce system loading.
The integration of these leading Smart Grid technologies will allow existing SCADA management systems, or other advanced systems, such as Cooper Power Systems Yukon Advanced Energy Services Platform, to perform standard operations over the EnergyAxis AMI Network on third-party IP enabled SCADA devices, such as Cooper Power Systems CBC 7000 Series Capacitor Bank Controllers.
“EnergyAxis customers can use Yukon’s Integrated Volt/VAR application and capacitor bank controls for voltage and power factor optimization, increasing efficient energy delivery to the home, reducing system losses and the customer’s carbon footprint,” said Tom Pitstick, vice president and general manager of the Energy Automation Solutions division at Cooper Power Systems.
The AGI initiative has allowed Elster and its collaborators to deploy new applications using AMI. EnergyAxis, a smart grid solution with more than 3.5 million endpoints deployed with utilities across North America, enables utilities to realize grid modernization applications such as:
- Power Factor Correction
- Voltage conservation to reduce energy consumption
- Voltage monitoring across the distribution grid
- Load shedding
- Outage detection
- Transformer monitoring
- Detection of non-technical losses
