S&C and IntelliTEAM II® Play Critical Role in the Largest Distribution Automation Project in Canada.

ENMAX Power Corporation has initiated a five-year plan to automate eighty 25-kV lines and the worst-performing 13.8-kV feeders in the Calgary, Alberta, service territory. ENMAX’s system reliability goal is to move the utility’s SAIDI and SAIFI statistics from the second quartile to the first as measured against sixteen Canadian peer utilities’ performances. Nineteen 25-kV feeders were included in the first phase, which went live in March 2004. Phase Two, which involves fifteen 13.8-kV feeders, is targeted for an early 2005 completion date.

S&C has played an active role in this large-scale project. S&C developed a project team consisting of S&C’s Toronto-based Power Systems Services group, along with distribution automation specialists from S&C Chicago and Subnet Solutions in Calgary, to meet the unique Enmax project requirements.

Enmax’s system utilizes S&C’s patented IntelliTEAM II® Automatic Restoration System. IntelliTEAM II is an advanced distribution automation system which utilizes distributed intelligence and peer-to-peer communications to constantly monitor the power system. When a fault occurs on the line, the system sectionalizes the line to isolate the faulted section, and then restores service to all unfaulted line sections. IntelliTEAM II utilizes multiple circuit ties in a wide variety of circuit configurations to maximize the probability that a restoration solution can be found. Further, the system uses distributed intelligence to prevent line overloads — enabling Enmax to apply automation on circuits that would have otherwise been unsuitable for the task.

One of the most challenging aspects of the project was incorporating feeder breakers into the control scheme, most of which are controlled by electro-mechanical relays. Enmax and S&C’s project team developed a centralized programmable logic module for restoring the first line segment outside of the substation. The software program interface detects breaker trips and lockouts, and integrates the information with 5800 controls on the feeder to determine fault location. If the fault is beyond the first automated switch, the logic closes the breaker automatically. The substation logic system is integrated with the IntelliTEAM II system on the feeder to provide a complete automation solution for Enmax.

For switch communications, ENMAX’s fiber-optic SCADA WAN (wide area network) was utilized. Ethernet access was integrated at each substation for the link to each group of peer-to-peer radio communications. This will reduce the required number of repeater radios and communication delays inherent in a mesh type peer-to-peer radio network. For remote data acquisition, S&C’s WinMon® Graphical User Interface provides full, on-line access to the configuration, as well as the ability to change IntelliTEAM II parameters.

Since the project began in May 2003, 14 S&C Remote Supervisory PME Pad-Mounted Switchgear units and 32 Scada-Mate® Switches with 5801 controls have been deployed. A total of 200 automated load-break switches will be used to automate 80 of approximately 200 distribution feeders in ENMAX’s system when the project is complete.

For more information on IntelliTEAM II and S&C’s complete family of distribution automation products, contact your nearest S&C sales office. And learn more about how IntelliTEAM II works with S&C’s online demo.