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Power Protection Yields Grid Reliability

David Sánchez - Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL)
Vice President of Engineering Services

STORY INLINE POST

María José Goytia By María José Goytia | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Tue, 09/20/2022 - 13:25

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Q: How did Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) enter the Mexican market and what role does the country play within SEL’s global business strategy?

A: Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer, III, founded Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL) in 1982 in Pullman, Washington, USA. The company introduced the world’s first microprocessor protective relay to the electric power industry in 1984. In 1984, Otter Tail Power Company in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, USA, became SEL’s first customer.

The first SEL digital relay, the SEL-21, revolutionized the power protection industry by providing fault locating and real fault data at a much lower cost to the customer than traditional electromechanical relays. It included fault-locating capabilities and acted as an event recorder. Without an event report, it is challenging to troubleshoot what actually happened during an event, delaying power restoration. Utilities would also physically send crews to inspect lines to determine the event location. Dr. Schweitzer’s SEL-21 with fault locating and event recording not only saved utilities time and money but made it possible for power to be restored much faster than before. And it kept crews safe.

The first SEL relay sold outside the US was to Mexico in 1985. CFE has always been a company that seeks to be at the forefront of innovation and is always willing to apply new technologies in its operations. From that moment on, a close relationship between SEL and CFE began, which continues to this day. Many of the new technologies we design have been motivated by the needs of the Mexican market, as CFE has been one of our main global customers for many years.

 

Q: Why should a strategy to improve and strengthen transmission and distribution lines be a priority when considering energy security as a key goal?

A: The National Electricity System (SEN) is growing but transmission lines are not developing at the speed of demand. Investments in transmission lines are expensive, making it challenging to find solutions to the transmission and distribution problem. The ideal answer would be to facilitate the constant growth of infrastructure to transmit electricity efficiently. However, this resolution is not always economically viable.

Companies like SEL are dedicated to creating solutions to increase the reliability, safety, and economy of the electrical power system. SEL has two main solutions for this. We have the world's fastest protection relay, the SEL-T401L, on the market, which can detect a fault and issue a trip command within 1 millisecond, which allows us to have greater stability in the system and transmit more energy, increasing the overall reliability and economy of the system. We also offer PowerMAX, our power management solution. PowerMAX allows SEL to optimize power management and make decisions at the control level while taking care of the SEN and improving its overall operation.

The energy management offered by PowerMAX can take place at three different levels. The first is in local power systems within hospitals, universities or even heavy industries to optimize their energy management. The second use is for grids and microgrids. The third is in remedial action schemes in larger transmission systems. At the end of the day, PowerMAX is a digitized system where we store the information of the entire electrical system we are controlling. By knowing and studying the power system, as well as understanding and testing contingencies, we can make the correct and faster control decisions.

 

Q: How does the expansion of microgrids and smart grids add to the system’s reliability and security in Mexico?

A: Microgrids create multiple benefits for industry, municipalities, and strategic facilities, such as hospitals, universities, and data storage centers. There are some key benefits that microgrids offer. The first is that they allow us to keep the lights on through a constant flow of power to facilities. They also allow us to change our control logic in the event of emergencies, which ensures that power is guaranteed for users connected to these microgrids. Another advantage is that by having greater control over the energy flow, economic benefits can be maximized. The economic dispatch operation of smart grids manages energy costs and determines the optimal internal power dispatch. In addition, microgrids and smart grids facilitate the integration of electricity generation through renewable sources without sacrificing system reliability.

In Mexico, there is enormous potential for the further implementation of microgrids and smart grids. We still have a long way to go if we compare Mexico with other countries. To drive the further development of these solutions, we need the private sector to start demanding them, as this will lead to the market having the necessary incentives to increase the implementation of microgrids and smart grids in different areas.

 

Q: What role is automation playing in improving power protection throughout the SEN?

A: In recent years, the development of communications and automation has been strengthened. Automation within the protection of electrical systems must be oriented to increase reliability and operational efficiency while reducing operating costs. CFE is ahead of the curve when it comes to such issues. SEL’s greatest experience has been integrating transmission systems and substations; we participate very little in power production schemes.

Mexico is at the vanguard of technological development after integrating IEC 61850, the international standard that defines communication protocols for intelligent electronic devices at electrical substations. In 2006, CFE carried out a fascinating exercise in which it asked for the integration of different brands to automate electrical systems. IEC 61850 was applied, and we implemented SEL's highly reliable ethernet networks.

Automation at the different levels of the SEN allows SEL to acquire all available information about the electrical power system and make better control decisions. The key is obtaining this information reliably, efficiently and cyber-secure.

 

Q: How has SEL’s partnership with CFE evolved in recent years?

A: CFE was SEL’s first international customer and our relationship has been close and collaborative ever since. Many of our solutions have been designed and customized for the needs of the Mexican state-owned power company. CFE applies the highest level of engineering in the management and reliability of the electrical system, so we are constantly challenged to improve our solutions and remain innovative. We maintain near-constant communication, which allows us to follow our development pipeline in alignment with CFE’s needs.

CFE maintains a close relationship with all its suppliers and integrates them according to the needs of each project so that through collaboration we can achieve the best solutions. SEL is part of this team within CFE’s projects. While new projects are being developed, SEL maintains operational and maintenance standards for the solutions we have implemented with CFE.

 

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) develops, manufactures, commercializes and supports products and solutions to protect, control and monitor electrical power systems around the world, from industrial plants to high-voltage transmission systems.

Photo by:   Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL)

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