The Distributech conference, which is geared toward utilities and is largely focused on the electric transmission and distribution industry, was held this week in San Antonio. Amongst all the continuing “Smart Grid” presentations and discussions, there were also conversations about “IT/OT Integration” and “IT/OT Convergence”. (“IT” is an abbreviation for Information Technology; “OT” is an abbreviation for Operational Technology.) While it’s not a brand new topic, it’s still common to hear the questions “What is IT/OT integration?”, “Which systems are considered IT and which systems are considered OT?”, and probably most importantly, “What is the value of IT/OT integration to a distribution organization?” Let me address a few points.
First, there are different perspectives on what is IT and what is OT. From my viewpoint, IT and OT can be defined in the table below.
Table copyright of Ventyx, an ABB Company
There are other ways of dividing IT and OT. Mine are based on personal observation and discussions with others in the power industry.
The use of IT and OT systems used in an electric distribution system is captured in the figure below. The IT systems are located at the top of the figure. The SCADA master is also located at the top, but I consider SCADA mostly an OT system. The applications in the beige bubbles are made possible by IT/OT integration.
Figure Copyright by Ventyx, an ABB company
Second, one should realize that IT/OT integration, just for the sake of integration, doesn’t really buy much, if anything. It’s when that integration affects the distribution organization - its way of working, its system performance, or its customer service – that IT/OT integration really brings value to an organization . Three ways that IT/OT can impact a distribution organization include ongoing improvements in the development of 1) a smart grid, 2) a smart workforce, and 3) smart customers.
1. Smart Grid
Distribution systems have been set up with some degree of OT intelligence for a long time, if you consider local equipment controls that have long been applied to voltage regulators, LTC’s (load tap changer), capacitor bank switches, reclosers, sectionalizers, load-break switches, and perhaps even electromechanical relays as local intelligence. It’s a fairly limited intelligence when compared to what can be done with today’s IED’s, two-way communications, and centralized controls systems, but when these types of local controls are coordinated in the systems design phase, they still result in system performance compared to a scenario in which these devices are not utilized.
However, with the increasing sophistication and application of smart grid technologies in the field, IT applications can now leverage the OT to increase system performance.
Voltage/VAR optimization (VVO) is an example of how traditional OT, in the form of capacitor controllers, voltage regulator controllers, and load tap changers, along with wireless communications to these devices, is combined with advanced distribution management systems applications (IT) to increase system performance. With a model-based VVO application in the distribution management system (DMS), system OT information, in the form of equipment loading, voltages, and statuses, for example, are passed to the DMS through SCADA channels or other communications channel. The VVO application, which is part of the DMS and is considered IT, uses this OT input to calculate the device settings that best reduce system power losses and peak customer demand. The Volt/VAR optimization then transmits the required control actions back to the OT for execution, such as capacitor switch status or voltage regulator tap position. For the distribution organization, the benefits of this IT/OT integration include a reduction in the amount of generation capacity that must be built or bought on the market, and a reduction in the real energy losses on the system, which reduces the amount of procured energy along with environmental emissions reductions.
Another example is how a FLISR (fault location, isolation, and service restoration) IT application, residing in the DMS, can leverage OT information (such as fault current, faulted circuit indicator status, and switch status) to determine the optimal way to isolate a fault and restore service quickly to as many customers as possible. Once the FLISR application has determine the proper selection of switching actions after a fault has occured, the FLISR can then pass those switching applications back to the OT (the SCADA and the switch operations) for execution. Benefits for the distribution organization include improved reliability performance and higher customer satisfaction.
Another example is that the load data from an AMI system (OT) can be used in the form of load profiles for a DMS load flow application (IT). Having load profiles for each individual distribution transformer provides more accurate calculation of the state of the network, including a better understanding of loading throughout the system. The result of more accurate DMS load flow calculations include improved operator knowledge of system loading, improved efficiency and better switching.
2. Smart Workforce
Anyone that works in, or works with, a distribution organization knows that Smart Grid is only one way to improve distribution organization performance. Having a Smart Workforce, or well-informed Workforce, is a key to organizational success. The use of data from OT systems, like automation and SCADA systems, for workforce process efficiency improvements and better decision-making, is an increasing trend in the industry.
As an example, consider the process of using a DMS to locate faults that have caused device lockouts. Fault data, including magnitude, affected phases, and type of fault is extracted from the relay or RTU (OT) and sent to the DMS (IT). The DMS uses this data to estimate the location of the fault on the system, and provide this information to the control room operator or dispatcher within minutes. The dispatcher can then inform the crew of the approximate fault location, so they can identify the fault and perform restoration switching much quicker, if needed. The result is quicker restoration times, and lower SAIDI and CAIDI values. In this case, the OT data is fed to the IT system, is processed, and makes the operator and crew smarter and more informed to perform their jobs more efficiently.
eMobility, which provides two-way data and information flows to the mobile workforce via mobile devices, is making the workforce smarter. Just in the outage management process alone, the outage management system (OMS) is an IT system that can use AMI outage notifications from meters (OT), process that information, and directly supply field workers with outage assignments and predicted protective devices that opened. In turn, crews can enter their present status, provide updated estimated times to restore, and additional data through a mobile data terminal or handheld device. The sophistication and types of data exchange between field resources, others in the organizations, and OT systems will only increase with time.
Data from various OT systems can also be sent to the back office IT systems, such as a business intelligence tool or Enterprise Asset Management system, to make better decisions related to longer-term asset management processes. Data from sensors and on-line monitoring equipment, that can include temperature, pressure, historic equipment loading, duration and frequency of short-circuits and through-faults, number of operations, and other OT quantities, can all be used to make in the IT environment by asset managers to make better decisions about maintenance programs and asset replacement. Increasingly more often, the industry is referring to this as “Analytics” or “Big Data”, in which intelligence can be gleaned through data mining, pattern recognition, and statistical analysis. The use of the OT data, within this type of IT environment, produces benefits such as the conversion of unplanned outages into planned outages (if economically practical to do so), reduction in the number of catastrophic outages, and better allocation of capital and maintenance budgets.
An increasing trend is also the application of business intelligence software that can extract data from AMI, OMS, WMS, SCADA, and other systems to provide dashboard information and querying capabilities for the entire workforce. The dashboards, which are now available as cost-effective pre-packaged (or out-of-the-box) solutions, can also be tailored to the specific job function in the organizations; that is, different dashboards can be created for operations, for customer service representatives, for senior management, etc. Users can drill down and drill across data to get more details if needed. The end result is providing the workforce the right information at the right time to make the right decision, and hence, a smarter workforce.
3. Smart Customers
By the term smart customers, I’m not implying that customers aren’t smart already. (You see, if I named this section “Smarter Customers”, it would have ruined the catchy little phrase for the title of this post.) I’m really referring to a process of making customers better informed about their electric service, through different communications and media that a distribution organization or retailer can use to transmit and receive information to its customers. That could be related to service outages, power pricing as a function of time or usage, special offers and programs, as well as other information about its electric power service that a distribution organization wishes or needs to share.
Business intelligence portals for customers are now providing more information about the status of electric service to customers and other stakeholders. A prime example is outage maps placed on the utility web site, that show number of outages, number of customers-out, and the general locations of outages. Based on forecasted network loading (of which past and present loads, collected from OT systems, are a key determinant), distribution organizations or power retailers can let customers know if a demand response event will be held that day. Information portals between utilities and other external stakeholders, such as public safety, regulators, and local government officials, are becoming more common.
The integration of IT/OT is particularly effective during major events like storm restoration, when information about outages, network loading and status, field resources, damage assessment, must all be coordinated in a short time frame. This needs to be done to provide information to customers, government officials, and regulators regarding estimated times to restore (ETRs), for example. Much work on improving ETR’s and effectively communicating those outside of the distribution organization still needs to be done by many distribution organizations, but IT/OT integration provides a foundation for this.
Summary
IT/OT integration in the electric distribution industry is providing a means to improve distribution organizational performance. The purpose of this post was to describe how it can result in a smarter grid, smarter workforce, and smarter customers. Benefits include improved system efficiency and reliability, lower operating and capital costs, and enhanced customer satisfaction. Since IT and OT systems continue to evolve, and the level of OT data continues to increase as more intelligent devices and communications are added to the grid, IT/OT integration is a key enabler of present and future performance improvements.
