New Cooperation of the system houses Aucotec and H & S
For the first time: hardware and software planning for power companies from one source Cooperation of the system houses Aucotec and H & S
The software developer Aucotec AG, Hanover, and the Dortmund-based system house H & S Hard- & Software Technologie GmbH & Co. KG have concluded a cooperation agreement. The result is the first system worldwide enabling power companies to realize their plants according to IEC 61850 in a consistent top-down engineering process, from the electrical design to the station automation system. The agreement moreover includes the combined use of the sales and development capacities of both partners concerning integrated engineering software for energy systems.
The software developer Aucotec AG, Hanover, and the Dortmund-based system house H & S Hard- & Software Technologie GmbH & Co. KG have concluded a cooperation agreement. The result is the first system worldwide enabling power companies to realize their plants according to IEC 61850 in a consistent top-down engineering process, from the electrical design to the station automation system. The agreement moreover includes the combined use of the sales and development capacities of both partners concerning integrated engineering software for energy systems.
"With this cooperation, we combine the best of the two worlds for our customers. The planning and commissioning phases for switching stations are thus distinctly reduced", says Uwe Voigt, board member responsible for development and technology at Aucotec. And his colleague Martin Hölscher, head of the engineering department at H & S, adds: "The combination creates a totally new consistency in the planning workflow, the quality and consistency of the engineering data can thus be vastly increased."
At home in the energy sector
With its electrical design software package Ruplan, Aucotec is at home in the power supply sector just like H & S with its substation configuration tool SCT. Ruplan is an electrical design tool continuously advanced together with the electric utility companies (EVU) study group and used as standard for power distribution that has meanwhile accumulated 25 years of experience. With this knowledge Aucotec AG has succeeded in promptly meeting even the most recent requirements of the internationally valid IEC standards; this includes its latest software generation, the object-oriented platform Engineering Base (EB) with its branch solution EB Power. Its database is the basis of an exceptional openness and flexibility. A large number of wizards and configuration options create a highly automated and at the same time safe e-planning process for energy distribution facilities. This tool now offers the framework for the integration of the H&S tool SCT.
SCT is likewise already used by important major customers in the energy industry. It is the first tool to offer the consistent realization of the IEC 61850 demand for a manufacturer-independent configuration tool for standard-compliant engineering processes.
Availability is the first imperative
The reliable availability of energy is the basis of our highly mechanized society; the consequences of a power failure can be dramatic but in any case expensive. The reliability of distribution facilities and power networks is thus as decisive as the power plants themselves. In the substations outside the power plants that take care of the distribution of the electrical energy, a large number of devices such as control and protective equipment are employed. They must communicate with each other to tune the switching operations in the plants. Apart from the uniform description of the plant structure, the comprehensive IEC standard 61850 also specifies the type of this communication in order to increase the availability of the plants.
Reliability through neutrality
The crucial point is the IEC requirement to describe a plant independent of manufacturers. This facilitates the call for tenders and planning phases for the operating companies, because standardized handling also means uniform tools, much less training expenditure and finally easy interchangeability of the devices during the plant life cycle. Plant construction companies also gain flexibility by using the components because only one system configuration remains mandatory.
The interplay of the two standard-compliant tools from Aucotec and H & S, which has now been sealed with the new cooperation agreement, thus offers the power companies consistent information about the circuit diagrams even including the engineering data of the devices to be used. This becomes the more important since ever less personnel must be allotted to modern plants due to the use of remote technology. The documentation is future-compliant even in the long run and thus provides high investment safety with respect to the engineering data.
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