Communication Possibilities for Remote Control and Condition Monitoring of
Small-Scale Hydro Power Plant
Tuomo Lindh Jero Ahola Jarmo Partanen Heikki Pirttiniemi
Lappeenranta University of Lappeenranta University of Lappeenranta University of Waterpumps WP Oy
Technology Technology Technology Karhusuontie 39
Department of Electrical Department of Electrical Department of Electrical 00780 Helsinki
Engineering Engineering Engineering
P. O. Box 20, P. O. Box 20, P. O. Box 20, Helsinki, Finland
Lappeenranta, Finland Lappeenranta, Finland Lappeenranta, Finland +358 9 3855 907
+358 5 621 6779 +358 5 621 6761 +358 5 621 6702 Fax +358 9 345 4002
Fax +358 5 621 6799 Fax +358 5 621 6799 Fax +358 5 621 6799 E-mail:
E-mail: [Link]@[Link] E-mail: [Link]@[Link] E-mail: [Link]@[Link] [Link]@[Link]
ABSTRACT 2 TYPICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OF SMALL SCALE
POWER PLANT
In this paper we compare different remote controlling
methods for a small-scale hydropower plant in terms of cost The small-scale or micro-scale hydro power plant can have a
efficiency, complexity and capability to provide power generation from approximately 50 kW to 2 MW (figure
information. In addition, requirements of each solution for 1). The main circuit of a small-scale hydro power plant is
hardware software and communication media are illustrated in figure 2. In the most usual cases the generators are
discussed. Examples of different solutions are presented by low voltage synchronous or asynchronous generators. The
implementations in laboratory conditions and in the pilot switchboard of the plant automatically runs startup and
plants of Tirva HPP in Valkeala and Hiitolanjoen Voima shutdown procedures and controls the power generation
HPP in Simpele. The costs of the presented controlling according to a set value. The set value is calculated for example
applications are much lower than in traditional remote from the difference between actual level and aimed level of the
control systems used in power plants. up water. The energy produced by generators is fed to medium
voltage network through distribution transformer. The energy is
usually measured from low voltage side of the transformer.
Keywords: Small-scale hydro power, remote controlling,
remote access, condition monitoring.
1 INTRODUCTION
Small-scale hydropower plants can be profitable if both the
investment costs and the running costs are low enough.
Especially, if the government subsidises the small-scale
renewable energy production. However, because the amount of
energy production is low, the plant’s controlling equipment
should be inexpensive. On the other hand, the plant should be
remote controllable so that the labour costs are minimised. The
labour costs are normally very low in fully automated plants but
they will be increased as service visits are done. The optimum
between investments in remote controlling and amount of
labour costs depends on the type, size and location of the plant.
In addition, controlling solution depends on the skills of
operators. For example, if the controlling tasks require
programming skills, normal operator is not able to control the Figure 1. A small-scale power plant (1 MW) in rural area far
plant or at least the risks of use are too high. Direct plant away from service personnel.
controller connection, field bus gateways, remote access server
based controlling and SMS based controlling are the
alternatives for the conventional distribution automation. In
addition, web-based techniques can be applied in controlling
tasks. The condition monitoring and remote diagnostics has
also an important role in unmanned plants. It is an integrated
part of the field level automation.
4 and implementation is illustrated in figure [Link] functionality
of the implementation is described in the text and the flowchart
(figure 6) below.
GSM GSM
Remote
Plant Controller Control
Field Bus
PLC PC
2x(3x300 Cu) +2x120 Cu)
0Q0 PLC PLC PLC
F 1000 A V
PE Bar
Generator Controllers
VS1 0FS2 0Q1
20 A 63 A aux supply
Surge arrester
2x150 Cu
3~ 50Hz 380V Cu 30x10
Figure 4. Schema of simple PLC based remote control for a
small-scale power plant.
In=800 A , Ip=65 kA
2x(180 Cu)
150 Cu 150 Cu
1Q1 2Q1
40A 40A
MKEM 3x2.5+2.5 MKEM 3x2.5+2.5
1Q0 2Q0
MF 500 A CONTROL CIRCUITS MF 500 A CONTROL CIRCUITS
3
1F2 3
2F2
3x300 Cu +120 Cu 3x300 Cu +120 Cu
3x185+50 (Cu), 1K2 3x185+50 (Cu), 2K2
200 kW 1.1 kW 200 kW 1.1 kW
690 /400 V 400 V 690/ 400 V 400 V
cos =0.84 cos =0.8 cos =0.84 cos =0.8
1500 r/min 1500 r/min 1500 r/min 1500 r/min
250 kVAr
Power factor cotroller
Figure 2. The main circuit of a small-scale hydro power plant.
The main components are illustrated using pictures.
3 ALTERNATIVES FOR REMOTE CONTROLLING
Some alternatives for remote controlling of small-scale power
plant are presented in this chapter.
Plant PLC and GSM- or PTT-modem
The simplest remote controlling or monitoring implementation
requires only GSM- or PTT-modem and approximately 30 rows
of programmable logic (PLC) program code (figure 3). This
applies to one directional data transfer, usually a SMS message
that alarms or just informs the personnel. If a PLC program can
handle the most usual abnormal situations this kind of an Figure 5. Implementation of PLC based remote control. Simple
implementation can reduce the service costs delivering the fieldus protocol is driven over a telephone line.
necessary information about the failure or alarm. Based on this When something abnormal happens in the plant the plant
information can be determined whether the service visit is controller PLC changes modem to SMS mode and sends the
required or not. In pilot hydro plants, the typical messages are SMS message to the remote controlling PC. Subsequently, the
loss of mains or return of mains. The investment costs of this PLC changes the modem in normal mode and waits for
type of system is approximately 1000€. connection from the remote control program. When the call to
modem is received, the PLC answers to the call and starts
This type of implementation can also receive SMS messages. waiting for the fielbus command from remote PC that operates
However, it requires more PLC code than a simple as master unit. Respectively, the plant controller PLC operates
unidirectional data communications and the complexity of the as slave. The whole data memory area of the plant controller
PLC program increases but the implementation costs still PLC can be read and written by the specially built PC program.
remain low. The number of feasible instructions is quite limited The hardware costs are increased with a client side computer
due to restrictions PLC (memory restriction). only. The implementation is still quite simple but the
GSM GSM programming work both in plant side and in remote controller
Plant Controller side are remarkably bigger that in previously presented cases.
Field Bus
PLC However, when the programs are made the costs remain very
low with increased controlling capacity compared to previously
PLC PLC PLC
presented communication structures.
Generator Controllers
Figure 3. The simplest remote monitoring implementation, one
way data transfer from PLC to GSM using SMS.
It is also possible to have a more sophisticated monitoring and
remote control by using a very simple fieldbus protocol through
a modem. This implementation requires that remote controlling
of the plant (user side) is done by a computer instead of a GSM
telephone. A schema of communications is illustrated in figure
WAIT FOR MODEM program and by restricting the access to plant from predefined
EVENTS
phone numbers only.
Internet/JAVA techniques can be used with this hardware
NO MODEM
CALLS
structure also. The same dial up Internet connection that is used
MESSAGES
TO
NO
with remote access programs can be used to provide WEB-
SEND
services such as interactive applet with monitoring and
YES controlling possibilities. The user only needs Internet browser
YES and modem in the client side computer. The disadvantages of
SEND ERROR
CODE
WAIT FOR FIELDBUS
COMMANDS this kind of system are also the slow communication speed and
the single user environment. The later restriction also applies to
YES
MODEM
COMMUNICATION NO WAP connections.
RUNNING
YES
NO FIELDBUS
Integration to existing DA-systems of electricity company
NO
ESCAPE CODE COMMAND
OK
If the remote control of the plant (substation level automation)
is made by systems separate from existing integrated DA-
CHANGE TO SMS MODE
YES
system of an electricity company the operational costs may
SEND THE MESSAGE
increase. However, it is possible to integrate some of the
PROCESS AND SEND
BACK TO NORMAL MODE
systems presented previously to existing DA by very simple
and low costs method. The leading DA/DSM systems utilize
Figure 6. Initialisation and execution of PLC remote control. databases with ODBC and JDBC connectivity. The integration
to DA/DSM can be done in control room by these methods and
control of small-scale plant can be done utilizing the database
Plant PLC, local PC-supervision, modem line and remote PC services as will be presented.
If a versatile plan man machine interface (MMI) interface is
required at the plant, one solution is industrial PC or in some The communication infrastructure presented in this chapter
cases even an ordinary PC (figure 7). In this implementation, allows multiple simultaneous users, which is not normally
the control and reporting possibilities become much better than needed in controlling tasks in small-scale hydro power plants.
in previous implementations and number of feasible functions However, it may be an attractive alternative for example in the
increases. In this implementation also all the communication cases where “green energy” is sold. The customers can view the
examples presented in previous paragraphs are possible. energy production in Internet. Another reason to present this
method here, as mentioned before, is that it supplies means for
GSM GSM integration of systems presented here to existing DA/DSM
Remote
Plant Controller
Field Bus
Control systems used in electricity companies. The system is described
PLC PC PC in detail in [Lin01].
Local
PLC PLC PLC Control
Generator Controllers At the control centre level or at the plant level the systems can
be integrated using databases. The control room level software
Figure 7. Versatile PC based remote controlling for a small- is illustrated in figure 8. On the other hand, the same
scale power plant. functionality can be installed at the plant level (figure 10). All
Local PC can send SMS-messages and transfer data between measurement data or registers of devices are read and written
plant controller PLC and the remote controlling computer. through database tables. Global connection is available for user
Local PC works as a fieldbus gateway. This type of by a standard web-browser. When a connection to “http-port”
implementation has some advantageous properties. The amount of server is opened, an applet with graphical user interface
of transferred data between plant and remote controller is low (GUI) and connection data is loaded to the browser. Based on
when only the information that is needed is transferred. This the log data, the system determines the actions that are allowed
kind of implementation has one drawback. The computer of the for user. The user can execute only the functions that are coded
plant cannot be administered with this solution. If full to the applet.
CONTROL CENTER LEVEL
administration is needed the remote access program can be used
instead of this solution.
Data Data Storage Data manager
The remote access programs such as PCAnywhere or VNC Storage Management (WINDOWS service )
db
offer cheap or free solution of remote controlling. They can be
used in WAN-network or with modems also. When used with Data Interface
ODBC client OPC client Fieldbus Master
modems a dial-up Internet connection of PC is used. The local
plant computer acts as a remote access master and remote user
as slave. The advantage of the remote access program is that the
LAN
user can control the plant computer as a local user. The user can MODEM LINE
open programs, shut programs even re-program the plant PLC
if needed. The disadvantage of the solution is that the amount Fieldbus Slave
of transferred data is big when the whole display of the plant
computer is transferred to the user. Every action takes lot of
DA/DSM PLANT CONTROLLER
time even if the display of the plant computer is transferred to
user with minimum number of colours. Another drawback is Figure 8. Integration between existing DA/DSM and remote
that the user can do everything that can be done locally control of small-scale plant.
meaning that even the removal of programs is possible. The
unauthorized use is prevented with passwords of remote access
At program level, a connection to a database is formed with sensor can be installed inside the generator’s frame. The sensor
JDBC API. The JDBC is a standardised interface that provides takes supply power directly from the terminals of the generator.
connectivity to a wide range of SQL databases. JDBC driver is The sensor measures and analyses for example vibrations,
loaded with Java applet. Installation of programs or any other temperature and humidity. The analysed data is transferred
files is not needed in a client computer. In our demonstration, from the sensor using generator’s feeder cable as a
type 3 JDBC driver is used which means that calls are not made communications channel. Based on [Aho02], low voltage
from client to DBMS-server directly. The JDBC driver power cables are applicable for power-line communications. In
translates JDBC calls to a protocol that server side data server system under development, the master unit is located at the
translates to a DBMS protocol. switchboard. It receives the data that the sensor has sent and
links it into plant’s field bus. Thus, the condition monitoring
The connection to local databases can be done using standard data is available for remote diagnostics.
ODBC or OPC interfaces. In our demonstration it was done
with OPC connection. The OPC server handles connections to 5 EXPERIMENTS FROM PILOT PLANTS
the Profibus and serves simultaneously multiple OPC clients.
The server is capable of reading and writing registers of The first pilot, Tirva HPP, was equipped with the GSM-modem
individual device connected to field bus. connected to PLC as in figure 3. With this very simple schema
the number of service visits was reduced remarkably. The
Database server acts as the software interface between web problem was that the SMS message could not inform the
applications or control centre applications (DA/DSM) and personnel as much as they wanted. For example, alarms for
applications performing data transmission between control intruders were many (surveillance of the yard was included),
centre level and field level. The database server is a standard but no harm was done when checked in plant. Also the need for
Microsof SQL Server. Measured values, configuration of local reporting with event log was discovered. The local PC
field device registers (OPC tags) and requests for changes of was added and because there was an existing telephone line at
registers are all stored in the database tables. the plant the PTT modem was installed in parallel with the
GSM modem. Further, the remote access program was installed
A Windows NT service was developed for this demonstration. so that events can be checked remotely. The system includes
It consists of OPC client part, ODBC client part and of service also the WEB-camera that shows the view at the dam. The
routines. The service monitors the changes in configuration number of unnecessary service visits was further decreased.
tables. Based on these changes, the service transfers data The repayment of investment is estimated to be two years. The
through OPC and ODBC interfaces between the fieldbus final schema is presented in figure 7.
devices and database server.
GSM GSM
Remote
Plant Controller
4 REQUIREMENTS OF CONDITION MONITORING Field Bus
Control
PLC PC Local
PC
Control
There are needs for condition monitoring also in small-scale PLC PLC PLC
power plants. The small-scale plants are typically unmanned Generator Controllers
Modem
Telephone line
Modem
due to economical limitations. Therefore, the condition
monitoring should be based on automatic and remote Figure 9. The structure of the controlling system in pilot plant
diagnostics. The condition monitoring and diagnostics system in Tirva.
have two requirements. It should detect possible failures before
they lead to emergency shutdown of the plant. Secondly, the
Second pilot in Simpele also includes local PC-controlling
system should be robust and not to alarm when a real failure
program. The wired telephone line is used for the energy
does not exist.
measurement collection use only. Therefore the GSM have to
be used in communication between plant and the service
For example, in small-scale hydro power plants there are
personnel. The principal structure of the communication is as
numerous important objects that should be monitored. The most
presented in Fig. 3. The investment costs of communications
important objects to be monitored are generator and turbine.
are low but the operational costs are higher than in previous
Overheating can destroy the windings of the generator.
example because of the higher costs of communication.
Respectively, an increase of humidity indicates a leakage in
turbine-generator package. The bearings are also possible
6 CONCLUSIONS
reason for generator failure. Therefore, also a bearing
monitoring should be introduced.
It is too expensive to connect micro scale or small scale power
plant as a part of the conventional distribution automation
The condition monitoring equipment can be connected into the
system with local RTU, (perhaps local SCADA), radio
plant’s field bus and the remote diagnostics can be realised by
communication and remote SCADA. This does not mean that
communications methods presented in previous chapters.
the unmanned use is too expensive nor that the system cannot
Generally it can be assumed that the condition monitoring
be integrated to existing DA/DSM. GSM-modem or PTT-
functions do not need large data transfer capacity. The need of
modem connected to plant controller PLC offer the very low
capacity depends mainly on the fact, where the condition
cost methods for remote control. The service cost reductions
monitoring data is analysed. Local analysis and intelligent
pay the investment practically in all cases where unmanned
sensors shrink the needed bandwidth. Respectively, transferring
operation of plant is in use and also if the plant is partially
of raw measurement data dramatically increases need of the
manned (not 24 hours per day).
bandwidth.
If the monitoring of plant’s operation is needed locally and the
Condition monitoring functions for underwater hydro power
local environmental conditions are good enough the use of PC
generators have been developed. A microprocessor based
is justified. Furthermore, if only the one directional
communication is used, the personnel have to visit the plant
almost weekly in order to be sure that the no service actions are
needed. Fieldbus gateway through modem and loacal computer
requires less communication capacity than the use of the remote
access programs when only the needed information is
transferred. However, the remote access programs make
possible more versatile control of the plant. The integration to
existing DA/DSM can be done at control room level using open
data interfaces. The condition monitoring functions can be
integrated as a part of automation systems of a plant and thus as
a part of the remote controlling schema.
WWW -Browser
INTERNET
WAN
Hydropower Plant
Local Controlling Computer
Local Web server
Process Control Level
Plant Controller
PLC
Field Bus
Generator Protection Generator Condition
Controller Relay Controller Monitoring
PLC PLC Device
I V f
G G
0
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
1 1 1 1 2 3
1
Process
Figure 10. Plant level Internet connection.
REFERENCES
[Lin01] Tuomo Lindh, Jero Ahola, Jarmo Partanen, Sauli
Antila, Pertti Järventausta, Kimmo Kivikko, Pekka
Verho, Pekka Ruupunen, ”Web-based monitoring
functions utilising data management system”,
DistribuTECH Europe 2001, Berlin, Germany, 6-8
November 2001.
[Aho02] Jero Ahola, Tuomo Lindh, Jarmo Partanen,
”Determination of Properties of Low Voltage Power
Cables at Frequency Band 100 kHz – 30 MHz”,
ICEM 2002, Bruges, Belgium 26-28 August, 2002.