Power plant products |
First virtualised protection and control solution
ABB is launching what it believes is the first virtualised protection and control solution with ‘Smart Substation Control’ and ‘Protection SSC600 SW’. The virtualised product enables customers to use the hardware of their choice and gain access to the same proven protection and control functionality offered by ABB’s turnkey solution.
SSC600 SW is the virtualised version of the Smart Substation Control and Protection SS600 device. In 2018 ABB introduced this approach to protection and control in distribution networks, where all the P&C functionality is centralised into one single device. One SSC600 device can handle the tasks of 30 protection relays. Centralising this functionality in the substation reduces network complexity and is expected to support optimal, lifelong asset management and up to 15 % savings in substation life cycle costs. There are many reasons why virtualisation is
increasingly becoming standard practice for IT architecture for businesses around the world. With virtualisation, one server can become many virtual machines and replace the traditional ‘one computer, one application’ model. As users can merge more functionalities onto fewer physical devices, they are able to reduce the amount of space and administration needed. Customers can now choose SSC600 SW and are no longer tied to specific hardware allowing them to optimise their IT infrastructure. With many systems accommodated on one platform, they can reduce the number and type of devices and hardware in substations. As an example: an SSC600 device can protect 30 bays, and with a virtualised approach, customers can install multiple SSC600 SW instances on a single computer for even bigger systems. Further, a substation owner can replace different kinds of old equipment with the same type of new
equipment. SSC600 SW supports Linux KVM and the VMware Edge Compute Stack platform featuring ESXi 7.x or later as virtualisation environments and runs on Intel Xeon Gold processors to ensure real-time performance. Since the initial launch of SSC600, ABB has introduced new features and functionality to meet the increasing demands for more detailed information on distribution network behaviour and performance. With the launch of SSC600 SW, ABB has also released a new feature pack, FP 4, for which several enhancements and additions have become available. Highlights include a re-developed user interface, which improves visualisation. FP 4 also introduces support for simulation as defined in the IEC 61850 standard.
Nexans’ de-risking approach certified
Bureau Veritas, the testing, inspection, and certification organisation, has awarded certification approval to Nexans to cover its risk management system for subsea power cables. Gaining this approval is intended to reduce risk and promote best practices for turnkey project delivery of high voltage power cables used for connecting offshore wind farms to onshore grids. Bureau Veritas has developed a protocol, leading to certification, to help de-risk subsea power cable installation. The subsea power cable market is going through unprecedented expansion, encouraged by major investments in offshore wind, and insurers’ studies have confirmed that high voltage power cables are among the most critical
elements of the resulting wind farms, in particular where the cable lies in deep water, so de-risking new products, technologies and implementation methodologies towards real projects is essential for the sector.
As there was no existing international or statutory certification scheme, Nexans engaged in a voluntary approach to ensure their risk management tools and processes are assessed and tested by an independent third-party body. The goal was to validate the methodology in place that allows identifying the potential hazards, associated risks and evaluate the level of protection that may be afforded to the cable. As a result, BV established solid protocol
and certification guidelines to review Nexans’s risk management system in line with international standards ISO 21502:2020 (Guidance on project management) and ISO 31000 (Risk management). The BV certification approach covers any phases of a development project from conceptual phase, design, procurement, manufacturing, transportation, installation and commissioning/ start-up.
Laurent Leblanc, senior VP Technical & Operations at Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, commented: “The entire industry will benefit from these best practices for managing risk and safety challenges associated to the development of subsea cable.”
Wind turbine blades can now be recycled
Continuum, a new European business, has developed ways to ensure that all wind turbine blades are 100% recyclable, and is set to deliver industrial scale recycling factories across Europe. At present, when turbine blades reach the end
of their lifespan, current practice is to dispose of them in landfill or co-process them into cement. Neither approach is ‘planet friendly’; moreover many countries in Europe intend to ban landfill from 2025.
The Continuum process recycles scrap blades into what are said to be revolutionary new, high performing composite panels for the construction and related industries. The
company’s vision is to drastically reduce the CO2 emitted during incineration and co-processing by 100 million tons by 2050, via their own mechanical composite recycling technology. The company says this technology is proven, patented, and ready to go, following over 20 years of research and development in this field, perfecting the reclamation of raw materials
38 | January/February 2023|
www.modernpowersystems.com
from wind blades and other composite products and transformation of these materials into new, high performing panel products. The result is panels that are 92% recycled blade material that is said to greatly outperform competing products, and a fully sustainable, ultra-low carbon footprint solution for an existing industry challenge. Each Continuum factory in Europe will have the capacity to recycle a minimum of 36 000 tonnes of end-of-life turbine blades per year by 2024/25. Thanks to investment from Climentum Capital and a grant from the UK’s ‘Offshore Wind Growth Partnership’, Continuum are planning for the first of six factories in Esbjerg to be operational by the end of 2024, a second factory in the UK soon after and another four in France, Germany, Spain, and Turkey by 2030.
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