Netcontrol provides solutions for power generation including wind, hydro and solar power. With the complexity of energy producers’ equipment and the challenges they face, Netcontrol offers products to make their operations easier.
Power generation
Wind power
Wind power is a popular form of renewable energy. The number of wind power farms is steadily rising, and so is the need for products to manage their complex nature.
Utility-grade wind power is typically generated in wind farms consisting of several turbines. Wind power generation requires a comprehensive set of products, such as frequency converters and a substation, to connect the wind farm to the electricity grid.
Netcontrol helps wind energy producers to manage the complexity they are facing. At the heart of the solution is a Netcon 3000 master station with its ability to monitor and control a large number of windmills. At the wind farm substations and windmills, the Netcon 500 remote terminal unit provides communication capabilities, programmable control functions, process interfaces and a local HMI.
The Netcon All-IP communication solution connects the windmills, substations and other infrastructure to the central station using secure, redundant links.
Related products
Hydro power
Hydro power generation typically involves numerous rivers, dams and hydro power plants, creating a system that is complex to manage for any energy provider. To reduce the complexity, Netcontrol offers easy-to-use products supporting the energy providers’ functions.
The Netcon product range from Netcontrol, including the Netcon 3000 SCADA solution and the Netcon 500 remote terminal unit, provides functionality and services to fulfill the hydro power producer’ needs.
More specifically, Netcontrol has solutions for:
- Hydro power generation dispatch centres
- Secure communications
- Hydro power plant supervision and control
The Netcon 3000 features a complete hydro power generation model covering the power plant, reservoir and water course, and featuring an auto pilot interface to the market and planning system.
The hydro power model calculates the flows, losses, levels and the optimal setpoints for the hydro power plant, the gates and the reservoirs. The setpoints are handled in units of flow or power and sent to the respective plant in the required units. The optimal usage of water resources is continuously being calculated. The power reserves for frequency regulation are calculated and monitored.
The communication between the hydro power plants and the master stations is secured by the Netcon Gateway and All-IP solutions, with a combination of serial and IP communication and with redundancy built in.
At the hydro power plant the Netcon 500 remote terminal unit provides the communications, programmable control functions, process interfaces and a local HMI.
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Solar power
With the cost of photovoltaic panels coming down, electricity utilities and power companies are seeing a large increase in the number of photovoltaic installations both in their LV and in their MV networks. Netcontrol provides the FastNet RTU as a solution for the control, monitoring and management of remote solar farms.
The connection to the MV network of these photovoltaic (PV) installations needs to be controlled and monitored in order to protect both the PV installation and the MV network. The control and monitoring equipment must be cost effective and simple to install. This is why many power companies and PV installers have selected the FastNet as their preferred solar power RTU. With selectable protocols including DNP3, IEC 60870-5-101 and -104, a simple to use menu structure and a robust and compact design, it is an ideal product for the remote monitoring and control of solar farms.
