The Path to the Digital Local Network Station with the WAGO Grid Gateway Application

19 Jul 2024

Network operators and municipal utilities can’t ignore the digitalization of the energy sector and the efficiency increases required by new regulations. The WAGO Grid Gateway application now offers operators of power distribution networks a solution they can rely on for digitization of local network stations. This allows them to improve network management and operation and avoid unnecessary grid expansion. Here you can find out exactly what the WAGO Grid Gateway application is and how asset managers and network managers can benefit from it.

The WAGO Grid Gateway application: Improving network management and operation!

WAGO Grid Gateway primarily supports operators of power distribution networks in assessing the performance of their network by means of digital local network stations in order to improve network management and operation. The WAGO Grid Gateway application replaces imprecise assumptions and estimates with real, accurate measured values for network monitoring of typical grid configurations – on the medium-voltage level, and especially on the low-voltage level.The results include better network status assessments and the possibility of resource-efficient network coordination and efficient grid expansion. The WAGO Grid Gateway application is an economical solution that helps advance the digitization of new and existing local network stations. This is possible thanks to precise measurement on up to 80 channels and acquisition of state data for subsequent recipient-specific preprocessing in the network station, secure transfer with accuracy down to the second, and remote monitoring. That in turn allows transparent data acquisition in a local network station for up to two transformers with 15 low-voltage outputs each.

What is the WAGO Grid Gateway application?

WAGO Grid Gateway is an application for easy commissioning of small-scale telecontrol technology in local network stations through simple parameter setting. Storage and transfer of measured data, as well as visualization, are handled in a decentralized way by the second-generation WAGO PFC200 programmable logic controller (PLC), which is installed in the local network station as small-scale telecontrol technology. In the complete configuration, the WAGO Grid Gateway application can be used with a single WAGO PFC200 to acquire data from two transformers with 15 outputs each on the medium- and low-voltage outputs.

The measured values of the medium voltage, the transformer, the low-voltage outputs, status signals and temperatures are transmitted to the network control system via IEC 60870-5-104. Commands and setpoints can also be received and processed. Data from external measurement systems, such as short-circuit and ground-fault direction indicators and PQ* measuring instruments, can by read out via Modbus®. The entire configuration can be stored in a clearly organized format and loaded into other stations as needed.

The option of simulating measured data makes it possible to commission new local network stations with the station builder’s network control system already, without connecting the field side.

The application includes integrated HTML5 Web visualization, which preprocesses the data that results from decentralized data acquisition in the digital local network station and organizes it clearly for different user groups. The firmware is hardened according to the BDEW White Paper standard, and the communication concept is ISMS-compliant.

The WAGO Grid Gateway Application – What Hardware?

The hardware compatible with the WAGO Grid Gateway application is a PFC200. This second-generation WAGO telecontroller is a programmable logic controller (PLC) with various interfaces, which is freely programmable in accordance with IEC 61131 and also allows additional open-source programming on the Linux^® operating system. It is modular, durable and well-established in the industry. Digital input and output modules for control of medium-voltage switchgear can also be added – for example, for motor drives of load switches and their feedback signals.

In order to make the low-voltage network on the transformer output of the local network station transparent, the measurement technology this requires can be easily retrofitted on both the transformer and the individual low-voltage outputs – with 3 or 4-wire measurement cards, which can be combined with the WAGO small-scale telecontrol technology quickly and easily.

Why Choose the WAGO Grid Gateway Application? Application Examples

The WAGO Grid Gateway application has numerous different possible applications and user groups. The following example applications illustrate how it pays off:

• Asset managers can more accurately plan the maintenance cycles of a network station by accessing the stored readings and the digital slave pointers.
• For maintenance and network faults, network managers can get information remotely to prepare them for the situation on site.
• Time consuming travel is no longer necessary, since software modules can be updated remotely.

The Path to the Digital Local Network Station with the WAGO Grid Gateway Application

A local network station equipped with small-scale telecontrol technology and commissioned and monitored remotely using the WAGO Grid Gateway application combines efficiency and safety with cost-effectiveness and future-proofness – of both networks and network operators. This is because accurate measurement data from the medium- and low-voltage ranges provides network transparency and forms the basis for specifying and implementing a sensible, holistic, future-proof, profitable digitization strategy. The many forms of added value resulting from this allow network operators to act with foresight.