Interview: Director of National Dispatching Centre Dr Branko Stojković for Vikend novine
Faults in the network, which mostly cause blackouts, were once reported via fixed phone to dispatchers on duty, which would then send teams in the field and solve the problem. Today, Montenegro has the modern National Dispatching Centre (NDC), in which a problem in the network is registered immediately and the fault is removed as soon as possible.
Branko Stojković, Director of National Dispatching Centre, speaks for Vikend novine about beginnings, new projects and the path which NDC passed from reporting of faults via fixed phone to recording a problem at the moment when it occurs.
VN: When the first National Dispatching Centre started operating and what has changed until today?
Stojković: In Montenegro, the first dispatching centre started operating during the 1950s, which was allocated in the Head Office of Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem, where today we have the reserved NDC. We moved to the new building in 1992. Unlike today, once faults could be reported only via phone. The dispatcher had the so-called blind diagram, just to know where each substation and overhead line are, but everything was done over phone. At the beginning, we did not even have remote metering, while today we have practically complete supervision at the level of the entire state.
VN: Can you record immediately a fault in the network or substation?
Stojković: We have such information at the same moment, because we have a 24 hour complete supervision. Therefore, we work continuously, and 11 dispatchers employed in NDC take care of everything. If an outage in the network occurs, dispatchers react immediately in order to restore the system in operating state as soon as possible. Dispatchers have insight also in the system of the region, as well as in the system of functioning of operators in Europe in real time, where in any moment we can see what is the loading and situation with them.
Please note that we have very rare situations that one municipality remains without electricity supply. We have other paths, i.e. for almost each municipality we have bidirectional, or even three-directional supply. The no-load pause was reduced in this year and we can praise ourselves that currently it is at minimum level.
VN: What exactly the National Dispatching Centre controls?
Stojković: We are responsible for the transmission system. For 400, 220 and 110 kV network. Therefore, we own and control this transmission system which consist of a certain number of substations and overhead lines. This is within our scope and this is what we manage. The supervision of the entire system is performed from NDC, and we are tightly connected also with 11 overhead lines from the surroundings, i.e. with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Albania. We hope that the submarine power cable will be put into operation during the next year or in early 2019, so we will be connected also with Italy. Then we will have a very ample spectrum of transmission system operators.
Regarding specifically control, it is necessary to transfer all information from these substations and from overhead lines. We have to know the exact power flow in all overhead lines, loading, voltages, connection state and to be timely aware of the system state 24 hours. We need as more as possible data from all substations, thereby also overhead lines, and we control also electric power facilities of Elektroprivreda, i.e. hydro power plant and thermal power plant, and soon also the windfarm on Krnovo.
VN: You recently started the project of construction of the new SCADA/EMS system. Can you explain us what it is about?
Stojković: SCADA system represents a direct supervision and collection of data. We have one SCADA system for a long time which we developed, to say, in our house, i.e. in Montenegro, and put into operation. I mostly participated in its construction, and it operates also now. This is why we commenced the project of construction of new SCADA and EMS system (advanced applications which the dispatcher use for a more successful monitoring of the electric power system operation). It consists of two projects. The first includes preparation of facilities for remote supervision and control, and it commenced in 2015. The contract was signed with the company Eminent from Podgorica in October 2015. The value of works is around 2 million €. In order to form two completely independent configurations of the existing and new SCADA/EMS system, CGES performed preparation of all facilities for their connections with the new system in the first phase of implementation of the new SCADA/EMS system. We installed microprocessor meters in almost all substations, as well as local SCADA systems that we did not have in many substations. Now we have complete supervision and control at local level. Please note that we connected substations through one computer device which collects local information, and communicates bidirectionally with the SCADA system in the National Dispatching Centre by transferring all relevant information at the moment when they occur. In that way, the dispatcher has the overall insight into the current situation.
VN: What is the value of the project of procurement of the new SCADA/EMS system, and what are the objectives?
Stojković: CGES started implementing the new SCADA/EMS system and signed a contract in the amount of 2.368.158 with the Institute Mihailo Pupin from Belgrade in June 2016. The objective of the project is to enhance and improve supervision and control capacities, as well as performances of the existing NDC. In addition, through this project, the reserved dispatching centre will be completely equipped as the current one. Besides the main we must have also a reserved dispatching centre which is on another location, in case of emergency circumstances, disasters and similar.
The dispatchers started to get acquainted with the new SCADA system. I have to say that the old SCADA system will operate in parallel with the new one, and in that way we will have higher security.
Ready for the European Union
VN: Do you comply with all EU standards?
Stojković: We are a member of the ENTSO-E association (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity). We are ready for the European Union and comply with all standards. We are a signatory of everything and equal member of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.