Schneider Electric selected by Electricity North West Limited to provide strategic platform for smart network operations
29 June 2022
Schneider Electric has been selected by Electricity North West Limited (ENWL) as the preferred supplier to deliver and implement an Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) solution across its network.
ENWL has partnered with Schneider Electric to transition to a new, unified, zero carbon operations platform, with a new network-wide ADMS set to improve visibility, reliability, and safety for customers in North West England.
ENWL is responsible for delivering electricity to five million people at 2.4 million residential and industrial locations across 12,500km2 of North-West England. In addition to expanding capacity to meet future growth in energy demand and more distributed sources of power generation such as renewables, the new ADMS will enable improved resilience for customers through improved fault detection and restoration.
The project is one of the biggest in the industry, replacing a range of ENWL proprietary solutions into a single standardised industry solution. This has enabled ENWL to reduce the costs and risks associated with asset protection, and removed the need to develop bespoke real-time solutions to keep up to date with UK regulatory and legislative requirements.
Implementing a phased delivery approach
As a trusted partner since 2014, Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure ADMS solution has been implemented to centralise ENWL’s network into a single, consistent, and intuitive UX (User Experience), powered by the smart platform for flexibility and end-to-end model management, and established to reduce the total cost of ownership to streamline workflows and reduce costs.
A seamless transition from ENWL’s previous in-house Network Management Solution (NMS) was essential to maintain network operations. To address project delivery complexity and create a “bumpless” transfer from the legacy solution to the new one, ENWL and Schneider Electric applied a phased delivery approach, culminating in the final system going live in October 2021.
The ADMS was delivered in four phases: SCADA phase (Supervisory control and data acquisition), FLISR/CLASS phase (Customer Load Active Systems Service), ADMS/OMS phase and ANM phase (Active Network Management aka ADMS DERMS). This phased approach minimised the risk to ENWL’s business posed by the cutover process, while accessing advanced functionality and customer data benefits as early as possible.
With the help of Schneider Electric, ENWL now has access to an all-encompassing ADMS solution that provides complete visibility, safety and awareness for operators managing the entire ENWL network.
Pat Cropper, Project Manager at Electricity North West Limited, said, “We are delighted to have collaborated with Schneider Electric on this project. Their expertise in developing full-stack, integrated solutions with minimal disruption whilst upholding reliable and safe solutions has been priceless in the implementation phase of this project. Already we are seeing the improvements it has brought our business and the benefits for our customers across the North-West. Implementing the ADMS is a key facilitator in the transition to a sustainable, low carbon, low cost, greener future.”
Mark Greasley, Programme Manager for Hybrid Solutions at Schneider Electric, added, “Schneider Electric is proud to work with ENWL to enable its transition to a zero-carbon economy through implementing a secure, field-proven, reliable and unified operations platform. As a business, we have learnt immeasurable amounts through working on this complex project, so the value-add is evident for both parties.”
More information on Schneider Electric may be found here.
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