Case studies: Irbid District Electricity
Location: Jordan
Industry: Power Distribution Grids
Project Type: Energy Management System Design, Development, and Commissioning
Ignition Modules Used:
– JDBC
– Perspective
– Tag Historian
– Reporting
– Web-dev (for API integration)
– Alarm Notification
Problem
The Substation and Energy Management project required a modern platform solution to monitor and manage multiple Power Substations, Automatic Circuit Reclosers (ACR), Sectionalizers, and Ring Main Units (RMUs), distributed across the electrical grid.
The client needed a centralized platform capable of acquiring real-time data on voltage, current, power quality, switchgear status, and transformer health. The system had to support advanced features such as GIS with weather integration, Asset Management, and customizable dashboards. Integration with existing utility infrastructure and data analysis capabilities were essential.
Additionally, the system had to provide secure, role-based access for:
Operators and engineers (for operation and maintenance)
Utility management teams and executives (for planning and decision making)
Solution
A full solution was developed using Ignition 8.1, leveraging the Perspective module for a truly customizable web-based user interface, Historian and Reporting Module for data archiving and reporting, Alarm Notification for advanced alarming and logical escalation, and Web-dev API for:
Weather stations integration to analyze weather effect on power consumption
National Electrical Power Company (NEPCO) integration
The system connects to:
More than 600 RMUs
More than 500 Sectionalizers
More than 1,000 Reclosers
8 Substations (33KV)
11 Substations (11KV)
More than 500 Transformers (33KV/11KV, 11KV/400V, 33KV/400V)
A dedicated HA PostgreSQL Cluster for historical and reporting data
4 Weather Stations integrated via API to collect weather data
National Electrical Power Company (NEPCO) management server integration via API
A modern, fully customizable management system has been designed in Perspective, allowing users to access the system securely from desktops and mobile devices.
More than 80,000 live tags and around 40,000 historian tags, collected from more than 3,000 electrical equipment, are displayed in dashboards, charts, and reports for data analysis, planning, and decision making.
System Architecture
- Platform: OT Stand-alone Ignition Server for data collection, along with IT Redundant Ignition for Management System and User-Interface.
- User Interface: Perspective
- Devices Communication: JDBC, Ignition Gateway Networking
- Database: HA PostgreSQL Cluster with time-series TimescaleDB.
- Deployment Model: On-premise, distributed Ignition servers.
- Networking: Managed Private Network with secure access and managed access list.
- Tag Count: ~80,000 tags
- Historian Tags: ~40,000 tags
Results
- Centralized monitoring and management of all substations, ACRs, Sectionalizers and RMUs from a unified platform, improving operational coordination and grid visibility.
- Real-time acquisition and historization of electrical parameters to a centralized PostgreSQL Server, enabling performance tracking and event diagnostics.
- Modern, web-based user interface using Ignition Perspective, allowing secure access for operators, engineers, and management across devices.
- Scalable system architecture that accommodates expansion to additional substations, feeders, and smart grid components.
- Enhanced grid reliability and energy efficiency through voltage, current monitoring integrated into customizable dashboards and reports.
