Trimet is doing Substation Automation System (SAS)

Substation automation is the integration of existing substation devices and a network infrastructure. By integrating primary devices with networked secondary devices, the substation can perform automatic industrial tasks such as data acquisition, device control, and event recording. SAS enable utilities to manage the flow of electricity in transmission and distribution grids. SAS systems are important tools for the utilities since they protect and control substations and ensure grid stability.

Traditional substations have always relied on copper cables connecting together primary equipment like circuit breakers, conventional current and voltage transformers and protection relays.

Digital Substation

As most substations today are switching and routing AC power at high/extra high voltage, it is not the primary flow which is digital. A digital substation refers to its secondary systems, including all the protection, control, measurement, condition monitoring, recording and supervisory systems associated with that primary “process”. In general terms, in full digital substation the data related to the primary process is digitized immediately, at the point where it is measured.