The unmanned control center
Bilfinger GREYLOGIX enables mobile control of decentralized plants in a heat compound system – safely and effectively. Successful implementation of a virtual power plant of HanseWerk Natur GmbH. The system for over 300 power generation plants is one of the largest WinCC applications in Germany. Particularly important was the maximum modularity in terms of timely expandability and the absolute failure, legal and IT security of the system.
The 35 km long heat network Hamburg East of Hansewerk Natur GmbH supplies approx. 3000 house connections (400,000 MWh annual heat demand). In order to ensure legally compliant and economical operation of the decentralized energy generation plants, with a focus on high security of supply, Bilfinger GREYLOGIX has developed an intelligent interconnected control system based on state-of-the-art control components and the Simatic WinCC SCADA system.
The modular and open structure enables easy expandability of the system. Standardized objects and clear structures make it possible to use the system for other integrated systems within HanseWerk Natur. The Simatic WinCC 7.2 SCADA software is used for visualization of the process control technology. The software runs on a redundant pair of servers, so that the failure of one server does not represent a restriction in the visualization and operation. A redundant S7 400-H controller is also used for the intelligent heat network control, so that the higher-level controls are guaranteed in the event of a failure of an S7 controller.
For the economic evaluation of the individual network participants, a wide variety of energy data, such as heat quantities and gas quantities, are recorded and visualized for analysis purposes. The data is archived on the Simatic Process Historian 2014, a central, company-wide long-term archive. Plant transparency up to management level is provided by the Simatic Information Server 2014, an innovative reporting system that can send web-based reports of the data archived in the Process Historian throughout the company.
The ability of the operating staff to control the individual power generation plants in a decentralized manner means that the central control room is not manned, which leads to a large increase in plant efficiency. The web technology used enables all employees deployed in operations to access and control each individual sub-plant easily and clearly from anywhere and on the move. Laptops or tablets are used as hardware.
The system is part of one of the largest applications with Simatic WinCC in Germany. More than 300 decentralized power generation plants are now interconnected, with the 66 CHPs of HanseWerk Natur additionally linked to a virtual power plant (VPP) via the standardized control technology.
HEAT2Efficiency Advanced is the individually configurable automation solution for large and medium-sized CHP plants. It is suitable for CHP plants that consist of several heat generators, such as boilers and CHP units, a heat storage tank, and supply networks. In addition, useful options from our modular range can be added as required.
Stapelfeld CHP: The most efficient power plant in the world. Bilfinger GreyLogix contributes to the energy turnaround