Digitising the energy system

Instead of merely distributing energy, the interplay between decentralised producers and consumers must be intelligently coordinated. This requires sophisticated digitalisation strategies and business models.

High-tech control systems and IT form the basis for digitalising the energy system. Controllers coordinate the decentralised systems, ensure easy and secure communication in the smart grid and store measurement data that’s protected against cyberattacks in the cloud.

WAGO offers the right solutions and concepts today for every step of the process.

Smart grids: More communication in energy grids
An energy consumer needs communication, both between the individual stakeholders and interest groups as well as in technical terms: To get a grip on the increasing decentralisation and fluctuation of power generation, the individual components of the energy system must be linked to each other in smart grids across sectors. The start is in the electricity sector: modern automation technology, integrated into decentralised suppliers, intelligent distribution substations and virtual power plants optimises control of the distribution grid. Modernising the gas and heat grid is the next step, and WAGO provides the necessary controllers.

Integrated energy: Electricity, heat and transmission grow together
With decentralisation and digitisation of the electricity sector, heat and mobility have become priorities for utility providers. The energy transition only works with storage systems. In contrast to the electrical grid, the heat and gas networks offer greater capacities. For that reason, power-to-heat and power-to-gas systems are becoming more important. They can use excess green electricity to produce heat, along with storable hydrogen and methane. WAGO already supplies manufacturers of such systems. At the same time, we support suppliers in modernising their heat and gas networks, a task made necessary by energy sector linkage and the resultant increasing complexity of energy flows. The industry-proven WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM serves as the automation platform.

Cloud connectivity: Data analysis in cloud computing
The cloud can offer significant advantages to the energy sector with its computing capacity. As an example, wind farm operators can increase power production and optimise wind farm maintenance by analysing turbine data in the cloud, or grid operators can use system data and weather forecasts to better predict grid status. WAGO PFC100 and PFC200 controllers are used to connect to the cloud thanks to a firmware update and the respective library in the IEC program. The controllers can then automatically transmit field-level values to the cloud at definable intervals. Communication is secured by an encrypted TLS connection using the MQTT protocol.

Cybersecurity: Denying access to hackers
There can be serious consequences for energy producers if they aren’t securely connected to the Internet. Cybercriminals can use system controllers to hack into control centers and shut them down, jeopardising the power supply and even threatening wide-range blackouts in a worst-case scenario. The good news is that the operators now know the dangers and cybersecurity is becoming more important. WAGO controllers will play a crucial role in your company’s security policies and procedures. PC-based operating systems must receive weekly security updates as they do not otherwise provide sufficient cybersecurity; the hardened firmware of a WAGO controller, however, does meet the corresponding security requirements.

For more details, visit:
www.wago.com