Rețele Electrice companies acquire 4G routers to increase the digitalization of the electricity distribution infrastructure
Bucharest - The companies Rețele Electrice Muntenia, Rețele Electrice Banat and Rețele Electrice Dobrogea, part of the PPC group in Romania, have launched, through the public procurement information system, a procedure for the acquisition of 4G routers, essential for the digitization of the electricity infrastructure. The routers will be integrated into the operators' remote-control system, to allow remote handling of the components of the electricity distribution network.
These telecommunications equipment for remote control systems contribute to ensuring the resilience of the grids, the continuity of supply of existing consumers and facilitate the connection of new consumers because they allow the transfer of data between various control and monitoring equipment in the electricity grid. The three distribution operators intend to purchase up to 11,500 units of 4G routers, the minimum volume being about 3,500 units.
"We continue the efforts to modernize and digitize the electricity networks, and these involve, among other things, the purchase of telecommunications equipment, essential for the bidirectional transmission of data in real time, which must also meet current and future cybersecurity requirements. The tender we are running now concerns high-performance and safe equipment without which we cannot operate the remote-control system, essential for the rapid resupply of consumers or for the reconfiguration of the distribution grid, in case of incidents that happen in the grid. 4G routers are an essential component in the process of digitization of electricity grids and as part of the efforts to ensure their resilience, through their ability to have a fast and secure communication of dispatch centers with the distribution infrastructure in the field", said Mihai Pește, general manager of Rețele Electrice.
The telecontrol system is a technology that allows remote control of the interruption and maneuvering devices in the electricity grid, allowing a considerable reduction in the duration of interruptions and the time to remedy damages, reducing the number of field trips of the intervention teams for maneuvers.
The 4G routers that are the subject of the tender will replace the existing 2G/3G routers and will be integrated into a connection solution that increases the capacity and performance of the existing electricity distribution infrastructure, ensuring its redundancy. The new telecommunications equipment will allow integration into the automations on the medium voltage lines of the Rețele Electrice companies currently used and those to be implemented.
The 4G routers will capture real-time data from medium-voltage networks totalling a distance of about 36,000 km.
The contracts for the purchase of 4G routers will have a duration of 36 months and a maximum cumulative estimated value of over 8 million lei.
The Rețele Electrice companies operate networks with a total length of about 134,000 kilometers in three important areas of the country: Muntenia Sud (including Bucharest), Banat and Dobrogea, covering a third of the local distribution market, and are developing an investment program to improve the quality of services, safety and performance of the networks and the local implementation of the environmental standards of the PPC group. The electrical networks operated by the three Rețele Electrice companies number 289 primary transformer stations and over 25,000 transformer substations.