320

Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 7, No. 1, February 1992

THE IMPLEMENTATION AND EVOLUTION OF

A SCADA SYSTEM FOR A LARGE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK
Horst Ebenhoh
Siemens AG
Germany

Eng-Kiat Chan
Public Utilities Board
Singapore
Abstract - Automation of power distribution systems has
increasingly been adopted by power utilities worldwide in recent
years. As part of its effort to provide a more reliable supply to its
customers and to enhance operational efficiency. The Public
Utilities Board of Singapore has recently completed an important
step in this direction by procuring and putting into service a
SCADA system for its 22 kV distribution network.
The SCADA system was commissioned and became operational
in mid 1988. However. due to the continuous network expansion
and increasingly higher expectations of the customers for a
reliable supply, the system has been constantly undergoing
extensions and upgradings to incorporate more remote terminal
units (RTUs) as well as improved functional enhancements.
This paper presents the approach adopted in implementing the
SCADA system and the benefits accrued through incorporating
such a system It also describes the subsequent development of
integrating a real-t:me expert system to the SCADA system in
preparation for the next steps in the progressive automation of the
22 kV distribution network.

Supervisory control was first introduced into Singapore in 1966,

where a telephony relay-based system was installed to provide
remote monitoring and control facilities for the 66 kV network and
all major 22 kV substations.
Then in 1979, with the introduction of the 230 kV network. a
computer-based SCADA system equipped with Automatic
Generation Control function was commissioned to monitor.
supervise and control the generation and transmission systems
as well as to cater for their increasing sophistication in system
operation and coordination. Meanwhile, the relay-based system
continues to be utilized for the major 22 kV substations to provide
remote monitoring and control facilities.
With the rapid development and expansion of the power system in
Singapore in recent years, these systems were found to be
reaching the limits of their full capacity and were proving
inadequate to meet the required operational requirements. This
situation then led to the replacement and upgrading of the
complete SCADA system for the generation and transmission
network with a new Energy Management System and the
procurement of a new computer-based SCADA system for the 22
kV distribution network.

KEYWORDS
NETWORK SIZE
Large distribution network, SCADA system, on-line database
management, distribution automation, expert system.
INTRODUCTION
The Public Utilities Board (PUB) is responsible for the generation
and supply of electricity to almost 850.000 customer accounts in
Singapore with a peak demand of about 2.450 MW. Electricity
generated in power stations is fed into PUB'S transmission
network at 230 kV and 66 kV levels. From the 66 kV network, it is
then stepped down for distribution at 22 kV level and further
stepped down to 6.6 kV or directly to the low voltage levels before
being supplied to its customers.
91 SM 430-9 PWRS
A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Power System Engineering Committee of
the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation
at the IEEE/PES 1991 Summer Meeting, San Diego,
Manuscript
California July 28 - August 1, 1991.
submitted January 24, 1991; made available for
printing June 5, 1991.

The 22 kV distribution network in Singapore presently consists of

more than 1.330 substations. They are geographically grouped
into four areas: East, West, Central and City, Each area has a
total of 250 to 450 substations and the number of stations are
growing at an annual rate of about 8 per cent. Table 1 below gives
an overview and comparison of the system size at the time of
implementation, the present time, and the ultimate system
capacity.
Table 1: System sizes: Initial; Present and Ultimate

SubstationsiRTU's
Status/Alarm Pts
Commands
Measurements

0885-8950/92$03.0001992IEEE

t
initial

Present

1.000

1.330

3.000

30.000

41.000

120.000

6.300

8.500

23.000

7.000

9.200

28.000

321
To effectively implement a full SCADA system for such a large
and ever-changing distribution network the chosen system must
be modular and versatile in Software and Hardware design such
that it is able to be freely adapted to all network changes and
expansions. without causing disruption to its operation. or
resulting in any impairment in its effectiveness

In any case, such a system is always formidable to realize due to

the scale of the network and the fact that the implementation
effort is constantly grappling with the problems of network growth
and topology changes.

22kV
Substations
Area

SM

Submaster 1250 u n i t s ,nciualngprocess interface

RTU
TCI

Remote lerminal units 1750 Unllsl

Telecontrol mterface
hnodem

hA

operator

Puo BuiIdNng

Fig. 1:

Initial System Configuration

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION'
The initial setup called for a system with 1,000 RTUs with a
capacity to ultimatoly extend up to 2,400 RTUs. Subsequently,
this capacity has been further extended to 3,000 RTUs with the
intention to provide remote monitoring and control facilities for all
the major 6.6 kV substations and to extend the network
management functions to the 6.6 kV network and cover some
4,000 substations.
In order to serve such a high number of RTUs by a control centre
and to avoid any communication bottleneck at the master station,
a "distributed system" approach was adopted. Here. two sets of
dual-computer systems were installed at two geographically
separated locations. One system, located at the Distribution
Control Centre, serves the overall network control functions as
well as performs the data acquisition and remote control functions

for the central and west area networks. The other system, located
at the City Operation and Maintenance Depot, performs the data
acquisition and control functions for the east and city area
networks.
The SCADA system hardware mirrors the network level concept
to achieve a high degree of system availability and modularity
(see Figure 1 for the initial system configuration). These levels
can be classified as follows:
Master Station:
Main computer systems
Front-end (Telecontrol Interface) systems
- Man-Machine Interface (Operator Consoles/
Workstations)

322

Remote Station:
Submaster stations
Remote. Terminal Units
Main Computer Svstems
The two remotely 'located computer systems sit at the same
hierarchical level and form the core of the entire SCADA system.
They are coupled to each other by two X.25 data links over public
telephone lines for data exchange.
This arrangement allows real-time network data received by one
system from its respective area network to be transmitted to the
other system for processing and updating of its database. thus
enabling the databases in both systems to be identical at any
point of time. Furthermore in the command direction. output
command to a station not belonging to its own area will
automatically be sent to the other system for execution. Thus
remote control as well as monitoring of the entire distribution
network can be carried out from any operator console connected
to any control centre of the system.
Each computer system consists of two identical main computers
operating in an onlineihot-standby mode to provide redundancy
within each system and minimize system downtime. Their
opera-tion is coordinated by the watchdogiswitch-over unit.
Telecontrol Interface (TCI)
On the level between the RTUs and the main computers are the
Telecontrol Interface front-end preprocessors. The TCls are
responsible for the acquisition of the network data via the RTUs
and the local preprocessing of these data. For modularity and
simplicity purposes. two sets of dual telecontrol interface units
are used for each computer system. each serving one
geographic area of the network. Similar to the main computers. a
dual redundant arrangement is also adopted at the telecontrol
interface level which operates in a onlineihot-standby mode to
ensure highest system availability.
Man-Machine Interface (MMI)
At the man-machine interface level, a total of 6 local and 7
remote display consoles are utilized to support the operations at
the Distribution Control Centre (DCC) and the four Area Control
Centres (ACCs). These consoles are allocated as follows:
Connected to comouter svstem 1 located at DCC:
-

2 operator consoles each equipped with 3 colour monitors

support the functions at DCC and coordinate the operations for

the entire distribution network.

2 engineering consoles, one equipped with 2 colour monitors

and the other with 1 colour monitor and a video hardcopy unit.
These support the data entry and modification work.
-

2 remote consoles each equipped with 2 colour monitors

exist at both Central and West ACCs and provide operational

data and network information for the maintenance crews.
-

1 remote console equipped with 2 colour monitors is located

at the head office and provides operational data and network

information for management and network planning.
Connected to cornouter svstem 2 located at Citv ACC:
-

2 local consoles at City ACC and 2 remote consoles at East

ACC. each equipped with 2 colour monitors. These provide

operational data and network information for the maintenance
crews.
All the consoles are driven by microprocessor based display
controllers, which support semigraphic display. These are
connected to the computer systems via the watchdog1
switch-over unit which automatically connect them to the online
system.
The semigraphic MMI extensively uses multiple windows
technique which also supports scrolling and panning of displays
to give a continuous enlargement of display area. Users can. by
using the Database Management System, define ahd subdivide
the display screen of 256 characters by 160 characters into a
maximum of four windows of different sizes and configure the
message text, alarm lists, stations and network diagrams in each
window to be displayed.
Submaster Stations and Remote Terminal Units
At the remote stations level, a two-level hierarchical layout has
been adopted to organize the huge number of substations into a
manageable size. Two types of RTUs: one, a large
multiple-board type and the other, a small single-board type, are
used for this purpose. The large RTUs, which are also called
"Submasters". are installed in all major 66/22 kV substations and
large 22 kV substations.
They communicate directly with the telecontrol interface to
acquire network data and perform switching operations at these
substations. At the same time, they also function as "Data
concentrators" which communicate to their small RTUs that are
installed in those smaller substations to perform the data
acquisition and control functions.

323

There is, therefore, no direct communication taking place q between the small RTUs and the telecontrol interface unit and all
information is exchanged through the submasters.
All submasters are configured in party line mode. They are
connected to the telecontrol interface in a loop circuit of no more
than 16. The loop arrangement is to enhance the availability of
the submasters against the failure of a communication line.
Hence, during such instances, communication is still possible Via
the other end of the loop. Similarly, the small RTUs are also
configured in loops with no more than 16 RTUs in a loop to a
submaster. The layout is illustrated in Figure 2.

-+
U

NOTE:
1 up to 16 submaster loops

per TCI block

I
U

All network switching operations can be performed from the

control centre. Circuit breaker statuses are always up-to-date
and available at all control centres thus improving the operational
efficiency and overall network management. The introduction of
this capability also sees an important development in network
planning. Wherever possible, circuits are now arranged in a
closed ring such that no customer will suffer a blackout in the
event of a cable fault in the respective ring.
-

Alarm alert of imoendina eauiDment malfunction

The system maintains updates of information pertaining to the
network's loading, protection system alarms and the status of DC
supply used by the protection system and switchgear's tripping
circuit. Early detection of warning alarms thus ensure corrective
actions to take place long before false tripping could occur.
Post fault analvsis with earth fault indications
As the entire PUB'S 22 kV network employs only underground
cables, earth fault indications are therefore of major importance
and are closely monitored for post fault analysis. Together with
the protective system alarms and indications messages received
at the control centre, the operator will be able to analyze the
cause and location of a failure and identify faulty equipment or
circuits. Fault isolation and supply restoration can then be
speedily carried out by remote switching thus enhancing the
efficiency to regtore disrupted supply.

2 up to 16 submaster per
submaster loop
3 Up to 16 small RTU per
RTU loop

-+
U

' RTU-LCOP
U
Fig. 2:

Submasters and RTU's Communics ion Lo P

With this configuration, the time required to complete a polling

cycle is greatly reduced when compared with a scenario where
all RTUs (both large and small) are communicating to the
telecontrol interface unit directly. Furthermore. the need to
provide an elaborate communication network to link all the RTUs
to the master stations has also been reduced, as all the small
RTUs now take the topology of the distribution network in their
connection to the submasters.

Network overview via semiaraohic MMI

Status overview of the 22 kV network is provided via displaying
the network diagrams on the colour monitors. The entire 22 kV
network diagram is organized into multiple diagrams according to
the 66 kV sources. so that all substations fed by the same source
are grouped into the same overview diagram.
Each network overview diagram shows the network topology as
well as all associated circuit breakers status. In addition, the
linesicircuits in the overview diagram are also distinctivelv
coloured according to their loading condition so that any
overloads can be effectively highlighted to the operator. With the
help of the scrollingipanningfunction, the operator can then freely
move throughout the diagram to view the overall network Status.
-

Archivina and trendina of circuit loading

To facilitate better network operation planning. all circuits loading
are constantly monitored and their actual daily and monthly
maximum!minimum loadings recorded. In addition, any circuit
loading can also be archived over a duration of 7 days at 5
minutes interval.
-

SCADA FUNCTIONS AND THEIR BENEFITS

The basic functions of the system and the benefits they have
provided include the following:

Feeder taaaina for maintenance work

When'works are to be carried out on any circuit or equipment, the
respective circuit can be tagged in the system to mark its
unavailability for service. To facilitate network management

324

Thus only minor changes are needed in defining the new data
point or display, thereby saving much time and effort. At each
input field, data validity checks are performed and plausible
values are suggested and presented to the operator, thus making
the data entry work easier and at the same time minimizing the
risk of possible entry mistakes.

function, all switching and tagging operations messages

associated with the work can further be selected from the events
summary log and appended with a report to record its nature and
purpose of the operation.
ONLINE DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The entire network definition and real-time data are maintained in
both computer systems and are kept consistent with each other
at all times. To facilitate data entry work. especially for the vast
volume of network data. and to cope with the never-ending data
modification work arising out of network growth and topology
changes, the online database management subsystem has
adopted a simple, reliable, user-friendly qpd interactive interface.
This DMS interface is available over all the operator and
engineering consoles connected to the online system.When
entering a new data point, or creating a new display, a similar
data structure or section of any display already existing in the
database can always be copied as a model and easily adapted.

To ensure the integrity of the network data, the online database

management system allows all data entry and editing to be done
on a replica copy of the database in the online computer system
designated as Master and kept in the form of jobs. The jobs will
also be transmitted to the standby computer as well as to the
remote pair. When activated, the new data and all the changes
will then be updated into the online database of the system. At the
same time, these jobs will also be activated in standby as well as
the remote pair. Throughout the inputs and activation of jobs.
there is neither interference with normal operation nor loss of
real-time information; neither is a system shutdown or reboot

required.
Substation
Area

22kV Substation

Area

Host Computer
System 2
(KALLANG BASIN)

IAYER RAJAH)

LEGEND
ACC
B
CHC
DBMS
DCC
FGC
LAN
M
PUB Building

OSS

Area Control Centre

Bridge
Colour Hardcopy
Data Basis Management
Distribution Control Centre
Fullgraphic Console
Local Area Network
Modem
Operator Support System

Fig. 3: New System Configuration

RTU
SM
SU
TCI
WS

-.-

/y

Remote Terminal Unit

Submaster
Switchover Unit
Telecontrol Interface
Workstation
X 2 5 Data Link
RTU LOOP
LAN Coupling via Bridge

FGC

325

This IS an important feature which has greatly eased the phased

implementation of the entire system and the progressive add-on
of substations under its surveillance since commissioning.

form of jobs and are also transmitted to the partner and remote
systems automatically for updating.
The new configuration is shown in Figure 3.
THE EXPERT SYSTEM

The system was implemented in two phases. Phase I was

commissioned in mid'87 and involved the master station
equipment at the City Operation & Maintenance Depot and the
respective telecontrol interfaces for city and east areas network,
phase II was commissioned in mid'88 and encompassed the
master station equipment at the Distribution Control Centre, the
respective telecontrol interface for west and central areas
network and the X.25 computer-computer coupling.
Commissioning of RTUs was a lengthy process due to the
enormous amount of RTUs to be installed at the substations, and
the huge volume of substation data and network diagrams to be
entered and constructed inside the database plus having to
prepare the communication links between the RTUs and the
master station. The RTUs were therefore progressively
commissioned and hooked-on to the SCADA system
one-by-one soon after the first master station equipment was
commissioned. The phase-commissioning approach was
therefore aimed to build -up the system more effectively and put
the system into service as early as possible.
With the successful implementation of SCADA facilities on the 22
kV network, PUB has also decided to extend all the facilities to
some 300 major 6.6 kV substations and bring the network
management functions to the entire 6.6 kV network which, covers
some 4,000 substations. However, unlike the 22 kV network the
semigraphic MMI was too restrictive in providing clear network
overview to the operators due to the complexity and the scale of
the 6.6 kV network.
Hence, a fullgraphic MMI was introduced instead to take
advantage of multiple windowing techniques and smooth
panninglzooming and decluttering functions to display different
levels of details and information for the network overview.

Since implementation, the SCADA system has provided the

necessary basic infrastructure for quick response in the operation
and management of the 22 kV network. To further improve the
operation efficiency and network reliability, an expert system is
being implemented and integrated to the online SCADA system to
provide artificial intelligence in analyzing disturbances and
proposing suitable switching sequences to effect supply
restoration, performing switch check and proposing switching
sequences for load transfer.
The expert system is implemented on a powerful workstation
utilizing an object-oriented Knowledge Engineering Environment
(KEE) shell. It is connected to the online SCADA system via the
LAN. During the system initialization, the expert system will read
from the SCADA system's database all the substations and
network data to build up its own knowledge-base. Program
functions written in LISP are then called upon to compute and
evaluate the network topology. The results of the evaluation are
then stored in the knowledge-base in the form of object-oriented
representa-tion, and are to be used by the disturbance analysis
package. No data entry is needed for the expert system.

I
Pro;essI

SCADAlEMS

Database

AAF Affected Area Focusing

DA Data Acquisition
DS Diagnostic System
EM Event Manager
MD Main Diagnosis
MMI Man Machine Interface
PD Pre Diagnosis
T
Trigger
TWF Time Window Function

Two powerful workstations each equipped with two monitors are

utilized to provide the fullgraphic MMI. These are connected to the
process computers through the LAN and CO-exist with the
present semigraphic consoles which probably will be retired after
their useful lifespan.
Fig. 4:
In addition. a third computer IS also introduced to takeover the
online database management function from the online process
system thus enhancing the response of the process system The
third computer system is connected to the online and standby
system through the LAN by taking advantage of the distributed
architecture capabilities of the system Functionally. the
procedure for the online database management system remains
unchanged All data entries and modification tasks are kept in the

Expert System

Data Flow for IAP

The expert system adopts a combination of model-based and

rule-based approaches for its disturbance analysis and fault
reasoning. All alarms and circuit breaker status changes
received by the SCADA system will then be passed on to the
expert system for analysis. In the expert system. an Event
Manager (a program module written in LISP) is used to coordinate

326

all the activities. such as. to filter and split the different events
according to the network topology: to decide whether the
disturbance analysis and fault should be triggered and when
should the reasoning process be started. The process data flow
is demonstrated in Figure 4. An algorithmn will also be
incorporated to support the load restoration and load transfer
functions.

CIGRE, Session of Study Committees 39, Paper No. 39-15.

Paris, 27. Sept. - 4. Oct. 1988

171 John Chen. A.C. Liew, Seng-Foo Ho, Eng-Kiat Chan.

"Automated Power Supply Restoration in Distribution Network"
2nd Symposium. Export Systems Application to Power
Systems, Seattle. Washington, 17 - 20 July 7989

CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

'

The PUB'S SCADA system has. since implementation, evolved

from a pure SCADA application to a Distribution Management
System for the 22 kV and 6.6 kV network, supporting the roles of
network operation and planning.
It has helped to bring about a dramatic drop in the number of
blackouts caused by 22 kV outages because of the network ring
configuration, and to slash the average outage time of a 22 kV
power failure to a fraction of what it used to be. Its latest
development phase will be the incorporation of probably the
world's first real-time Expert System for its disturbance analysis,
network restoration, load transfer and switching check functions.
The disturbance analysis module was implemented in Nov. '90.
When fully completed, this will pave way for full distribution
automation, thereby enhancing the supply reliability and
operation efficiency.

References
11) Dy Liacco. T.E..
"Toward a Functional Control Centre Design"
IFAC-Symposium, Beijing, August 1986
121 Eng-Kiat Chan, Chee-Kiong Koh.
"supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System for the 22 kV
Distribution Network in Singapore"
International Symposium on Electrical Distribution and Energy
Management, Singapore, 26. - 27. Oct. 1988
131 Wolfgang Flandorfer, Jochen Frick and David North,
"Energy Data Management in Realtime"
Energy & Automation Vol. XI. No. 4, JulyiAugust 1989

141 Horst Ebenhoh,

'*Evolutionary Architectures for SCADA and EMS Systems"
Technical Papers of the 8th CEPSI Conference, Volume 4,
Paper 4 - 7 1 , Singapore. 5 - 9 Nov. 1990
151 Gunther Schellstede,
"Design Aspects for an upgradable and stepwise renewable
Control Centre System"
CIGRE. Symposium of Study Committees 38 and 39 in
Bangkok, 20 - 22 Nov. 1989

161 Franz Hein and Gunther Schellstede,

"Use of Expert Systems in Energy Control Centres''

The authors would like to thank the Chief Executive of the Public
Utilities Board for his permission to publish and present this paper.

Ena-Kiat Chan received the B.Eng (Hons) in Electrical

Engineering and M.Sc in Industrial Engineering from the University
of Singapore in 1975 and 1980 respectively. In 1975, he joined the
Public Utilities Board of Singapore as a System Commissioning &
Protection Engineer and was mainly involved in the
commissioning of 230 kV and 66 kV protection system. From
1980 to 1982, he worked in the Operation & Maintenance Division
and was responsible for the eastern distribution network. Since
1983, he has held the rank of Senior engineer and has been
heading the Supervisory Control and Communication Section. He
is the Project Manager for the 22 kV SCADA System as well as a
member of the Energy Management System (EMS) project team.
Mr. Chan is a Professional Engineer registered in Singapore and
is also a member of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore.
Horst Ebenhoh graduated in Electrical Machines and Apparatus
and received his diploma in 1965.
In 1972 he joined the Power System Control Department of the
Siemens AG and worked as System Designer, Group leader and
Project Manager for large Power System Control Projects. He
holds the rank of Senior Engineer and is at present Manager for
the marketing and implementation of major Power System Control
Projects in China, South East Asia, Australia and Africa.