Energy management systems for islanded industrial facilities

For completely islanded industrial facilities, a stable and robust power system is absolutely essential. Such facilities are not able to rely on an interconnection to a utility grid to provide stability or act as a safety net in the event of large, on-site generation disturbances. Knowing the ramifications of operating an islanded facility, Saudi Aramco has taken great care to help design a complete power management system for its new Gas Oil Separation Plant (GOSP) in Saudi Arabia. This power management system performs automatic, intelligent generation and voltage control to keep the on-site generation operating within its ideal range under normal conditions and within range in abnormal conditions, where the plant may be separated into individual islands. In addition to the voltage and generation control, which is used to keep the system running optimally for day-to-day operations, a high-speed load-shedding system provides dynamic, intelligent, protection-speed corrective action, based on user-defined load priority tables, for any major system contingency that could occur. Together, these systems provide a complete solution for power system management.