Results from implementing a remote diagnostic and maintenance solution on Energy Management Systems

The pilot implementation of a remote diagnostic and maintenance solution revealed opportunities for improvement. This solution proved to be a valuable tool to ensure sustainable performance of remote Energy Management Systems (EMS). Due to excessive data quantities or time constraints, maintenance personnel easily overlook events that require maintenance. The primary objective of the pilot implementation was to condense daily EMS data into compact reports. Daily reports assist maintenance personnel to identify issues more effectively. This paper presents the results obtained from developing the pilot solution into a Remote Diagnostic and Maintenance System (RDMS) that has the capability to identify issues and actively manage the resolution process. Additionally, the RDMS allows maintenance personnel to define EMS specific conditions for automatic detection of both physical system and control philosophy issues. This enables the RDMS to address the needs of individual EMSs, and makes it easily adaptable to change. Results obtained after implementing the developed RDMS on twelve remote EMSs, over a period of ten months, showed an average increase in electrical impact of 1 MW. This system improves the quality of processed data and reports, and reduces the time spent to identify and resolve issues. The RDMS enables maintained EMSs to produce more consistent and sustainable results.