SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems have historically provided utilities with key information, capabilities and knowledge that are vital to the primary business function: delivering power in a profitable, safe and reliable way.

A good SCADA solution is very important to achieve an effective operation of the most critical and costly assets: generation, transmission and distribution.

The challenges facing today’s SCADA systems and projects have changed in recent years. Today the focus is on easier integration, the use of modern network and communication technologies, and large amounts of information being accessed by more users, among other goals.

Deploying Equinox in electric utilities

Equinox, in response to this ongoing change in the business model and its needs, brings additional functionalities that are useful advancements meeting the demands of the new energy paradigm of smart grids.

It is a strategic investment for utilities of all sizes that are facing these new market challenges. Equinox not only helps utilities deliver power in a reliable and safe manner to their customers, but also helps lower costs and improve customer satisfaction.

How could you benefit from the use of Equinox?

Equinox is a mature product that has been successfully deployed in many small and medium-sized electric utilities in multiple countries. Our product can be configured to control various equipment to monitor generation, transmission, and distribution assets through analog and digital input and output modules, PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), RTUs (Remote Terminal Units), among other devices with communication capabilities using several protocols such as MODBUS and DNP3.

Many utilities have their equipment completely isolated from the central office, even when it has communication capabilities. In some cases they use proprietary software that only allows one piece of equipment to be connected at a time, so they can see information only while it’s connected: once they connect to a new device, they stop receiving information from the previous one. This software only works for equipment of the same brand and type and cannot be expanded.

Remote control of the equipment is not possible in these cases, so when an abnormal situation occurs the utility must send a crew to the site to manually check the problem.

Equinox offers you the possibility of multi-brand integration: multiple devices of multiple kinds and brands can easily be connected to one central location where Equinox is running. Real-time information is received from these devices, allowing our system to detect abnormal situations instantly and alert the operator within seconds.

Once the operator acknowledges the situation, they can use Equinox to immediately correct the problem by sending a command through the communication link, so the device goes back to work in a second. No crew is needed, and no money or time is spent in the process.

Besides, the operator doesn’t need to be in the central office to be alerted of abnormal situations — Equinox will alert them through text messages and emails. And since our product provides 100% web access, you can easily log in from any mobile device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or notebook, etc. You only need an Internet connection and a browser.

The use of our product brings them new advantages including:

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  Brand interoperability

  Connect to any devices in the grid even if they are from different brands: circuit breakers, sectionalizers, reclosers, switches, transformers, capacitors, regulators, etc.
  
  

  Outcome

  Consolidate information coming from different sources into one single platform.
• 

  Real time data

  Get instant information from all important devices in the grid: their state, alerts, voltage, current, active and reactive power levels, etc. You can control these devices as well, by opening or closing them, changing operational parameters, etc.
  
  

  Outcome

  Real time data makes decision-making faster reducing operating costs.
• 

  Grid reliability

  Equinox detects early deviations in normal operating parameters and let you know before they cause problems.
  
  

  Outcome

  Troubleshooting is easier, electric grid reliability is increased to levels never seen before.
• 

  More revenue

  As failures are detected before they occur, less money is spent on corrective maintenance, while the life expectancy of the power grid equipment is extended.
  
  

  Outcome

  Improved reliability means increased revenue.
• 

  Customer satisfaction

  A more reliable power grid means less power outages and a better quality of the service delivered.
  
  

  Outcome

  Customer satisfaction is increased.

Eight reasons to choose us

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