Vietnam's EVN opens new control center for 21 provinces

The center is to remotly monitor medium and low-voltage grids.

In June 2017, Siemens and the state-run energy company, Electricity of Vietnam Southern Power Corporation (EVN SPC), opened a new main control center in Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese energy provider had Siemens develop, design and build the facilities in the main control center in order to be able to remotely monitor and control the medium- and low-voltage grids in 21 provinces in the southern part of the country. This project will significantly improve the availability and efficiency of the distribution grids in this region and reduce power outages, thus contributing to the economic development.

„EVN’s new network control center enables it to respond flexibly and cost-efficiently to the current and future challenges of ensuring reliable network operation. For EVN, that means an improvement in both its operational efficiency and quality of service”, said Thomas Zimmermann, CEO of the Business Unit Digital Grid, Siemens Energy Management Division.

“We are very excited with the opening of the main control center SCADA DMS in Ho Chi Minh City. Equipped by Siemens most advanced technology in the power distribution industry the center will help us to remarkably improve the efficiency and reliability of the distribution network in 21 provinces and cities in the southern region of Vietnam. We will be able to create sustainable values not only for the region but also our company through higher productivity and significant cost savings”, said Mr. Nguyen Van Hop, President and CEO of Electricity of Vietnam Southern Power Corporation (EVN SPC).

The control center technology is based on the Siemens Spectrum Power system platform for network control centers, which will be used in Vietnam as a SCADA and distribution management system (DMS). However, the control center will not only be used for remote monitoring and control of distribution grids with capacities of 110 kilovolts (kV) and below, but it also can work with the transmission grid (220 kV and above) in order to minimize losses and down times. With the aid of the Siemens grid control technology, the state-run energy company will also prepare 110 kV transformer substations for unmanned operation in the future.

SCADA (Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition) systems are used to operate and observe, control and monitor power grids, while the distribution management system with which they are combined optimizes distribution grid management. The Spectrum Power SCADA/DMS system from Siemens enables grid operators to control the grid management system and the energy flow. The system can be operated locally or remotely thanks to its web-based architecture. In addition, it helps to reduce grid maintenance costs and eliminate faults faster.