Remote - Fall 2013 - (Page 28)

Industry News Newton-Evans Study Finds 43 Percent of Utilities Plan to Increase their Capital Expenditures for 2013 on EMS/ SCADA/OMS The Newton-Evans Research Company has released preliminary findings from its fifth study in the multi-year tracking research program looking into electric power utility CAPEX budgets related to smart grid investments and infrastructure spending plans. Early findings from utilities in 24 countries that have already participated in the 2013 Newton-Evans global tracking study of electric power transmission and distribution investment indicate that 43 percent of utilities plan to increase their capital expenditures for 2013 on EMS/SCADA/OMS. Half plan on increasing CAPEX spending in 2013 for protection and control, and 55 percent plan on increasing Transmission Infrastructure CAPEX. AMR/AMI seems to be leveling out; 63 percent of respondents so far said there will be no change from 2012 spending on this. O&M budgets for 2013 reflect a somewhat different story. Most categories of O&M spending were less likely to see an increase from the budgets of 2012. Distribution Infrastructure appears to be the key victim, with 17 percent of the respondents indicating a lower figure budgeted for 2012 O&M expense for distribution network operations and maintenance activities. Over one-half of the utilities responding so far (58 percent) indicated that “Yes,” Regulatory Mandates are the reason for CAPEX increases indicated for 2013. Only 13 percent cited government stimulus as a reason for increases in 2013 CAPEX. Seventy-one percent of responding utilities have mentioned that they plan to start a new smart grid project in the upcoming two years, and 59 percent of those projects will include some form of distribution automation. Ethernet Adoption in Process Automation to Double By 2016 Ethernet nodes in process industries are set to nearly double from 2011 to 2016, as the technology increasingly challenges fieldbus for leadership in the industrial networking market, according to a new study from IMS Research, now part of HIS, Inc. Industrial Ethernet nodes in process industries are projected to rise to 8.7 million units in 2016, up a whopping 96 percent from 4.4 million in 2011. This means that industrial Ethernet will account for 45 percent of networked nodes connected in process industries in 2016, up from 39 percent in 2011. Such growth will come at the expense of fieldbus, anticipated to expand at a rate of 51 percent during the same five-year period. “The process industry is renowned for being slow to adopt new technology,” said Tom Moore, analyst for industrial Ethernet and fieldbus technologies at IHS. “However, in some key areas, industrial Ethernet adoption is beginning to overtake fieldbus as the mainstream networking technology.” A good example within the process sector is safety. Although not always driven by compulsory legislation, process safety systems are updated fairly regularly by companies that want to ensure operator safety and maximize line up-time. This shorter life cycle means that new technologies can break into the market more quickly and are easier to implement, as there is greater opportunity for refreshing the network upon refitting. Process components and systems, such as remote terminal units and distributed control systems, are already widely networked. Approximately 95 percent of new-unit shipments are projected to be network enabled in 2016, up from 90 percent in 2011. The increase is projected to be relatively slow but is likely to reach 100 percent. Network-enabling products are now almost seen as a commodity and are expected by the process industry. As networking ability increases, the number of average nodes is also increasing. This enables the use of more elaborate networks and topologies. The use of industrial Ethernet is expected to grow across industrial automation. IHS projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of just north of 14 percent to 2016 for new process-automation networked nodes. The growth rate is well above that for new fieldbus nodes, envisioned to be less than 9 percent to 2016. As adoption of industrial Ethernet increases in process industries, it seems that an industrial Ethernet-based network is a wise choice for those looking to upgrade networking infrastructure in the near future. While field28 www.RemoteMagazine.com bus adoption is still growing, several advantages from industrial Ethernet can be enjoyed, including unification and simplification of networks that can result in lower costs and greater uptime. Still, fieldbus has some advantages. HART, a big part of process industries, is able to overlay signals on 4 to 20 mA wiring, a major advantage for those with existing infrastructure. There is also the sizable legacy of some fieldbus solutions, which means that a large amount of machinery still uses older protocols. While industrial Ethernet will have to overcome these hurdles, it is forecast to have largely replaced fieldbus in many applications in the last 10 to 15 years. Reduced overheads, more accessible production data and decreased downtime are major advantages that will drive adoption of industrial Ethernet in the longer term. ETSI Publishes First Specification for ULE DECT ETSI has published the first Technical Specification (TS 102 939-1) on DECT ULE (ultra low energy), a low power consumption radio technology intended for machine-to-machine (M2M) applications. DECT ULE is based on the Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) standard, which was developed by ETSI. The main characteristics of DECT ULE are ultra low power consumption, good quality of service (a unique feature of ULE compared with other low power wireless standards) and wide coverage. ULE positions DECT in new and rapidly growing market segments of M2M communications, including energy and utilities (smart metering), telecare (for example when used with monitoring devices) and safety and security. The DECT ULE specification is a multi-part specification; the first phase of development has focused on the Home Automation Network (HAN) but ongoing work will extend its application to industrial automation too. DECT ULE is a radio communications technology well suited to support M2M. New ULE devices will be fully compatible with existing DECT systems and will use the existing DECT spectrum. In addition, a single device can combine ULE and DECT/DECT New Generation functionalities. So, by upgrading the base station, existing devices can still be used and other devices added to provide new services and applications to the customer, all controlled from the DECT base station. DECT ULE harnesses all the advantages of traditional DECT. These include the key factor of instantaneous dynamic channel selection combined with seamless handover. The quality of a link is permanently monitored and, if necessary, the transmission is switched to a better channel without interrupting the media stream. DECT devices have always been very power efficient but, with the arrival of ULE, the stand-by-time can be increased to up to 10 years. TIA Issues New Architecture Overview for the Smart Utility Network Standard The Telecommunications Industry Association, which develops standards for the information and communications technology industry, has released a new document, ANSI/TIA-4957.000, Architecture Overview for the Smart Utility Network ANSI/TIA-4957.000 adds an overview and architecture chapter to the existing standards in the ANSI/TIA-4957 series of standards which address specifications and requirements for the Smart Utility Network. The document is the final installment to the ANSI/TIA-4957 series that provides specifications for the deployment of a multi-hop Neighborhood Area Network. The standard series serves as a complete solution to the data transport problem of connecting an Advance Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to the utility infrastructure. ANSI/TIA-4957.000 was formulated under the cognizance of the TIA TR-51 Smart Utility Networks. http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Fall 2013

Editor's Choice
Instrumentation for Produced Water Applications
Multi-touch SCADA Technology: Intuitive Functionality Advances Automation
The Use of Machine-to-Machine Communication in Environmental Impact Monitoring
Monitoring Electrical Properties of Pumps and Water Treatment Systems
Combining Sensors for Efficient Perimeter Protection
Building Flexibility
SCADA
Remote Conference Update
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Industry News
Application Feature

Remote - Fall 2013