Siemens has signed an agreement with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) to supply the country’s first digital power transformer, Sensformer, according to a press statement on Monday.
The Sensformer is expected to increase energy reliability and efficiency for the Kafr El-Sheikh and New Zagazig 500/220kV substations for the delta area–a highly loaded link of the transmission grid in northern Egypt.
Under the agreement, Siemens will supply 14 Sensformers. This includes engineering, design, fabrication, supervision of the erection of power transformers, site management, testing, along with the commissioning services on a turnkey basis. To further support the EETC’s priorities to ramp up capacity, the two companies have agreed to work on a fast-track work schedule to complete the project by May 2020.
Egypt’s energy network is in the midst of a transformation. Increased power generation
capacity, the move toward renewables integration, as well as more cross-border electricity flows are transforming the energy landscape and posing new challenges for Egypt’s transmission grid.
Chairperson of the EETC, Sabah Meshaly, said that digitalisation of key elements in power grid infrastructure, such as transformers, can certainly help optimise energy distribution and reduce electricity losses.”
“The power industry is currently undergoing significant change with the evolution of energy networks into a decentralised, decarbonised, and digitalised systems. Our intelligent transformers pave the way for the Internet of Energy (IoT),” said Senior Vice President, Siemens Gas and Power in Egypt, Ashraf Hamasa.
Power transformers are key elements in power grid infrastructure that regulate voltage and current between different power supply units. In addition to their primary task of transforming voltage, Sensformers also act as information hubs for the power grid operators. Grid operators get access to a cloud-based platform application that visualises the collected data and provides insights on the assets’ status and performance across voltage levels. This helps enhance flexibility and optimise the operation of the entire grid, while preventing failures.
To allow the network operators and energy producers to manage this new electricity landscape automatically, the Sensformer is also equipped with an IoT gateway to provide direct real-time measurements of oil level, top oil temperature, low voltage winding, as well as GPS location. All the data generated by the sensors are then transmitted to the cloud via the Sensformer connectivity device, using the standard GSM communications or via the ethernet.
