Austin Energy uses Siemens switches in its first smart grid project

Siemens Energy and Automation, Alpharetta, Ga., announced that Austin Energy is using Siemens’ Bridges Electric Vector group-operated motorized intelligent switches for loop switching in its smart grid pilot project. The primary goals for the intelligent grid system are to enable automated load shifting and outage management through back-end management software.

Forty of Siemens’ automated, group-operated air break switches are included in the pilot project. The Vector switches are capable of sensing voltage and current and are remotely controlled through supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) in both normally closed and normally open points within the distribution feeders. All switch operations are remotely controlled by a SCADA operator and/or master system software, thereby eliminating the need to operate the devices from the control cabinet. The controller is fully capable of performing automatic sectionalizing operations.