Westermo to supply Ethernet extenders for Amsterdam gas distribution

June 7, 2010 - Alliander is a Dutch energy company that serves more than 2.5 million private and business customers in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Alliander´s subsidiary Liandon has chosen Westermo's DDW-221 and DDW-100 Ethernet extenders to be part of the regulation, real time monitoring, alarms and flow measurement system of Amsterdam's gas and energy distribution network. In total Alliander has installed 6 DDW-221s and 280 DDW-100s to upgrade its gas distribution system into a modern, SCADA controlled and monitored communication system.

Alliander (formerly Nuon) is one of the biggest energy suppliers in the Netherlands with 2,5 million customers in the Netherlands and Belgium. They generate electricity (20TWh yearly, green and grey) and distribute it, as well as gas to a major part of the Dutch domestic and industrial market. One of the divisions of Alliander is Liandon (formerly Nuon Tecno). This engineering and project management division were contracted to provide a telemetry system for the gas network in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam has a large number of gas-substations where Alliander can regulate the gas distribution network for the Dutch capital. There was however a requirement to not only regulate, but also monitor in real-time usage, alarms and flow measurement. With this information Alliander can deliver better services to their customers and reduce cost. For the remote telemetry unit Alliander chose a new RTU, the D05 from Datawatt Telecontrol Systems that utilizes the Ethernet based IEC 60870-5-104 communication protocol. Using fibre-optic cabling for the Ethernet communications would have been the logical choice because many of the Ethernet links would exceed the maximum 100 m (328 ft) range for UTP cable. Fibre would however be too expensive and nearly impossible to install in a short time frame and in a crowded city.

The solution was simple; »make use of the existing copper cabling which already existed in Alliander´s own telecom and signalling cable network. After some successful tests with the Westermo DDW-100 and our previous experiences using the Westermo modem family, Alliander made a choice to use the Westermo Ethernet Extender products, distributed in the Netherlands by MODELEC company», stated Mr. Rens Dekker, Senior Engineer at Liandon. The key specifications were the galvanic isolation, extended temperature and performance of the DSL-line. Tests were done up to 17 km (10.6 mi). Alliander is using a ring of DDW-221s to form a central, redundant ring. From this central ring 140 point-to-point communication lines are used to connect the remote locations (gas substations). Each point-to-point link consists of two DDW-100s to extend the Ethernet link up to a maximum of 12 km (7.5 mi). In total Alliander has installed 6 DDW-221s and 280 DDW-100s to upgrade its gas distribution system into a modern, SCADA controlled and monitored communication system.

WESTERMO TELEINDUSTRI AB
Westermo provides a full range of data communication and Ethernet equipment and solutions for such demanding applications as railways, aeronautics, military, water treatment, substation automation, roads and tunnels. The staff at Westermo provide the highest levels of service and technical support to help our customers to chose, configure and install the best solution for each specific application requirement. Our knowledge goes far beyond our own product range; we have a unique competence regarding your environment whether it is on a train, in airplanes, on the seabed or in a substation. To ensure a close relationship with the customer, Westermo has a local presence in more than 30 Countries. Westermo has three main product lines, Remote Access, Local Access and Industrial Ethernet, including more than one thousand different types and versions of modems, switches, routers, time servers or converters and the world´s fastest recovery time redundant Ethernet.