01 July 2017

Powerhouse MD Sam Thompson (shown left) says the new SCADA system will make the energy management process “completely transparent”. Also pictured: EMR MD Mark Quinn (centre) and Sam Alexander, Powerhouse’s technical director. PHOTO: PHIL SMYTH

Northern Ireland-based electricity aggregator Powerhouse Generation will use industrial IoT technology to remotely manage and control its clients’ power assets.

Powerhouse aims to help large energy consumers in Ireland earn revenue by temporarily reducing or delaying their electricity demand on the grid. It is said to be the first demand-side electricity aggregator to work across both sides of the Irish border.

Under a two-year deal worth £200,000, SCADA network and telemetry supplier EMR Integrated Solutions is providing the firm with a custom-built, energy management system to run its core business processes. It is based on EMR’s Ignition platform and includes the firm’s LiveLog remote terminal units. These are connected to client-side power generators and electricity control panels, and essentially act as energy monitoring devices. The units collect and dispatch real-time data via 3G/4G networks back to the centralised SCADA system at Powerhouse’s network operations centre (NOC). EMR says its platform facilitates data driven decision-making, and staff can remotely control client participation on the grid as required. 

Furthermore, with two NOC nodes connecting to EirGrid in Ireland and SONI in Northern Ireland, it’s claimed Powerhouse can manage all its business in the region “easily and cost effectively”. 

The new system includes some unique features that helps Powerhouse differentiate itself from the competition. The firm’s MD Sam Thompson says: “It not only gives us secure, granular visibility into our clients’ energy usage, but uses the power of IIoT to centrally control load shedding or generator activation from our NOC, making the energy management process completely transparent to our customers.”