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Broadband Powerline Carrier (BPLC) Presentation

1Confidential OverviewEmpowering Smart Grid Communications

Nachum SadanJune 2011

BPLC Introduction

• Pilot wire used for transmission line protection is failing

– 17% failure rate according to an SEL study

• Copper based wire is aging and deteriorating due to corrosion

– Copper theft is an increasing problem

• Phone companies are phasing out the service

– Many utilities lease the pilot wire lines

• Alternatives are fiber or conventional PLC

2Confidential Overview

• Alternatives are fiber or conventional PLC

– Today only 9% of US substations are connected by fiber

• Replacing pilot wire with fiber is very expensive and requires a

long deployment process

– BPLC costs 10% of fiber and deploys in days compared to weeks

• Amperion’s BPLC technology was developed jointly with AEP

to solve this problem

– Available now - no need to wait for fiber

BPLC Timeline and Milestones

• 2006 – 46kV 0.5 mile Proof Of Concept test in Charleston WVA

– SCADA and POTT simulation tests

• 2007 – 2008: 69kV 5 mile test in Newark Ohio

– 3 links with repeating; longest point to point link of 2.6 miles

– DOE and AEP funded; 3-way contract with AEP, Amperion, DOE/NETL

• 2009 – 69kV 5 mile network in Newark Ohio

– 2 links with repeating; longest point to point link of 4.4 miles

– Amperion and AEP submit ARRA stimulus application to DOE


– Amperion and AEP submit ARRA stimulus application to DOE

• 2010 – Current differential line protection

– Fault simulation lab and field tests with GE and SEL relays

• 2010 - 138kV deployment over 3.8 miles

• 2011 – Transition from RD&D to commercial deployments

– Candidate locations have been identified and surveyed

– Initial focus is on pilot wire replacements at AEP

– Followed by SCADA expansion applications and leased line replacements

BPLC Communications Over 69kV Lines

Granville Station West Granville Station

Five Mile 69kV Network at AEP Operational in Newark, Ohio Since 2008

DOE recognized the value of BPLC technology and funded part of the R&D work


� Performance– Throughput 10-15 Mbps

– Latency 8-10 msec

– High availability and redundancy

– Monitoring and automatic alerts

� Applications– POTT, DCB and Current Diff. Line protection

– Substation Video Surveillance

– SCADA

– Synchrophasor data

BPLC Communications Over 138kV Lines

Amperion BPLC over 138kV: Bandwidth performance of 10-14 Mbps and Latency of 6-7 Milliseconds - Amperion Phoenix w/BPLC Coupler


East Broad Station Taylor Station

3.8 miles distance

Phoenix SG-5000

Coax cable assemblyInside the station yard

BPLC Coupler• Two 200Mbps BPLC modems• Intelligent switch: • Safe and reliable design

BPLC System Components

Fully Integrated & Field Tested Product Set


Network Management System:• Continuously monitors BPLC modems and links health• Performance graphs: system up time, throughput, latency• Historical reports: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly• Automatic alerts by email

• Intelligent switch: • 6 10/100 Mbps FE ports• 2 1000 Mbps GE ports (Fiber)

• CPU with Amperion embedded SW• DC powered from station battery

• Safe and reliable design• Uses standard utility arrester

Amperion’s Patented Advanced BPLC Communications Platform

BPLC Enables Substation Upgrades

First Generation Substation Next Generation Substation

Analog relays Digital relays

Pilot wire Fiber or BPLC

Conventional PLC Broadband PLC

Proprietary protocols Standard IEC 61850

Substation automation

Sonet TDM and Ethernet IP


Sonet TDM and Ethernet IP

Wide area protection with

Synchrophasors

Aggregation point of feeders

smart grid data and data from

adjacent stations

Fiber will be used in new substations and on HV lines > 138kV

BPLC can be used for station retrofits on sub-transmission lines that are at 138kV and below

Communications Technologies

Ap

pli

cati

on

En

ab

lin

g

HighFiber

WiMAX

BPLC


Cost Effectiveness(capital & operating expenses)

Ap

pli

cati

on

En

ab

lin

g

Low

Low

High

T1

Wireless

Conventional PLC

Leased Lines

Technology Comparison

Conventional PLC Fiber Broadband PLC

Line protection yes yes yes

Backhaul

Communications

no yes yes

Broadband no yes yes

Utilizes existing line yes no yes

Time to deploy medium long short

Circuit disruption medium high low


Circuit disruption medium high low

Distance long long medium with repeating

Cost medium high low

BPLC is closing the fiber gap

PLC FiberGbpsbps

Mbps

Communications Cost Comparison

BPLC can be used where there is no fiber, or to expand an existing fiber network

or as a secondary redundant method to fiber on an existing line

Method Cost of equipment at each station

Cost of communications line

Total cost of a 5 mile solution

Copper based

Pilot wire system

Not available Not available Not available


Conventional PLC powerline carrier system

Cost of equipment and labor to install wave tuner sets, CCVT’s and line traps

No cost

Using own wires

Greater > $150,000

Fiber Attaches to relaying equipment

$75,000 per mile for an OPGW retrofit

Greater > $375,000

BPLC™ $15,000 at each station No cost

Using own wires

$30,000

Ratio 10:1 advantage vs fiber

AEP Lab Test Results

L-90 to L-90

Current Diff

L90+BB

Focus

Over BPLC

One hop

min

Over BPLC

One hop

max

Over BPLC

Two hops

min

Over BPLC

Two hops

max

20.68 24.91 31.25 38.39 40.08 46.19

421 to 421

POTT

421+BB

Focus

Over BPLC

One hop

Over BPLC

One hop

Over BPLC

Two hops

Over BPLC

Two hops

6-7 msec spreadmin-max range


POTT Focus One hop

min

One hop

max

Two hops

min

Two hops

max

27.98 32.79 40.80 44.88 48.06 53.28 4-5 msec spreadmin-max range

• Lab tests were conducted in April-May 2010• All results are trip times in milliseconds

• Test results provided basis to proceed with field testing

Line Protection Field Test with GE & SEL Relays

Field demonstration of current differential line protection with GE & SEL relays


AEP Field Test Results

• Relay trip time for fault at 50% of line

– Eight tests: results range from 38 to 42 milliseconds

• Similar results for faults at 5% and 95 % of line

• No trip for external faults

• Results similar to tests in lab

• About 20 milliseconds slower than a point to point fiber

– Future enhancements in configuration settings and tighter integration


– Future enhancements in configuration settings and tighter integration

improved latency by 10 to 12 milliseconds since Sep. 2010

– End to end latency of 27 milliseconds with less than 1.5 milliseconds of

asymmetry has been consistently measured since May 2011

– Traded bandwidth for reduction in latency

– Optimization of jitter buffer controls and clock synchronization

enhancements

• Success of field tests in Sep. 2010 was the criteria for

commercial deployments in 2011

Coexistence: PLC on Ph. 1 and BPLC on Ph. 2 & 3


BPLC vs Conventional PLC Comparison

Feature BPLC Conventional PLC

Supports broadband applications

including current differential as well as

POTT and DCB protection

YES NO

Requires Line Traps NO YES

Operates on two phases providing

redundancy and high availability in

case of GND fault

YES NO (but can be at

additional cost)


case of GND fault

Has elements in series with the HV line NO YES (line traps)

Uses standard lightning arresters YES NO

Faster installation process – minimizes

crew labor and circuit disruption

YES NO

Adds lightning protection and

improves reliability for free

YES NO

Scalable, flexible, safe and low cost YES NO

Line Protection with BPLC

BPLC supports line protection & control requirements:

Current Diff, POTT and DCB

• Low Latency• High Availability

• Redundancy

RELAY A RELAY B


Station A Station B

69kV or 138kV line (or lower)

Station to Station Communications

Utility Data Center

Utility Data Center

BPLC eliminates the need for dedicated leased lines to each sub station

It offers fully redundant communications paths to each substation and a low cost alternative to other methods

Take Out Point

Take Out Point


Station A Station D

Station B Station C

alternative to other methods

BPLCBPLC

BPLC

BPLC Enables Substation Automation

BPLC enables multiple applications:

• Line protection• SCADA communications

• Substation Automation

All over the same infrastructure

RELAY/RTU/IED RELAY/RTU/IED


Station A Station B

138kV or 69kV line (or lower)

Next Generation Multiplexer with BPLC

Data

Voice

Relays MultiplexerPlatform

Serial TDM

Fiber

WAN Comm Options

BPLC provides another communications optionIn addition to Sonet/TDM and Fiber


Relays

RTUs

IEDs

PlatformFiber

BPLC

BPLC option has no restrictions:

Sonet TDM and IP Ethernet

No need to WAIT for Fiber

BPLC with Ethernet IP simplifies network management compared to a more complex Sonet/TDM network

Transmission

Applications

• Line Protection

• Station

Communications

• Station Surveillance

• SCADA Data Collection

Distribution

Applications

• Energy Theft and Loss

• Sensing & Monitoring

• Grid Reliability

• Fault Identification

• Distribution Automation

Future Smart Grid

Applications

• TBD – platform enables

future applications still in

R&D

Enabling Communications PlatformMeets requirements of core applications today with a migration path to the future

Incrementally enables utility applications on top of the same communications platform


Amperion’s Patented Advanced BPLC Communications Platform

• SCADA Data Collection

• Real Time Synchrophasor

Data Streaming

• Substation Automation

• Distribution Automation

• Asset Protection

• Distributed Generation and

Storage

• Demand Response and

AMI

• Demand Dispatch

Amperion Intellectual Property

Multiple patents with worldwide coverage protect Amperion’sbroadband powerline carrier technologies. The patents coverbroadband over powerline communications methods, RF couplingmethods, switching and self healing, grid self powering, and advancedfiltering methods.


BPLC Enables Better Protection

• BPLC can be used to connect substations over transmission,

sub-transmission and distribution lines

• Transmission protection is implemented today with analog

relays using POTT and DCB schemes– Protection schemes can be enhanced with the new generation of digital relays

that support multiple options including current differential

• At the Distribution level coordination will become more difficult with more


• At the Distribution level coordination will become more difficult with more

distributed generation and multiple terminal points

• Current differential is the most accurate and reliable

protection scheme – But requires a reliable and fast communications channel

• Fiber is too costly for lower voltage substations and not

always available – BPLC is the next generation PLC and provides a ready-to-deploy cost effective

alternative

Summary

• Over 622,000 transmission miles in the US require an investment of $36B

and decades to deploy fiber to every substation

• 67% of the US transmission lines are at 138kV or below (sub-transmission

category) and are potential candidates for the BPLC technology

• Deploying BPLC instead of fiber costs less than 10% and can be

accomplished in a much shorter timeframe

• Substation automation requires a reliable broadband communications

channel to backhaul critical data in real time


channel to backhaul critical data in real time

• BPLC can be used to enable station retrofit projects that include upgrading

substation equipment and supporting new smart grid applications

• BPLC can also be used on distribution lines enabling accurate and cost

effective current differential protection over short distances

• Initial applications for BPLC will be pilot wire replacements, leased line

replacements, PLC upgrades, fiber extensions and fiber redundancy and

back up options

• Provider of advanced communications

solutions to electric utilities

• Developed world class Broadband Power

Line Communications (BPLC) technology

and holder of multiple foundational patents

• Innovator of powerline broadband

networks and BPLC® technology for

About Amperion


networks and BPLC® technology for

substation communications required for

T&D smart grid applications

– BPLC products are fully operational

– Commercial deployments at JPS and AEP (2011)

– Large market potential over the next 20 years

Amperion, Inc.

360 Merrimack St.

Lawrence, MA 01843

www.amperion.com

Broadband Power Line Communications (BPLC)

Enables Utility Core Applications Today

and Provides a Platform for Tomorrow’s

Thank You!

25Confidential OverviewEmpowering Smart Grid Communications

and Provides a Platform for Tomorrow’s

Transmission Smart Grid

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