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CREZ COMMUNICATIONS

Presented by American Electric PowerTelecommunications Engineering

Matt Williams Don Demand Columbus, OH Tulsa, OK

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AEP OPGW Network

The AEP Telecom Engineering offices in Columbus, OH and Tulsa, OK are responsible for supporting a 3,000 mile fiber optic cable network covering 11 states. Approximately 920 miles of this network is comprised of Optical Ground Wire (OPGW) on various AEP 765kV, 345kV, 138kV and 69kV Transmission lines.

7 State AEP East Region Fiber Network 4 State AEP West Region Fiber Network

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Installing OPGW for Communications

Benefits 40+ year life expectancy when installed & maintained properly. Less susceptible to outages relative to other cable types such as

ADSS on T-Line, Distribution poles or underground construction. Eliminates clearance and Right-Of-Way issues since it occupies the

static wire position on a Transmission Line. Low installation cost on new T-Line construction. Owned fiber systems are a critical component in the mix of

technologies to provide highly reliable and secure communications systems. Other systems include microwave and leased circuits.

The inclusion of OPGW fiber cable on new and modified lines will continue to add route diversity as the transmission system grows.

Disadvantages Repairs can require a T-Line outage to replace a damaged section

which could result in an extended fiber outage. Diverse OPGW routes, the use of diverse technologies, and disaster preparedness can alleviate this operational concern.

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Cost

Approximately $10K/mile incremental cost difference for new line construction or to install OPGW with a line reconductoring project. $5K is for the cost difference of OPGW versus traditional static wire and the other $5K covers the increased cost of OPGW tower hardware and the Material & Labor for fiber splicing (which assumes a splice every 3 miles). T-Line crew installation labor is assumed to be the same for OPGW as static wire.

To retrofit an existing line (replace static wire with OPGW) the cost is between $50K - $70K per mile and must be coordinated with scheduled line outages.

Installing OPGW for Communications

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Advantages of installing SONET Rings

Benefits SONET multiplexers are designed to be redundant and self-healing

by their integrated ring switching architecture. SONET rings installed on diversely routed fiber cables will provide

complete redundancy and eliminates the concern of having a single point of failure in a communications network.

Without diverse cable routing a single fiber cut can interrupt all fiber based communications on a single Transmission Line.

Lower level SONET (OC-3/155Mb/s) can be extended via microwave communications and serve as a diverse route for critical locations.

SONET deploys higher capacity communication networks that are scalable to accommodate bandwidth growth and reliable to support critical station to station to head end communications. OC-3 (155Mb/s) to OC-12 (622Mb/s) to OC48 (2.5Gb/s).

Other station communications requirements such as SCADA, Station Data Repository, Synchrophasors, Smart-grid, video surveillance, voice and Ethernet/WAN communications as well as other regional business critical communications (mobile radio, corporate data, etc.) can all be supported and transported by SONET based networks.

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Utility Grade SONET Multiplexers

Key Features of a Utility Grade SONET Multiplexer Compliant with all ANSI/IEEE C37.90 specifications. Enhanced protection switching (<3ms) for critical applications such as

P&C Teleprotection signals when compared to Carrier grade SONET equipment (<60ms).

Some provide direct access to DS0 channel level in order to provide direct interface connections to relays (via C37.94 or RS-232/422), DTT XMT and RCV equipment and contact I/O devices.

Most Carrier grade SONET equipment offers granularity down to the DS1 level (24 DS0 multiplexed signal).

Power supplies capable of using 48VDC or 130VDC directly from the station battery (Carrier grade equipment operates at -48VDC).

Windows based Network Management System (NMS) with alarm engine, remote alarming and diagnostics.

Interoperability with foreign SONET equipment at the OC-3, OC-12 or OC48 levels to pass NMS information and circuits through other vendors equipment chassis.

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Advantages of installing SONET Rings

Cost

The cost of a utility grade SONET multiplexer is between $20K and $25K per node. Typically one node is installed at each site but depending on the ring architecture, fiber cable topology and redundancy requirements there may be situations where more than one node is required per site (station control house).

While a comparable Carrier grade SONET multiplexer may provide the same capacity at less cost - The following differences must be taken into consideration:

Substation hardening requirements (ANSI C37.90 compliant) SONET Protection Switching for critical applications (3ms vs. 60ms) DC Power Plant Additional channel bank equipment to provide DS0 circuits such as

56K data, voice or other low speed drops. C37.94 optical relay interfaces and direct contact inputs for DTT.

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Redundancy Requirement

Protection system shall be designed for loss of

AC Current Source AC Voltage Source Protective Relay Communication Channel DC Circuitry Auxiliary Trip Relay Breaker Trip Coil Station DC Source

“ Transmission protection systems shall provide redundancy such that no single protection system component failure would prevent the interconnected transmission systems from meeting the system performance requirements “ - NERC

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CREZ : Competitive Renewable Energy Zone

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SONET Ring Architecture for CREZ Network

Dual high-speed relay protection scheme based on diverse OPGW routes and redundant optical fiber communication (SONET ring) system.

87L1 87L1

87L2 87L2

SONETMUX

Self-healing SONET Ring

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

Relay System#1 connected directly over OPGW fiber on protected line

One side of SONET ring connected over OPGW fiber on protected line

Other side of SONET ring connected via OPGW fiber on other lines to provide a diverse path

Relay System#2 connected to SONET ring

345kV line with OPGW

C37.94 Interface between relays and SONET MUX

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SONET Ring Latency

87L2 relay signal travels both directions around the SONET ring in a working/protection configuration.

Propagation delay incurred in optical fiber is 8us/mile and ~26us switching & mapping delay in passing through each SONET multiplexer.

87L2 87L2

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

26us

87L2 signal travels down one side of SONET ring (short path)

3,728us Total propagation delay via long path (assume 440 mile path)

212us Total propagation delay via short path (20 miles path)

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3,516us (3.516ms) Latency differential during a SONET ring switch

87L2 signal also travels down the other side of SONET ring (long path)

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

SONETMUX

26us 26us

26us 26us26us

26us

26us

480us60 mi.

480us60 mi.

560us70 mi.

320us40 mi.

160us20 mi.

600us75 mi.

480us60 mi.

600us75 mi.

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SONET Ring Non-Relay CommunicationsCircuits can be sent in both directions around the SONET ring in a

working/protection configuration.

SCADA

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONET

OC-3SONETRADIO

OC-3SONETRADIO

VOICE

SCADA HEAD END

OC-12SONET

LOCALTOWER

SITE

TRANSOPERATIONS

CENTER

OC-12SONET

CORPOFFICE

OC-3

VOICE

FIELDOFFICE

VLAN1

VLAN2

VLAN1

VLAN2

VIDEO

VIDEO

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Discussion

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