29. January 2024
Stadtwerke Baiersdorf is currently equipping 20 of a total of 45 transformer stations with the SMIGHT Grid2 grid monitoring solution. The aim is to achieve the necessary transparency in the low-voltage grid. When choosing the right system, the Baiersdorf-based company paid particular attention to the visualization and evaluation of the data in order to be able to process tasks such as connection requests, grid planning and general operational tasks on the basis of valid data.
Trailing indicators and empirical values have always helped Stadtwerke Baiersdorf to assess its low-voltage grid. It became clear that this information would no longer be sufficient in the long term when a new development area was to be developed in 2023. Patrick Nass, CEO of Stadtwerke Baiersdorf, and his team set out to find a grid monitoring solution to permanently observe the two affected stations and assess the effects of the additional load on the grid. In the search for a system that not only provides data but also processes it in a user-friendly way, the company came across SMIGHT Grid2. This was followed by an eight-week pilot project.
“The simple and quick installation is an advantage – but the decisive factor in choosing SMIGHT was the visualization of the data in the SMIGHT IQ Cockpit and a detailed analysis of the data presented after the pilot phase,” explains Patrick Nass, CEO of Stadtwerke Baiersdorf. “This analysis showed us what we can read from the data and how we can work with it. That’s exactly what I needed.”
What the data tell us
Even during the construction phase, there were clear effects, particularly on an outgoing circuit that is used for construction site electricity and a road train. Current peaks of over 180 amperes were seen on the 160 ampere fused outgoing circuit, caused by the start-up peaks of two work cranes. “The permanent measurement gives us a good feeling because we can act before it becomes critical,” explains Patrick Nass. In the case of the two transformer stations, Stadtwerke Baiersdorf therefore decided on a planned grid expansion in order to relieve the grid.
Support in many areas
In future, SMIGHT Grid2 will also support employees with connection inquiries, among other things. The municipal utilities had to process 128 private inquiries for PV systems alone: a threefold increase compared to the previous year. Employees can now assess at a glance whether the station or the outgoing feeders can cope with the new feeders or not. “A neighboring municipality actually had major problems due to the high PV feed-in and had to retrofit at short notice – I don’t want to let it get that far.”
Ready for the future
Over the next few weeks, Stadtwerke Baiersdorf will be equipping over 44% of its transformer stations with SMIGHT Grid2 and hopes that this will give it the transparency it needs to meet future challenges. It is also more important than ever to know the grid and act with foresight with regard to the implementation of §14a EnWG. Patrick Nass summarizes: “My goal is to use SMIGHT Grid2 to keep my grid under control so that I don’t have to take action in the first place.”
