CAMMESA, the public company that manages the wholesale electricity market of the Argentine Republic, set up the SMED System to measure with the greatest possible precision the demand of the largest electricity consumers.

To this end, CAMMESA awarded Softron the measurement of more than 600 points in five provinces, using an innovative solution based on the Flamenco Green Box product.

The problem

In a scenario of growth in energy demand that is close to its maximum generation capacity, CAMMESA decided to improve the way it manages demand. To accurately measure the requirements of the largest consumers in Argentina, CAMMESA designed the SMED System.

The challenge

The SMED System covers the largest consumers and in them the accumulated consumption must be captured in intervals of 15 minutes and transmitted, at most, within the following 3 minutes in a synchronized manner, to obtain the complete “photo” of the demand. on a certain moment. Partial measurement (some points yes and others no) or delay in receiving consumption data make decision making difficult.

The solution

CAMMESA entrusted Softron with more than 600 measurement points in the provinces of Córdoba, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Chaco and Formosa. Each measurement point has a meter that generates pulses proportional to consumption. The meters are connected to data acquisition equipment that accumulates the generated pulses and transmits the accumulated pulses every 15 minutes. The consumption information from the measurement points is received and processed in our Acquisition Center, designed to operate 24 x 7 with a reliability greater than 99.99%. The acquisition equipment is based on our Flamenco Green Box.

In most places, cellular telephone networks are used to transmit data. In places with poor cellular coverage, satellite stations are used to transmit information.

Many of the acquisition equipment had to be installed in environments with unfavorable conditions. Additionally, climatic variation had to be considered. For this reason, the electronics are protected from external agents within a standardized box designed for quick and easy assembly that contains, among other elements, a power supply, LED indicators, a backup battery that provides autonomy of more than 48 hours and sensors. The alarms allow our operators to know immediately when the power is cut or restored or the box is opened.

To ensure operation, an effective field repair service was implemented that works proactively and quickly resolves any problem.

Softron‘s team of professionals worked intensively for months to offer a solution that responded to the challenges posed.

The deployment of the acquisition equipment in the field was carried out over several months, during which numerous situations were resolved, which required installing external antennas to improve the GPRS signal level (some with lengths greater than 50 meters) to solving vibration problems.