The COPA-DATA Energy Experience Day: Efficiency challenges and smart automation for the energy industry

May 22, 2014, 10am – 5pm, Walton Hotel, Warwickshire

Energy automation software expert COPA-DATA is hosting an Energy Experience Day to address the distinct challenges currently faced by power utilities, municipalities and grid operators. On the day, sector experts will deliver state of the industry addresses on the future of smart infrastructures, substation automation and the Internet of Energy; providing valuable insights for improving operational efficiency.

Tickets can be booked on the COPA-DATA website in the Events section.

The increase of highly variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power has created a demand for more sophisticated control systems like Smart Grids. The use of digital technologies within power grids brings with it significant possibilities, as well as a new generation of security risks.

The future of smart infrastructures, the demands of Smart Grids, smart cities and the best methods of future-proofing energy supplies are only some of the topics industry experts from Mitsubishi, COPA-DATA, Advantech and Intel will discuss during the Energy Experience Day event.

Comprehensive cutting-edge SCADA solutions facilitate more efficient operations management in power plants, wind farms and substation automation. The IEC 61850 standard is central for the design of electrical substation automation, especially in the context of multi-vendor automation. Its main benefits are the simplification of substation structure, eliminating the problem of protocol diversity, a significant reduction of time and costs, as well as the creation of a more reliable overall system.

Attendees at the COPA-DATA Energy Experience Day will have access to revealing industry insights, including the role and potential of IEC 61850. The speakers on the day include Ross Corfield, EMEA Market Development Manager of Intelligent Transportation at Intel, David Bean, Industry Sales Manager at Mitsubishi Electric Europe, Tony Milne, Manager for Power and Energy at Advantech, Simon Back, researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg, and Nigel Allen, Sales Manager at Bilfinger Industrial Automation Services.

COPA-DATA experts Jürgen Resch, Industry Manager for Energy, Martyn Williams, Managing Director of COPA-DATA UK and Sébastien Roberto, Sales Manager at COPALP, will discuss current challenges faced by the energy industry, as well as the implementation and results of COPA-DATA software solutions.

“The future of the energy industry is hugely dependent on continuous progress in the field of Smart Grids,” explained Martyn Williams, Managing Director of COPA-DATA UK. “Industrial automation software is one of the keys to creating a grid system that is smart enough to meet rising demand and integrate renewable energy sources. Products like the zenon Energy Edition help make interfaces more efficient and user friendly, while also increasing the security of substations, power plants and wind farms.” 

About COPA-DATA

COPA-DATA is the technological leader for ergonomic and highly dynamic process solutions. The company, founded in 1987, develops the software zenon for HMI/SCADA, Dynamic Production Reporting and integrated PLC systems at its headquarters in Austria. zenon is sold through its own offices in Europe, North America and Asia, as well as partners and distributors throughout the world. Customers benefit from local contact persons and local support thanks to a decentralized corporate structure. As an independent company, COPA-DATA can act quickly and flexibly, continues to set new standards in functionality and ease of use and leads the market trends. Over 80,000 installed systems in more than 50 countries provide companies in the Food & Beverage, Energy & Infrastructure, Automotive and Pharmaceutical sectors with new scope for efficient automation.

About zenon Energy Edition

zenon Energy Edition is the industry-specific SCADA solution from COPA-DATA for power plant automation and substation automation, grid control technology and wind park management. The drivers developed by COPA-DATA guarantee adherence to international standards such as IEC 61850/IEC 61400-25, IEC 60870 and DNP3. These protocols are used to communicate to both field level and to superordinate systems. Additional highlights are topological coloring, fault location, topological interlocking and process interlocking, as well as secure command processing and flexible, effective alarm management. With the seamless integration of zenon Logic, the IEC 61131-3-based PLC system from COPA-DATA, zenon Energy Edition becomes a comprehensive solution for energy automation. zenon Logic can be implemented as both a Soft-PLC on the control system PC, as well as in IEDs (intelligent electronic devices) and RTUs (remote telemetry units) as an embedded variant.