A smart electricity grid solution developed and built by electricity multinational ABB provides connectivity for all critical elements of the grid, helps operators to balance supply and demand and, crucially, enables Côte d’Ivoire to access the West African Power Pool (Wapp), says ABB Power Grids division Grid Automation business line MD Massimo Danieli.

The project, which upgraded the power distribution network, was an important aspect of enabling the country to participate in the Wapp and control the export and import of electricity, he says.

“The modernised power grid will cater for the growing electricity demand within the country and enhance the export of electricity to neighbouring countries, including Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali, which are part of the Wapp.”

At the heart of the project, and part of the complexity, are the software and applications that allow for the distributed elements of the network to be monitored and managed in concert.

The new solution, including the communication platform and advanced grid control system, supports migration to future technologies and allows for the extension of existing grid-automation infrastructure, resulting in reliable performance for critical grid- operation applications, he explains.

A comprehensive suite of ABB’s mission-critical communication and networking systems with related teleprotection function, as well as an upgrade of remote terminal units, was deployed during the development of the project.

ABB also installed its Ability Network Manager supervisory control and data acquisition and its advanced distribution management system that is expected to facilitate greater network coverage than the current system and underpin a more reliable electricity grid in the country.

“As a long-standing partner to utility service providers in the Ivory Coast, ABB has a strong understanding of the existing communication infrastructure supporting the Ivorian power grid,” he says.

ABB installed and commissioned the systems that connected fewer than 50 substations over a countrywide fibre-optic network. It also provided training for the team of grid operator Societe des Energies de Côte d’Ivoire (CI-Energies), which will manage the upgraded power network.

Danieli adds that, with this deployment, “the Ivory Coast has a state-of-the-art, future-proof power network”.

The assets are distributed and this makes communications infrastructure, as well as the speed, reliability and cybersecurity of communications, vital. Subsequently, this allows for all assets to be controlled and the whole distribution network to be managed and orchestrated.

Upgrading the existing power grids to smart grids requires significantly more connectivity than is typically the case for conventional power grids, as well as a centralised communications and control structure to use the information.

While the variability of renewable energy is a challenge to manage in any grid, Côte d’Ivoire’s upgraded smart grid enables CI-Energies to continue to evolve the grid.

“Greater visibility provided by better connectivity enables operators to have a true and real-time view of the status of the network, which enables them to expand and develop the network according to their strategy and the demands placed on the utility.”

Renewable-energy variability poses considerable challenges – even for smart power grids – to maintain the frequency and stability of the grid. Energy storage can ameliorate this problem by acting as a buffer, but is typically expensive.

However, renewable-energy systems, even without storage, can help energy-consuming companies reduce their costs by offsetting their consumption by using solar energy during the day, for example.