South Africa’s Eskom Centralizes Critical Power Generation Data with Invensys Wonderware Software

Eskom is responsible for generating and distributing approximately 95% of South Africa’s electricity. Operating power generation stations 365 days a year, 24-hours a day is no easy task, and when more than 50 million people are relying on one company to “keep the lights on,” that task can be daunting. That is unless they’ve employed state-of-the-art monitoring and automation systems. Eskom’s network of power plants required an integrated, reliable software solution to ensure its facilities were operating at peak performance and enabling access to critical plant data to those that needed it, anywhere, any time.

The Plant Data System (PDS) initiative was developed to centralize all plant management activities via a standardized software solution. Built on Invensys Wonderware® software, Eskom management, plant technicians and administrators now have access to real-time information to more effectively make operation and business decisions that directly affect service to customers, as well as the company’s bottom line. Plant data is openly accessible and in a standard format, enabling workers in every area of the business to access and use the real-time data collected from each of Eskom’s plants. Wonderware software is able to convert the collected data into useful information to meet the specific needs of personnel at different levels within the company. By providing refined performance indicators, Wonderware software provides better plant optimization and improved resource allocation. By accessing data in real time and directly sending operations data to plant engineers, Eskom has improved overall plant performance and improved its staff’s incident response capabilities.

Key to effectively accessing and evaluating plant data and operations information is standardizing on information technology systems using a single, integrated software platform. With Wonderware software, Eskom is able to comply with ISA-95, an international standard for the integration of enterprise and control systems.

“Wonderware software provides our engineering and management teams with access to usable data that before was not readily available. We can now make decisions in real-time on our electricity generation capabilities, enabling Eskom to continue to improve the quality of life of more than 50 million people.”
– John Viljoen, Corporate Consultant for Generation Business, Eskom Holdings Ltd.

For more information, including about the Eskom application of a variety of Wonderware software products – System Platform, InTouch®, Historian and Information Server – read the complete success story. Or, reference our collection of Wonderware Power Industry success stories.

Smart Cities Readiness Guide Advances Smart City Development with First-of-its-Kind Tool for City Leaders Around the World

Readiness Guide is the first vendor-neutral comprehensive roadmap for smart city development

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (November 18, 2013) The Smart Cities Council today released version 1.0 of the Smart Cities Council Readiness Guide, the first comprehensive, vendor-neutral smart city handbook for city leaders and planners. Designed with input from leading smart city and urban planning experts as well as top global technology companies, the Guide enables city leaders to assess their current state of technology and its readiness to become a smart city. It is available for free download at www.smartcitiescouncil.com/readinessguide.

The Guide was unveiled in Barcelona, Spain, the day before the Smart City Expo World Congress begins there, at a smart cities workshop and press announcement with the renowned ESADE Business School’s Institute of Public Governance and Management.

The Guide is a collection of guidelines, best practices and case studies. It helps a city create its own customized "wish list" with the confidence that it has not left out anything essential and that all the pieces will work together even if they are built in stages. The Guide outlines proven principles to follow in order to be successful and avoid pitfalls.

The Guide includes vendor-neutral technology recommendations on all eight of a city’s most important responsibilities: the built environment, energy, telecommunications, transportation, water and waste water, health and human services, public safety, and payments.

About the Smart Cities Council - The Smart Cities Council is comprised of the foremost companies in the smart technologies sector. Its goal is to accelerate the growth of smart cities worldwide by providing city leaders and urban planners with tools and resources, such as a Readiness Guide, financial guides, policy frameworks, and "mentoring" sessions. For more information, visit www.smartcitiescouncil.com.

Today's full Smart Cities Council press release is available here.

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Invensys is an Associate Partner in the Smart Cities Council. Invensys is participating again this year at the Smart Cities Expo World Congress in Barcelona, November 19-21, and is present in the Wonderware Spain stand (D421), our Wonderware software distributor, and also in the Microsoft stand (D415) as a Partner supporting their CityNext initiative. For more information about Invensys' Wonderware software solutions for smart cities, visit www.smartcitiessoftware.com.

Smart and Sustainable Spanish Ecocity Valdespartera Relies on Software Solution from Invensys Wonderware Spain

Ecocity Valdespartera is the first urban development project in Spain to be governed entirely by bioclimatic criteria in line with the objectives of environmental sustainability contained in the Kyoto Protocol. Creating a city where bioclimatic management was built into the project’s development meant that integrating and running all of the city’s facilities with a centralized IT system had to be considered. The system had to efficiently manage everything from the drinking water supply network, sewage and rainwater treatment network, watering systems and electricity and gas supplies, to street lighting, pneumatic waste collection and the housing and environmental control network. Wonderware® real-time operations management software from Invensys, in conjunction with Microsoft® Windows® and SQL Server®, was selected as the best solution for overall management and analysis of this unique urban environment.

“One of the key innovations of Valdespartera from a technology perspective is the comprehensiveness of the integrated management system. Many cities have experimented with ‘smart’ components, but here we have a highly advanced model. Valdespartera is a unique example of how the cities of the future can be designed using data to make intelligent decisions on a wide range of public services.” – Jordi Rey, managing director of Invensys Wonderware Spain

Learn more in this Microsoft Touch cover story or visit our Software Solutions for Smart Cities area on wonderware.com.