Hazardous areas and safety
I
n 2013 NamPower contracted H3iSquared to design, install and
commission a camera system for monitoring of the Gerus sub-
station yards. This camera system was not meant for security
purposes, rather it was to be used for monitoring of the various
switchgear (bus bars and earth links), horizontal and vertical pan-
tograph disconnectors, transformers and reactors in the substation.
As NamPower is running the countrywide grid from a national
control room in Windhoek, the communication infrastructure was
already in place for remote control and monitoring of substations.
However problems could arise with such a distributed system
whereby mechanical failures are not correctly reported to SCADA
operators. For instance, if a bus bar was set to open, but became stuck
after opening only 20% of the way, the SCADA would still report that
the bus bar had opened correctly. This type of scenario could lead
to widespread damage of the grid, as well as potential hazardous or
deadly environments for anyone on site.
The pro-active approach to such potential failures was to im-
plement a camera system whereby operators could have a visual
confirmation of any commands sent to the remote substation. The
proposed solution would preferably integrate with the SCADA sys-
tem to provide automatic pop-ups of relevant views on any events
or commands sent by operators. This solution would give increased
peace of mind for users, along with increased productivity (Due to
less downtime caused by mechanical problems) and greatly reducing
troubleshooting and travelling time required.
Customer requirements
NamPower’s requirements for the Gerus project were to provide real
time visuals of the substations yards, in a system that was easy to
control and maintain. The hardware used for the installation was to
be correctly hardened and specified for use in a high EMI (Electro-
Magnetic Interference) environment, and visuals or communications
could not be overly affected by EMI spikes. The system had to be
fully remote controllable and configurable, with minimal regular
maintenance required.
Cameras used in the solution for Gerus also had to be able to handle
the harsh environments in Namibia and have a reasonably long op-
erating life under such conditions. These included both the extreme
temperatures experienced in Namibia, which range from extreme
highs during the days to extreme lows at night, as well as the dry and
dusty conditions. The cameras used had to provide clear visuals of
the substation yards, at distances of up to around 1 km, and needed
to have clear enough pictures to allow operators to read various
signs around the yards. The video feeds needed to be automatically
recorded for a period of time and stored in the event that operators
needed to review footage at a later stage in order to troubleshoot
any problems.
NamPower also required that the camera traffic did not overly
tax the network, and could not cause interruptions of critical traffic.
The cameras were required to be able to operate at different frame
rates for local recording versus remote viewing, as well as be able to
increase recorded and viewed frame rates on detection of an event
at the substation.
Solution
After visiting the site along with the installers, H3iSquared began
designing a camera scheme that would cover NamPower’s require-
ments. It was decided to use IV&C’s PTZ-3330-19-1-110 cameras,
which are outdoor PTZ cameras with a 36x optical zoom. A Rugged-
Com RSG2100 Ethernet switch would be installed in the Gerus server
room, which would interface to their existing network infrastructure
through the existing RuggedCom infrastructure.
Hardened IP camera
solution for NamPower’s
Gerus substation
By T Craven, H3iSquared
A case study on the installation of an IP camera system for monitoring substation equipment.
T
ake note
• NamPower’s requirements for the Gerus project were to provide real-
time visuals of the substation yards using a system that was easy to
control and maintain.
• Cameras have to be able to withstand the harsh Namibian climate.
• The solution allows operators, within seconds of being notified, a
visual of the site and relevant areas.
Electricity+Control
December ‘13
20
