1

The use of GSM and Web Based SCADA for

monitoring Fault Passage Indicators
Simon Hodgson, Nortech Management Ltd (UK), and André Noordenbos, Liander (The Netherlands)

 The principle of operation is exactly the same as for a non-

Abstract—GSM communications and Web Based Telemetry communicating FPI [4]. When FPIs are traditionally installed
have allowed Liander to deploy a large population of Fault on a distribution network, in the event of a fault, the first step
Passage Indicators across their network, integrating the data will often be to check each fault indication in turn, to see
with their Energy Management System, to effectively reduce the which are indicating the passage of fault. This typically takes
number of customer minutes lost. between half an hour and an hour to complete, depending on
the length of the feeder and how familiar staff are with the
Index Terms—SCADA Systems, Telemetry, Fault location,
location of the FPIs. By installing communicating FPIs,
Internet, Underground power distribution lines
Liander realized they would have information about the state
of each of the FPIs within 2 minutes of fault taking place.
I. INTRODUCTION
Liander has 2.8 million customers in Gelderland and North II. NX-21
Holland and in large parts of Flevoland, Friesland and South
Each site consists of a NX-21 micro RTU (Remote Terminal
Holland [1]. The network has 35,000 km of 10 kV cable,
Unit). This is a low power device with an internal GSM
connecting 40,000 distribution substations. [2]
modem. It monitors 12 volt-free binary inputs, and optionally
Between 2002 and 2006 faults on the medium voltage (10 kV)
2, 4-20 mA, 8-bit analogue inputs. It is powered by a 32 Ah
network were responsible for 80% of customer minutes lost,
Lithium Battery pack that gives a battery life of up to 10 years.
on average 20 minutes per customer, per year. [3] As is
The devices are configured to report by exception, with the
common with other Distribution Network Operators across
modem normally powered off to preserve battery life. Health
Europe, Liander must meet targets set by the regulator, for
check calls are made every 2 weeks to prove the battery and
reducing the average number of minutes that customers are
communications are functioning correctly.
without service during a year.

Figure 1 - Average number of minutes lost per customer, by network voltage

[2]

In 2005 Liander took the decision to install communicating

FPIs (Fault Passage Indicators) at over 2000 sites across their
network with the expectation of being able to reduce the
length of customer interruptions.
Figure 2 – The NX-21

The GSM SIM card is fitted on a carrier on the RTU

S. Hodgson is with Nortech Management Ltd, Worcestershire, United
Kingdom (e-mail: Simon.Hodgson@nortechonline.co.uk) motherboard, and an internal stub antenna is usually installed.
A. Noodenbos is with Liander, Haarlem, The Netherlands (External antennas are sometimes used in areas of poor signal
(e-mail: Andre.Noordenbos@alliander.com )

strength) The whole unit is housed in a small polycarbonate
enclosure that provides IP 54 protection.
Horstmann GMBH in Germany fitted the NX-21 with an
optical receiver board to connect the fault passage indicators,
also designed by Horstmann, to the NX-21. The FPIs are
connected to the receiver board by way of robust optical fiber
cable, providing isolation from the 10 kV network, and any
possible fault current.
Each site has between 3 and 9 FPIs (Fault Passage Indicators)
mounted on the 10 kV cables. This provides an indication as
to which phases have been affected by a fault.
Figure 3 – FPIs installed on a MV network
The NX-21 and associated FPI are typically installed in Ring
Main Units, (2-10 per 10 kV Feeder)
III. IHOST
Each NX-21 RTU is configured to report to an iHost server
located at Lianders Haarlem Control Centre.
iHost is a web based SCADA and asset management platform.
It helps Liander manage their population of NX-21 devices,
whilst providing information about detected faults to engineers
in several control rooms across the Netherlands.
2
Figure 4 – iHost Components
The iHost server is fitted with 8 GSM modems to take calls
from the NX-21 units installed on the network. Data is stored
in a MySQL database. Users access the system using a web
browser. The iHost web application allows users to view
events that have taken place, and maintain asset information in
the database.
A. iHost Features
iHost provides a fully featured SCADA system, and includes
many of the features found on modern SCADA systems, this
includes:
 Event List
 Event notification by E-mail and SMS
 Trend Plotting
 Support for simple schematics
 Reporting
 Mapping/GIS
B. The System in Action
When a fault develops, fault current will pass down a cable,
past a number of FPIs. On detecting the passage of fault
current, the FPI will light an LED for 1 second. Via the optical
fiber, this causes one of the inputs on the optical fiber receiver
board to close. The NX-21 will detect this change of state, and
store an event log in its EEPROM, time stamped with a value
from the internal real-time clock. The NX-21 then initiates a
data call to the iHost server. The server downloads all of the
stored events from the EEPROM, and enters the data into the
SQL database. Any configuration changes are transmitted
back to the NX-21, the time synchronized, and the call closed
down. The NX-21 then turns off it’s modem, and waits for the
next event to occur.
Should the communications be unsuccessful (for example, the
modem is busy), then the NX-21 will make 10 call attempts on
alternate numbers, then wait 24 hours before making another
10 attempts. In Lianders experience, a power outage has never
caused the GSM network to fail finishing a call from an NX-
21.
C. Security
As iHost sits at the junction of the corporate LAN, the
SCADA LAN, and often GPRS networks, security needs to be
carefully considered. Normal practice is to place firewalls at
the edge of the various networks. iHost then sits outside of
these firewalls, and communicates through the relevant ports
that have been opened. Another common approach is to run
the SCADA protocols over RS-232, rather than TCP/IP links,
this removes the IP link to the SCADA LAN from other
networks.
IV. SCADA INTERFACING
Whilst iHost provides a complete SCADA system, it was
desirable for Liander to feed the data collected by iHost into
their existing control room systems.
With only very limited resources, it was not possible to
implement a SCADA protocol directly in the NX-21, the NX-
21 uses a proprietary lightweight protocol to communicate
with iHost.
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A. DNP3 VI. THE FUTURE

In 2006 when the iHost system was originally installed, A. Expansion
Liander were using a Distribution Management System
Liander have reported, that in two thirds of outages, the
(DMS) from AREVA as the control system for their 10 kV
installation of remote FPIs has, on average reduced the length
network. This system was linked to iHost using DNP3
of the outage by half an hour. [3]
protocol over a TCP/IP link. This allowed operators to view
Following this success of the initial 2000 sites Liander are
alarms from the FPIs on their main alarm list, along with the
increasing the number of FPIs on their network, in a rolling
information from their primary substation RTUs.
program. They are also researching the use of iHost for other
B. IEC60870-104 projects, such as remote control of switchgear.
During 2008 the DMS system was replaced with an Energy B. Automation
Management System (EMS) from Siemens, with no support
Data from remote FPIs is increasingly being used by network
for DNP3, IEC-60870-104 protocol was implemented on
operators to build distribution automation schemes, where the
iHost to link the two systems together. The EMS system is
control system is able to make decisions about operating
loaded with a schematic diagram of the 10 kV network. When
remote switchgear to automatically restore supply to
a fault occurs, the FPIs that have detected the passage of fault
customers without human intervention.
current are highlighted on the diagram.
Introducing automation reduces the length of the outages,
C. Virtual RTUs resulting in a better quality supply for the end customer.
Regardless of the SCADA protocol being used, iHost presents C. Other Applications
the monitored FPIs to the SCADA system as a series of virtual
In addition to monitoring FPIs the iHost platform supports
RTUs. Operators can configure these virtual RTUs to suit their
many different applications, including: Pressure Monitoring of
SCADA system and application, but typically smaller RTUs
Oil Filled Cables, Remote Meter Reader (for embedded
are grouped together on single virtual RTUs to represent an
generation applications) Integration with LV TDR Distance to
operating unit of the business. In this application Liander have
Fault equipment, Remote Operation of Switchgear, Collection
created a virtual RTU for each primary substation, this
of data from Automated Weather Stations, and many more
contains all of the physical RTUs for that section of the
application are currently under development.
network. This approach limits the number of RTUs managed
As iHost presents a consistent interface to SCADA systems, it
by the EMS system.
is very effective when used as a protocol convertor / data
concentrator. Getting data from new device types of field
Engineers in the control room can have the information they
device into existing control room systems becomes greatly
need, so they can send a team to the right place to restore
simplified.
supply to customers.
D. Data Synchronization VII. REFERENCES
With approximately 12,000 data points in the system, 1. Alliander. Alliander: Liander. Alliander Corperate Website. [Online]
synchronizing the point configuration data between the iHost http://www.alliander.com/werkvelden/liander/liander.jsp.
database and the EMS system is very important. The iHost
database system provides a SQL view. This view is used by 2. DTe. Allocation of areas to network operators. [Online]
http://www.dte.nl/images/ENG_GEBIEDSINDELING%20per%2018082003
Liander to export CSV data from the iHost database in a
%20def_tcm7-111151.pdf.
format suitable for importing into the EMS system.
3. Liander. Liander: Our Performance. Liander Corperate Website. [Online]
V. ASSET MANAGEMENT http://www.liander.nl/Onsnetwerk/Onzeprestaties/index.jsp.
iHost provides 6 user definable fields that allows users to
4. Northcote-Green, James and Wilson, Robert. Control and automation of
record custom asset data against installed sites, this typically
electrical power distribution systems. : CRC Press, 2006.
includes a site identifier, and information about the substation
and feeder that the site is associated with. 5. Liander. Innovation and Sustainability Report (Innovatie- en
Technical asset management data is available in the form of duurzaamheidsverslag). Liander Corporate Website. [Online] 2006.
usage indicators, signal strength and unit temperature. This http://www.liander.nl/binaries/Overzicht%20innovatie-
data is available via the iHost web interface to the teams %20en%20duurzaamheidsprojecten%202006(2)_tcm86-23161.pdf.
responsible for maintaining the population of NX-21s.
Since the initial deployment, Nortech have added features to
the iHost system to help Liander with the asset management of
the population of NX-21 devices. It is now possible to produce
reports that show the history of which sites a particular device
has been installed.
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VIII. BIOGRAPHIES

Simon Hodgson Graduated from Loughborough University, UK with an

MEng in Electronic and Computer Systems Engineering in 2003. After
graduating, he joined Nortech as a software engineer, where he now heads up
the engineering team.

André Noordenbos is responsible for policies applied to the LV- and MV-
network of Liander N.V., a utility company for electricity and gas that
services 30% of The Netherlands. He received bachelor degrees in
Electrotechnics and Business on HSA-academy in Amsterdam.