With the new EN 16001/ ISO 50001 standards for energy management systems that have been in place since August 2009, suitable framework conditions for an operational energy management system were created. The primary goal is to continuously reduce energy consumption and the associated energy costs. But also savings in the area of ecological taxation and the contribution to the EEC levy (Renewable Energies) (§41) provide for quick amortisation of the investments.

The occupational energy analysis provides you with an overview and transparency of the energy supply and patterns of energy consumption as well as the individual energy flows.

An important tool for EMS is provided by modern energy measurement devices, such as the UMG 604E compact and high-performance grid analyser. Grid analysers of the UMG 604 product family are suitable for use on all network levels. The high sample rate of 20 kHz enables continuous measurement with determination of over 800 measurement variables. Equipped with a 500 MHz DSP (digital signal processor), the UMG 604 is a very fast and powerful grid analyser. It records all electrical energy consumption with various tariffs, electrical standard variables such as current, voltage, frequency, performance and many more. Due to the very powerful digital signal processors, all important voltage quality parameters are also recorded, e.g. short-time interruptions with fault recorder function, transients, harmonics up to the 40th order or starting currents and thus ensure the necessary transparency in your energy supply.

Based on this data, concepts can be e.g. developed for reducing power costs, initiate energy efficiency measures and also monitor and log the achieved improvements using the UMG 604. With regard to energy management systems in accordance with ISO 50001 (EN 16001), EEG levy exemption as per §41 or the reduction of ecological tax, measurement devices – such as the UMG604 – form a future-safe basis as a quasi-energy centre. In addition, the integrated web server with user-friendly homepage offers simple remote access to all energy consumption figures.

The high sample rate of 20 kHz, a measurement precision of 0.2 % for the voltage and the effective energy class 0.5 stand for measurement of the highest quality. The energy measurement in 4 quadrants, each with 8 tariffs for effective power and reactive power, ensures precise and reliable recording of the energy consumption values for individual consumers or for the whole supply.

The measurement data is temporarily stored on a flash drive on the grid analyser. At regular intervals, the measurement data is read and stored in a central database via a bus connection, where it is available for future use and energy analysis. This redundancy in the measurement data ensures that important data is available over a long period of time. The large 128 MB measurement data memory means the measurement data can be stored for up to 2 years in the device itself, depending on the user configuration. If the grid analyser is not connected to a bus and the data cannot therefore be read out automatically, the measurement data is safely available in the measurement device itself for a long period of time.

Extensive communications options: Ethernet (TCP/IP), Profibus, Modbus, M-Bus …

Due to numerous interfaces and protocols, an uncomplicated system connection (energy management system, PLC, SCADA, GLT) is ensured. Nowadays, all energy measurement devices are typically linked with one another, the measurement data is automatically read out over a field bus and made available for future use via a central data server.

To keep installation costs low (e.g. peripherals for field buses), the Ethernet TCP/IP is used more and more frequently as the backbone of the data communication. Through connection to an existing Ethernet architecture, fast, cost-optimised and reliable communication can be set up. As grid analysers with an Ethernet interface are expensive, there are many deliberations on how to realise this with the available budget. The solution here is the configuration of a master-slave architecture with a measurement device based on Ethernet such as the UMG604E grid analyser and up to 31 more cost-efficient slave measurement devices such as the UMG96RM-CBM, for example, for the outlets on the low voltage side. Thus, the higher-quality UMG604E grid analysers are used as energy management equipment at the central feed points where stringent demands are already made of the measurement technology. At the same time, the more cost-efficient UMG 96RM Modbus devices are reached with the UMG604E through the Ethernet-Modbus gateway function or, in other words, the data of the Modbus devices is also stored over Ethernet.

Basically, the UMG604E offers an extremely open architecture so the Modbus addresses can be accessed directly using a PLC, for example, or alternatively the UMG604E is integrated in a PLC environment via Profibus. In the field of building automation, the BACNET protocol is used more and more often.

Stay informed at any time, anywhere via the integrated UMG device homepage

Who hasn't experienced this? Just after leaving the company, the first call about problems comes into the production department, computers breaking down, the energy supply crashing, …

By means of the homepage (web server) integrated in the UMG604 grid analyser, direct access can be gained to the data of the individual measurement points, from anywhere in the world, no matter where you are. All authorised employees of the electrical department and management can obtain extensive information directly via the homepage of the individual grid analyser. Just a web browser and the network IP address assigned to the individual measurement device are required for this.

PLC functionality via the integrated Jasic, e.g. alarm messages via EMAIL

The Jasic® programming language opens up completely new possibilities. This means the user is not bound to the functions tightly integrated in the device alone, but can add his own functions to the device. Up to seven of these freely defined application programs can be processed in parallel in the device. Also limit values for various parameters can be set, for example. Wherever they are in the world, the responsible employees of the electrical department are notified by email if the energy supply is overloaded, short-term interruptions of the supply companies bring the production process to a halt or inadmissible harmonics reduce the service life of equipment.

APPs – expansions with know-how

For flexible or customer-specific solutions Janitza offers expansions (APPs), based on Jasic programming, for the UMG604E. The functions integrated in the device can thus be expanded, controlled and additionally visualised by APPs. Depending on the application, an APP consists of several Jasic®, Flash and homepage files where the managing and installation is carried out via the GridVis software. Due to the open structure, users and third-party providers can develop further APPs and use them on the measurement devices in addition to the range of APPs offered by Janitza electronics®. A popular APP is the free Multitouch APP (art. no. 51.00.207). The APP reads 25 standard measurement values (fixed default values) of up to 31 slave devices (configurable) over RS485 and specifies them for global variables or for BACnet data points in the master. Up to 31 slave devices can be visualised. The number of devices and device descriptions can be configured via the master devices homepage. The master device is automatically recognised and entered in the "Device type" field.

GridVis software for energy management systems and voltage quality analysis

In accordance with the Janitza philosophy, an "automated measurement system" should not be limited to energy consumption, but always cover both main points: Power quality + energy management

What is the point of energy consumption being optimised and power saved if insufficient grid quality does not allow stable processes. The current changes in the grid structure, away from central large-scale power plants to decentralised grid supply, the growing amount of power electronics, the falling number of linear consumers … all this will further exacerbate the problems in power quality!

The GridVis software is part of the delivery scope of all UMG measurement devices and can be used for energy management systems and network quality analysis. The software enables the readout of historical data values, e.g. load profiles that allow trend analysis and benchmarks, as well as the readout and visualisation of online values for monitoring the present load. The GridVis software is a powerful tool for the automatic recording of measurement data for the analysis and visualisation of the measurement values. The topology view offers a quick overview of the actual online situation, for example. Automatically generated reports for most power quality standards (e.g. EN 50160, IEEE 519, ITIC, EN 61000-2-4) for grid analysis as well as energy consumption reports can be freely planned by the user.

The creation of key figures, critical for benchmark analyses, is possible via the virtual measurement device. Key figures are an important component for comparing various production lines, works, subsidiaries and factories, for example, with one another.

A sensible measure to reduce the power costs is peak load optimisation.

Optionally, the UMG604 offers the Emax function: Reduce active peak power intelligently

Optionally, the UMG604 offers the Emax function: Reduce active peak power intelligently
Energy consumption varies significantly over a 24-hour cycle. This leads to massive loads on generation and distribution facilities. These peak power levels very often lead to high costs in the power bill. The Emax applications for the UMG604E integrate intelligent control algorithms which calculate the effective power trend and compare this with the agreed target effective power. Due to this trend calculation, the Emax application can accurately intervene in the operating process and switch off non critical consumers for a short time in accordance with user specifications. If feedback processing is connected, only consumers which are using power at the time of the calculation are switched off or integrated in the trend value calculation. If feedback processing is not possible, a fixed level of availability can be set as a percentage. Thus, part of the very cost-intensive peaks in power can be safely avoided and considerable cost-saving potential can be realised. The random power peaks are avoided.

EMS step by step

Even though many customers recognise the need for more energy efficiency and thus for an energy management system, they are hesitant to make sweeping payments for non-process investments. Setting up an energy management system does not necessarily presuppose an extensive and expensive energy monitoring system. With its scalable solutions, Janitza offers the possibility of successive introduction of an energy monitoring and energy management system. Here we always recommend the pyramid solution: "However, we begin the set-up back-to-front – at the tip of the pyramid!" In other words, initially only a few, higher-quality grid analysers such as the UMG511 or UMG604 are required at the transfer points of the energy supplier. Also grid analysers such as the UMG604 are placed on the main energy distribution outlets. This means the customer obtains already extensive information and transparency of the energy consumption figures so he can then decide if it is sensible to reduce consumption further. By now, the trend in automotive engineering already goes down to machine level.

The consistency of the Janitza product range, the continuous development of the measurement devices and software as well as the regional know-how of the Janitza distribution engineers ensure a long-term solution for energy management.