Hitachi Energy @ DISTRIBUTECH 2025
March 25 - 27, 2025 | Dallas, Texas, United States
Schedule a meeting with one of our experts
We provide tailored solutions and services across the whole customer value chain that help transform the distribution network for new demands:
Discover what's next with us!
Join us throughout the show in our booth where we'll be storytelling and presenting on topics ranging from big picture thought leadership to new products and partnerships. Highlights include:
- What does it mean to be an AI utility
- How to transform your grid with ADMS
- A wildfire prevention case study with Amazon Web Services
- The evolution of distribution automation
- Extending your asset lifecycle with smart service
See all of the sessions here.
Conference Sessions
This session will cover advances in using communication over-the-air to enhance automatic source transfer scheme speed and security. Modern technologies such as cellular Ethernet allow communication over greater distances without installing fiber or other costly media. Attendees will learn both traditional techniques and those emerging today.
Consider this: What if the grid could speak to us? What would it say? What if we could regularly converse with the grid about what’s happening right now and what should happen?
Today, we are focused on modernizing the grid and integrating smart technology to ensure its overall integrity, with a focus on reliability and resiliency. As an industry, we are adopting a host of new technologies to provide solutions for new capabilities. But have we stopped to consider whether we are asking the right questions to inform and guide a vision for the grid's future?
Join us in a conversation to explore this topic and how it inspires a different perspective on grid modernization. Along the way, we will share technologies and solutions, including AI, sensors, and edge computing, that help realize the grid's future evolution and modernization. This session will benefit roles across all levels of grid planning, building operation, and maintenance.
Join us for an insightful session on the transformative impact of DER on ADMS operations. This session will explore how cutting-edge ADMS technology enhances grid reliability, efficiency, and integration of renewable energy sources. You will discover how ADMS has evolved to allow operators to maintain situational awareness, improve operational efficiency and reliability in the presence of high penetration DER.
Expert speakers from Hitachi Energy, Unitil and Bridgesource will share their real-world experiences, providing you with actionable insights and practical knowledge. Independent power producers and utility operators can learn about the latest advancements in ADMS, its critical role in optimizing DERMS, and the benefits of a grid-aware approach in managing distributed energy resources.
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how ADMS can revolutionize your grid management strategies and support the integration of renewable energy sources.
The growing number of distributed energy resources (DER) connected to power systems can lead to an overload condition on the distribution substation transformers. Bidirectional power flow, alternating charge/discharge states at each DER site, and remote and rural DER locations all make substation transformer overload protection difficult. This presentation offers a transformer overload protection approach based on wireless communication between the head-end station and multiple DER sites with perspectives from PG&E. IEC 61850 GOOSE messages are used to communicate ramp-down and trip signals, as well as DER state and status information. The scheme uses directional overpower (32) function and voltage-supervised overcurrent (50) elements. Custom logic was developed to support selective ramping down and tripping of DERs operating in the detected overpower direction only. Wireless point-to-multipoint communication was chosen due to its ability to reach remote DER locations without building a wired communication infrastructure, coupled with sufficient reliability and security of its operation. This presentation will also cover: Design, including protection elements, logic, and communications configuration Test results for the proof of concept system, covering communications, protection, and custom logic The benefits of applying wireless communication-assisted transformer overload protection.
Homer Electric Association (HEA) is a member-owned generation and distribution utility in the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. In addition to the transmission and distribution network, HEA operates a generation plant and battery energy storage system.
HEA replaced the aging control center OT systems with modern advanced distribution management systems, SCADA, and generation management systems. One key driver was implementing a system that meets or exceeds the NERC and Alaska Critical Infrastructure Protection standards, which are paramount in safeguarding the network.
Even though not all CIP standards apply to HEA due to meter count and generation capacity, HEA strived to meet the standard requirements to ensure cyber security. For example, during a typical week, HEA encounters 5 million plus network attacks. This presentation will discuss the best practices to meet SCADA and control center security standards and how smaller utilities like HEA with limited resources can effectively implement complex OT systems to provide authentication, encryption, access control, hardening, intrusion detection, cyber incidence response, and serial communication protection.
Key Takeaways:
- Proactive threat hunting and adaptive defense mechanisms to detect and respond to cyber threats.
- Incidence response protocols and collaboration mechanism.