Engineering, 2013, 5, 127-131
doi:10.4236/eng.2013.51b023 Published Online January 2013 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/eng)
The Discussion of 500kV Centralized Monitoring System
for Large Operation and Large Main t enan ce Mode
Shuai-lingling, Liu-Xiaojiang, Li-Jun
Jiangxi Electric Power Co. Maintenance Branch, Nanchang, China
Received 2013
Abstract
The establishment of a centralized monitoring system is an effective means to ac hieve the goal that no or fewer people
are on duty. The function of the current 500kV centralized monitoring system is not enough mature to meet the re-
quir ement of t he large -scale ope r ation and large-scale maintenance model propo sed by the State Grid. In order to fully
utilizing the function of the centralized monitoring system, an improved design scheme is presented for the current
500kV centralized monitoring of the Jiangxi Power Grid. The improved centralized monitoring system is divided into
three layers: monitoring center layer, operating team layer, and substation layer, which not only has the advantages of
high security, high reliability, and easy maintenance, but also realizes the management model of re gional contro l. So it
can perfectly meet anti-misoperation re quireme nt in the large operation and large maintenance mode, which can provide
reference and guid anc e for the design of the 500kV ce ntra lized monito ring syst em of Jiangxi Power Gr id .
Keywords: Centralized monit oring system; Substation; Anti-misoperation s ystem; Five-preventi on s ys t em
1. Introduction
With the rapid development of computer technology,
communication technology, and automatic control tech-
nology, the operating mechanism for no or fewer people
on duty is a development trend of the substation[1-2],
and the establishment of a centralized control system is
an effective means to achieve the goal. Currently, many
power companies have established the centralized con-
trol syst em to a chie ve the ma nage me nt mod el o f the ce n-
tralized control, unified dispatching, and unified main-
tenance for all substatio ns[3-5] . This not only meets the
require ments of the rapid development of the State Grid,
but also conforms the requirements of the intensified
mana geme nt o f thr ee co mpo nent s and inte gra ted syste m s
of five processes proposed by the State Grid Corpora tion.
However, the function of 500kV centralized moni-
toring system of Jiangxi Power Grid is still not enough
mature, which exists s ome problems and shortcomings.
In order to adapt the development requirements of the
large-scale operation and large-scale maintenance, the
power company intends to reform the current system.
Therefore, this paper analyzes the problems of the cur-
rent system. Based on that, a new design scheme is pro-
posed, and the new centralized monitoring system is di-
vided into three layers: monitoring center layer, operat-
ing team layer, and substation layer. The improved de-
sign can meet the anti-misoperation requirement of the
large-scale operation and large-scale maintenance model,
which can provide reference and guidance for the design
of 500kV centra lized monitori ng system o f Jiangxi Po w-
er Grid.
2. The Problems of the Current Centralized
Monitoring System
2.1. The Present Situation
There are 15 500kV-substations in Jiangxi. The 500kV
monitoring center mainly monitors the operation condi-
tions of the 15 500kV-substations, and the structure dia-
gram is s hown in Figure 1.
This system achieve the “four remote” function,
which can mo nitor the operati on situa tion of eve ry subs-
tation via Ethernet. The attendants in the substation
mainly response to the equipment operation and switch
operation according to the instruction of the dispatching
center. Firstly, the attendants accept the instructions of
the dispatching center and make an operation order. Se-
condly, the switching simulation is performed in the
five-prevention workstation of the substation, and the
operation order is downloaded to the computer key after
the success of the switching simulation. At last, the
switching operation of the equipment is performed uti-

L. L. SHUAI ET AL.
128
lizing the computer key, and the operation order is re-
turned to the five-prevention workstation after com-
pleted.
Communications network
Monitoring
system Operator workstation
Monitoring
center
Locks Remote latching
relay
Computer
keys
controllers
Monitoring
system Five-
prevention
workstation
1＃
Nanchang substation
Operator
workstation
15＃
Ganzhou substation
……
2＃
Mengshan substation
Figur e 1. The st ruc ture di ag ra m of the current 500kV cen-
tralized monitoring sy stem of Jiangxi Pow er Gri d
2.2. The Current Prob le ms
According to the development requirements of
large-scale operation and large-scale maintenance model
proposed by the State Grid, some problems still exist in
the centralized monitoring system. The main problems
specialize in the following five aspects: (1) The centra-
lized monitoring system is composed of the monitoring
center layer and substation layer, which can not achieve
the regional control.(2) Some people must be on duty in
each substation, and the numbers of the attendants are
more than 15, which need a lot of attend ants. (3) The
monitoring ce nter has the abil ity of the remote operation
function for the electrical equipment in the substation.
Ho weve r, the mo nitoring center doesn’t exert the remote
operatio n functio n in the actual operation process in case
of t he d esi gn fa ults of t he c en tra lize d moni to rin g sys te m.
(4) The monitoring center has not five-prevention server
and five-prevention workstation, which is difficult to
manage the operation data of all of substations, and can
not make the operation order. (5) The master video mon-
itoring system in the monitoring center only inspects all
of substa tio n and is not collected to the master monitor-
ing system, so its anti-misoperation function is fully uti-
lized.
3. The New Requirements of
Anti- misoperation for the Centralized
Monitoring System
The operation manage model of the current 500kV cen-
tralized monitoring system of Jiangxi Power Grid is the
two la yers mod el conc ludin g the moni toring c enter la yer
and substation layer, which can not meet the anti- miso-
peration requirement of the large-scale operation and
large-scale maintenance mo de l .
(1) In the construct system of large-scale operation
and large-scale maintenance model, the ways of the elec-
trical equipment operation increase, for example remote
operation, local operation and maintenance operation,
and the operation places increase accordingly includ-
ing monitoring center, observation panel, terminal box
and the local operation mechanisms. Therefore, the an-
ti-misoperation system of the centralized monitoring
system should be layered, and each layer should be in-
dependent and communicated each other.
(2) Currently, some important anti-misoperation in-
formation of the substatio n does not upload to the moni-
toring center, for example, the temporary ground line,
whi ch directly influences the security of the remote op-
eration in the monitoring center.
(3) Currently, the microcomputer anti-misoperation
syste m in the sub statio n only a chieves t he anti-mi- sope-
ration function of local substation, and is lack in that of
the regional power grid. So the centralized monitoring
system should possess the locking function for the
equipment of co lle c te d lines between substations.
In addition, the centralized monitoring system
should have management function of the unique opera-
tion right and the maintenance anti-misoperation func-
tion for the electrical equipments.
4. The Design of the Centralized Monitoring
System
4.1. The Design Target
The centralized monitoring system should be provided
with the function of centralized control, unified dis-
patching, and unified maintenance for all sub stations. So,
the system must reflect the operation conditions of each
substation accurately and real-ti me .
(1) High securit y
In or der t o avoid the power system accidents caused
by misoper a tio n, the multi-layer anti-misoperation sys-
tem which focuses on the five-prevention server in the
monitoring center is built to make the operation of the
power system safe and stable.
(2) High reliability
Five-prevention server, the most critical component
of the system, is responsible for the centralized manage-
ment for the all substations, the remote operation in the
monitoring center layer and the management of the
unique opera tion right.
In addition, the communication between the opera-
tion data of all substations and five-prevention server,

L. L. SHUAI ET AL.
129
and the communication between the layers of the moni-
toring system are realized via network. Therefore, the
centralized monitoring system should adopt the r edun-
dancy mechanism of double-server and double-channel
to ens ure the re liable operation of the power system.
(3) Convenient ma intenance
Data maintenance of the centralized monitoring
syste m can b e performed not only in t he monit orin g cen-
ter, but also in the five-prevention station or in the subs-
tation. The data automatically synchronized after com-
pleted.
(4) Less investment, e asy expansion
Multi-layer anti-misoperation locking function of
the centralized monitoring system should be built on the
existing anti-misoperatio n system to avoid repeat in-
vestment. At the same time, the construction of the cen-
tralized control system should be easy to access the new
substati on i n the future.
4.2. The Structure Diagram of the Centralized
Monitoring System
In order to solve the existing problems of 500kV centra-
lized monitoring system in Jiangxi Power Grid and to
meet the development requirements of the large-scale
operation and large-scale maintenance, the current cen-
tralized monitoring system is improved and divided into
three layers: monitoring center layer, operating team
layer and substation layer. Every layer connects each
other through network. The structure diagram of centra-
lized monit oring s ystem is shown in Fi gure 2.
monitoring
center layer
operating
team layer
Operating team 1
Five-prevention
workstation
Monitoring
system
1＃
Nanchang substation
15＃
Ganzhou substation
……
2＃
Mengshan substation
Five-prevention
server Five-prevention workstation
……
Locks Remote
latching relay
Computer keys
Controllers
Monitoring
system Five-prevention workstation
Camera
Operating team 2
Five-prevention
workstation
Operating team n
Five-prevention
workstation
Video
system
substation
layer
Figure 2 . The str uc ture diagram of the improved 500kV
centralize d monitor ing system
As shown in Figure 2, the centralized monitoring
system takes the monitoring center layer as the core and
controls the other layers. The monitoring center layer is
configured with five-prevention server which stores the
real-time data information of all substations. The server
can complete the functions including centralized man-
agement, statistics, and inquiry for the substations’ data.
Meanwhile, it has the anti-misoperation function includ-
ing making operation order, switching simulatio n, lock-
ing remote operation in the monitoring center layer, and
the unique operation right for the electrical equipment.
At t he s a m e time, the server has dual-re dund a nt fu nc tio n.
When the host server fails, the backup server automati-
cally operates to improve the reliability of the power
system. In ad dition, the monito ring ce nter also establish-
es five -prevention workstation, which can complete an-
ti-misoperation switching simulation and send operation
order for every substation contro lle d by the centralized
monito r i ng s ystem.
Five-prevent ion workstation of the operating team
layer uses the computer as the op eration interface, which
can display the equipment situation and operating model
of the controlled substation. At the same time,
five-prevention workstation has the functions of making
operation order and switchi ng s i mula t io n.
The five-prevention worksta tion of the substation is
governed by the fi ve-prevention server. With the grow-
ing number of substations, it can implement the man-
agement distribution among the layers by adjusting the
permission. The substation can be configured with inde-
pendent five-prevention system to implement an-
ti-misoperation locking function for equipments opera-
tion.
4.3. The Settings of the Operating Team
In order to achieve regional control for the Jiangxi
500kV substations, four operating teams will be estab-
lished according to the geographic distribution of the
substations. The principle of building operating team is
the closer distance between one substation where the
operating tea m situated and the other substation which
the operating team need to mainte nance. The di stributio n
of operating team is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Distribution of the operating team
NO.
Place
Statio n name
Operating
team I Monitoring center
Mengshan
Nanchang
Yongxiu
Jingxian
Shizhongshan
Fuzhou
Operating
team II Yingtan ubsta tion
Hongyuan
Leping
Yin gtan
Xinzhou
Operating
team III Luofang sub s tation
Luofang
Anxiang
Wens han
Operating
Ganzhou substation
Leigongshan

L. L. SHUAI ET AL.
130
team Ⅳ
Ganzhou
4.4. The Anti-misoperation Function of the
Centralized Monitoring System
(1) Anti-misoperation criterion of the centralized moni-
toring system needs not only the switch signal of the
electrical equipment, but also the electrical remote mea-
surement signal(such as voltage, current). For achieving
real-time alignment function in the whole operation
process, it needs to check not only the state of the elec-
trical equipment before operating, but also the state of
the electrical equipment in the pr oces s of the operation.
(2) Centralized monitoring system has perfect re-
mote operation locking function, that the monitoring
center and monitoring system in the substation can real-
ize remote operation fo r each substation by the soft
locking (communication) and hard locking (remote con-
trol circuit hard contacts).
(3) The centralized monitoring system and the
video system connect together. The staffs in the mo n i-
toring center can not only real-time monitor the substa-
tion operator on-site operation, such as verify the oper-
ating conditions of the electrical equipment, but also in-
spect the surrounding environment of the substation.
4.5. The Operation Model of the Centralized
Monitoring System
The centralized monitoring system has many kinds of
operation models.
Operation model 1: The attendant in the monitoring
center makes an operation order in accordance with the
command of the dispatching center, and the switching
simulation is performed in the five-prevention worksta-
tion of the monito ring center. The operation order is sent
to the corresponding operating team via network after
succeed and transfer to computer key, and the operators
of the operating team take computer key and carry out
the switching operation. The operation order is returned
to the five-prevention server in the operating team layer
or the substation layer to ensure the consistency of de-
vice status in formation after completed.
Operation model 2: The attendant in the operating
team layer makes an operation order in accordance with
the command of the d isp atc h ing center, and the switch-
ing simulation is performed in the fiv e-prevention
workstatio n of the op erating tea m. The operation order is
transferred to computer key after succeed, and the oper-
ators of the operating team take computer key and carry
out the switching operation. The operation order is re-
turned to the five-prevention se rver in the operating team
laye r or the substation layer to ensure the consistency of
device status information after completed.
Operation model 3: The attendant in the operating
team layer makes an operation order in accordance with
the command of the d isp atc h ing center, and the switch-
ing simulation is performed in the fiv e-prevention
workstatio n of the operating team. The operation order is
sent to the corresponding sub station via network after
succeed and transfer to computer key, and the operators
of the substatio n take computer key and carry out the
switching operation. The operation order is returned to
the five-prevention server in the substation layer to en-
sure the consistency of device status information after
completed.
Operation model 4: The attendant in the substation
layer makes an operation order in accordance with the
command of the dispatching center, and the switching
simulation is performed in the five-prevention worksta-
tion. The operation order is transferred to computer key
after succeed, and the operators of the substation ta ke
comp uter key and car ry out the switchin g ope ration. The
operation order is returned to the five-prevention server
in the substation layer to ensure the c ons istency of device
status infor matio n after completed.
The centralized monitoring system has clear struc-
ture, which solves the existing problems effectively. It
posse ss es anti-misoperation function for the electrical
equipment operation perfectly from many aspects:
right-mana geme nt, the sol e ope rating r ights management,
switching simulation, the real-time logic judgment, and
locking equipment. The system has the advantages of
high security, high r e lia b ility, and easy maintenance,
which can absolutely meet the new requirements of the
anti-misoperation system for the large-scale operation
and large-scale maintenance model.
5. Conclusions
According to the development requirements of the large-
scale operation and large-scale model proposed by the
State Grid, the existing problems of the current 500kV
centralized monitoring system of Ji angxi Power Grid are
analyzed. It transforms the two-layer management model
of the monitoring center layer and substation layer of
current 500kv centralized monitoring system to the
three-layer manage ment model, that is mon itoring center
layer, ope rating tea m layer a nd substa tion layer. B esides,
the functions of the improved centralized mon itoring
system are elaborated. The system possesses the advan-
tages of high security, high reliability and easy mainten-
ance, which can meet the new requirements of the an-
ti-misoperation system for the large-scale operation and
large-scale maintenance model and provide reference for
the desi gn of the centralized monitoring system.

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