NERC Challenge

Traditional EMS simulators are not designed with the versatility, reliability, capacity or ease of use to support the variety of role players and large number of participants required for qualifying NERC regional restoration drills. In the past, Reliability Coordinators have used paper maps to support restoration drills, but lacked true simulation of their system to verify restoration plans and operator competency.

IncSys Solution

Since 2004, IncSys has worked closely with organizations to provide them with affordable and reliable system-specific simulation with PowerSimulator™ for use in large restoration drills. Reliability Coordinators, Balancing Authorities, Transmission Operators, and Generation Operators are getting to perform joint multi-user restoration drills and regional coordination drills of complete interconnections.

IncSys and its software partner PowerData also provide operational support for for restoration drills across the North American interconnection, including:

Reliability Coordinators

ISO New England
Florida Reliability Coordinating Council

Transmission Operators

We were trying to go through our response plan on paper. That’s all fine, but until you actually try to do it, you don’t know how valid that plan really is. Now we can simulate a blackout and in addition to walking through the steps, our operators can actually build the transmission system, put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

– Steve Rawlinson, Manager of Transmission Operations at Vectren Corporation

The tool’s real-time feedback provides information necessary to validate and enhance our restoration procedures and improves our operator’s ability to respond to these types of events successfully and safely.

– Girard Elliott, Fmr. Supervisor Operations Training at ISO New England

Delivery Options

PowerSimulator is deliverable through two mediums. The Local BRICK Server houses the system model and relays sessions to a many local computers via a wireless router. The Cloud Web Server hosts the model and can be reached via the Internet. Both options include security protocols to comply with CIP standards.

All you need is the space, the computers, and the trainees to make system-specific simulator restoration drills easy and affordable.

Software Support

The team of IncSys and our software partner PowerData are one of the few organizations that treat training as a mission critical function. When hundreds of people are making the effort to show up for a multi-day event, it is non-negotiable that the simulator be delivered on-time and running reliably. By working closely with our customers in pre-drill preparation phase, IncSys can ensure that our customers conduct world-class training events which exceed expectation.