Energy management system that provides a real time assessment of a potentially compromising situation that can affect a utility company

• US 9,367,935 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd. (Alstom SA)
• Original Assignee: Alstom Technology Ltd. (Alstom SA)
• Inventors: Castelli, Gennaro, Hackett, Michael, Howard, Michael Quinn, Jones, Lawrence Edmund, Shung, HulChu Su, Brand, Heath Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): ALVESTEFFER, STEPHEN D
• Application Number:
  US12/139,118
• Publication Number:
  US 20090031241A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,923 Days
• Field of Search: 715/772, 700/286
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/40 Testing power supplies testing photovoltaic devices H02S50/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063 Operations research, analysis or management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 23/00 Alarms responsive to unspecified undesired or abnormal conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2203/20 Simulating, e g planning, reliability check, modelling or computer assisted design [CAD]
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/00 Circuit arrangements for ac mains or ac distribution networks
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/0012 Contingency detection
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 3/008 involving trading of energy or energy transmission rights
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/00 Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 10/50 Systems or methods supporting the power network operation or management, involving a certain degree of interaction with the load-side end user applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 : Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 : Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

An energy management system has a control center at a utility company and logic resources that provide a real time assessment of a potentially compromising situation that can effect the utility company. At least one situational dashboard panel is provided. The logic resources enable users to dynamically create their own dashboards from large overviews, regional schematic displays and station one-line displays that assist in assessing the potentially compromising situation of the utility company.

Claims

1. An energy management system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory having stored therein computer-executable instructions, comprising;

a control center component comprising one or more geographical displays of a power system;

at least one logic resource component configured to provide, in the one or more geographical displays, real time situational awareness information of a potential energy management failure selected from at least one of, energy distribution, energy generation, energy transmission and energy market systems, the at least one logic resource configured to re-use at least a portion of data and configurations from pre-existing software applications already in place in the control center; and

a user interface component configured to enable an operator to perform a lasso or rubber band input on a selected geographic area of a geographical display of the one or more geographical displays and drop the selected geographic area into a situational dashboard panel, wherein in response to dropping the selected geographic area into the situational dashboard panel, the user interface creates a fly-out window of the selected geographic area with projection lines drawn from the selected geographic area of the geographical display to the fly-out window.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the situational dashboard panel is created from geographical overviews, regional schematic displays and station one-line displays.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the situational dashboard panel is saveable and reuseable.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface component is further configured to enable to the operator to perform an un-pin operation on the fly-out window that removes the projection lines drawn from the selected geographic area of the geographical display to the fly-out window.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface component is further configured to enable to the operator to move the fly-out window in the situational dashboard panel.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the user interface component is further configured to enable to the operator to re-size the fly-out window in the situational dashboard panel.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein in response to dropping the selected geographic area into the situational dashboard panel, the user interface component is further configured to identify all power system elements in the selected geographical area, generate a list the power system elements, and obtain and display real-time vital sign information for the power system elements in the selected geographical area.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the selected geographic area in the fly-out window continues to be updated in real-time with live data comprising the real-time vital sign information for the power system elements in the selected geographical area.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the user interface is further configured to enable to the operator to select which real-time vital sign information to display.

10. A method, comprising:

generating, by a system including a processor, one or more geographical displays of a power system;

providing, by the system in the one or more geographical displays, real time situation awareness information of a potential energy management failure selected from at least one of, an energy distribution system, an energy generation system, an energy transmission system or an energy market system;

enabling, by the system, an operator to perform a bounding operation on a selected geographic area of a geographical display of the one or more geographical displays and drop selected geographic area into a situational dashboard panel; and

in response to dropping the selected geographic area into the situational dashboard panel, creating, by the system, a fly-out window of the selected geographic area with projection lines drawn from the selected geographic area of the geographical display to the fly-out window.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the situational dashboard panel is saveable and reuseable.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising enabling, by the system, the operator to perform an un-pin operation on the fly-out window that removes the projection lines drawn from the selected geographic area of the geographical display to the fly-out window.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising enabling, by the system, the operator to move the fly-out window in the situational dashboard panel.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising enabling, by the system, the operator to re-size the fly-out window in the situational dashboard panel.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising, in response to dropping the selected geographic area into the situational dashboard panel identifying, by the system, all power system elements in the selected geographical area, generating, by the system, a list of the energy distribution system, energy generation system, energy transmission system, or energy market system elements, and obtaining and displaying, by the system, real-time vital sign information for the power system elements in the selected geographical area.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the selected geographic area in the fly-out window continues to be updated in real-time with live data comprising the real-time vital sign information for the power system elements in the selected geographical area.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising enabling, by the system, the operator to select which real-time vital sign information to display.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution, cause a system including a processor to perform operations comprising:

generating one or more geographical displays of an electrical power system;

providing, in the one or more geographical displays, real time situation awareness information of a potential energy management failure selected from at least one of, energy distribution, energy generation, energy transmission and energy market systems;

enabling an operator to perform a bounding operation on a selected geographic area of a geographical display of the one or more geographical displays and drop selected geographic area into a situational dashboard panel; and

in response to dropping the selected geographic area into the situational dashboard panel, creating a fly-out window of the selected geographic area with projection lines drawn from the selected geographic area of the geographical display to the fly-out window.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise enabling the operator to perform an un-pin operation on the fly-out window that removes the projection lines drawn from the selected geographic area of the geographical display to the fly-out window.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise, in response to dropping the selected geographic area into the situational dashboard panel, identifying all power system elements in the selected geographical area, generating a list of the electrical power system elements, and obtaining and displaying real-time vital sign information for the electrical power system elements in the selected geographical area.