Efacec ACS Helps Smarten the Grid for Avista Customers in Spokane and Pullman, Washington

ATLANTA, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Efacec Advanced Control Systems (Efacec ACS) will provide smart grid technology for Avista's (NYSE: AVA) $42 million Spokane Smart Circuits project, and its $38 million Smart Grid Demonstration Project in Pullman, Washington. Both projects are partially funded with matching grants, with the Pullman project part of the larger Pacific Northwest Smart Grid Demonstration Project being led by Battelle.

The projects include the deployment of a distribution management system, intelligent end devices, and a communications network along 72 distribution circuits and 17 substations, which will benefit more than 110,000 electric customers in Spokane and 14,000 electric and gas customers in Pullman. The systems efficiency aspect alone is expected to save roughly 48,200 Megawatt hours per year -– preventing 17,200 tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere from power generation.

Now that the distribution upgrade phase of the project is nearly complete, the Efacec ACS solutions to be installed as part of the project include:

• PRISM™ DMS system with Fault Detection, Isolation & Restoration (FDIR) and Integrated Volt/VAR Control (IVVC)
• Modeling/automating 72 feeders with FDIR & IVVC
• XpertSim™ Distribution System Simulator for training & analysis
• Distributed Generation modeling
• PRISM Portal™ Enterprise Historian

"The Smart Circuits and Smart Grid projects are designed to reduce energy losses, lower operating costs, increase reliability and enhance our ability to integrate distributed renewable generation resources, and is expected to result in fewer and shorter outages for our customers," said Heather Cummins, director of business process improvement for Avista. "The Efacec ACS solutions are a key ingredient in the overall success, and we're looking forward to working with Efacec as we move into the next phase of these projects."

"We're pleased to support Avista's project goal of automating the process of circuit restoration using downstream and upstream restoration methods," said Efacec ACS Chief Executive Officer Jose Barbosa. The Efacec ACS DMS will implement this solution with a "real-time" network model, providing for all possible circuit configurations without manual reconfiguration or re-definition. An automated synchronization interface between the DMS and Avista's OMS/GIS will ensure that the model is always up-to-date.

Another critical piece of the project is the Integrated Voltage/Var Control (IVVC) application from Efacec ACS. IVVC improves energy conservation by reducing load demand in both peak and non-peak periods of operation of the distribution system. Feeder losses will be minimized while maintaining as low a voltage as possible —without violating distribution voltage constraints.

About Efacec Advanced Control Systems

Efacec Advanced Control Systems is a provider of smart grid solutions to the global electric power industry. The Efacec ACS software suite provides integrated distribution and outage management, simulation, optimization, and enterprise business intelligence. Our automation product lines include a wide range of flexible and cost-effective substation, distribution, and feeder automation solutions. Efacec ACS is powering the utility of the future – today. For more information, visit www.efacec-acs.com.  

About Avista

Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy, as well as other energy-related businesses. Avista Utilities is our operating division that provides electric service to 355,000 customers and natural gas to 315,000 customers. Our service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million. Avista's primary, non-regulated subsidiary is Advantage IQ. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA." For more information about Avista, please visit www.avistacorp.com.

SOURCE Efacec Advanced Control Systems