The Northwest Regional Control Center will stabilize and control electricity

by Polli Barnes Keller
Gulf Region North
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Crews repair a generator at one of two water treatment facilities near Latifiyah that provide residents fresh, potable water for the first time in eight years.(GRD photo)

One of many substations that allow monitoring and control of power production and transmission in the Northern Region providing a more stable electrical system. (GRD photo by by Polli Barnes Keller)

Mosul, Iraq—There is no totally functioning system in Iraq designed to tie all the elements and control functions of the National Electrical Network together.

The Northwest Regional Control Center, or NRCC—a $4.9M system developed to improve the reliability of the country-wide automatic monitoring and control system—is under construction in the Northern provinces. This control center is being built by local construction companies while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides quality assurance and over-watch on the project.

The objective of the system is to improve the operation and reliability of the electrical network’s communications and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, or SCADA, systems. The control center will monitor and control more than 40 electrical substations, power plants and transmission lines in six governorates. It will also help stabilize the electrical flow in the northern part of Iraq and evenly distribute the allocation of power throughout the region.

“A healthy man should have healthy arms, healthy eyes and a healthy heart,” said Saman Mosai, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager-electrical sector. “Without a healthy brain, this healthy body means nothing. It could work…..but in a crazy way!”

The National Dispatch Control Center—part of the SCADA system and located in the Baghdad Governorate—monitors and controls the 400 kV, 132 kV transmission grid.
It will monitor all the power plants that form the backbone of the national power generation system and provide control over the regional control centers that manage and control the transmission system and power plants. Eventually, the entire country’s electrical system will be monitored by the NDCC.

The SCADA synchronizes the power facilities throughout the north, so they may work together as a system, which ultimately protects the National Network from shutting down when there is an unsynchronized situation. If there is a shutdown, SCADA must coordinate all systems to restart. Shutdowns are common in Iraq as the electrical systems are not yet stable and consumption is more than the source can handle. SCADA is designed to reduce and eventually eliminate blackouts.

This center provides the tools to access real time data essential for the effective energy management of the country. Its function is to analyze national network weak points and improve the network structure, which will mean fewer and shorter interruptions and optimize power generation through better energy management. It also supervises and controls transmission lines for energy import/export with neighboring countries. In case of failure, the authority can be transferred to any other regional control center to take over all the duties of the national control center.

One component of the control center project is to assist in the restoration of the infrastructure that will ensure maximum benefit to Iraqi’s citizens. This project consists of constructing a main control center located at the Taza Super High Voltage Substation in Kirkuk. Remote Terminal Units and Data Acquisition Systems located at interconnected sites throughout the provinces allow monitoring and control of power production and transmission in the Northern Region providing a more stable electrical system.

“A healthy power system should have a healthy brain, which is the SCADA and communication systems,” Mosai added. “The power plants, substations and transmission lines could be compared to the body organs, the SCADA and communication systems will be acting as the brain and nerves. So you see the NRCC is a vital component.”

This project also includes new technology, an Electrical Network Communications system, based on fiber optic cable embedded in the ground wire for the 400Kv and 132Kv transmission system.

The design and construction of the Electrical Network Communication system provides high speed data links between the National Dispatch Center, Regional Distribution Control Centers and the local Distribution Control Centers.

In addition, it will form the primary path for high speed data links between the RTUs and the individual SCADA Master Stations. It will also establish a voice, inter-tripping, and video network to support the daily operation of the entire electrical network.

In the total Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Program, there are 434 electricity (generation, transmission, distribution, and monitoring and control) projects planned nationwide, with 132 currently ongoing and 123 completed.

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