Broadband Powerline Carrier (BPLC) Presentation

Nachum Sadan June 2011

Confidential Overview Empowering Smart Grid Communications 1

BPLC Introduction
Pilot wire used for transmission line protection is failing
17% failure rate according to an SEL study

Copper based wire is aging and deteriorating due to corrosion

Copper theft is an increasing problem

Phone companies are phasing out the service

Many utilities lease the pilot wire lines

Alternatives are fiber or conventional PLC

Today only 9% of US substations are connected by fiber

Replacing pilot wire with fiber is very expensive and requires a long deployment process
BPLC costs 10% of fiber and deploys in days compared to weeks

Amperions BPLC technology was developed jointly with AEP to solve this problem
Available now - no need to wait for fiber
Confidential Overview

BPLC Timeline and Milestones

2006 46kV 0.5 mile Proof Of Concept test in Charleston WVA
SCADA and POTT simulation tests

2007 2008: 69kV 5 mile test in Newark Ohio

3 links with repeating; longest point to point link of 2.6 miles DOE and AEP funded; 3-way contract with AEP, Amperion, DOE/NETL

2009 69kV 5 mile network in Newark Ohio

2 links with repeating; longest point to point link of 4.4 miles Amperion and AEP submit ARRA stimulus application to DOE

2010 Current differential line protection

Fault simulation lab and field tests with GE and SEL relays

2010 - 138kV deployment over 3.8 miles 2011 Transition from RD&D to commercial deployments
Candidate locations have been identified and surveyed Initial focus is on pilot wire replacements at AEP Followed by SCADA expansion applications and leased line replacements

Confidential Overview

BPLC Communications Over 69kV Lines

DOE recognized the value of BPLC technology and funded part of the R&D work

Five Mile 69kV Network at AEP

Operational in Newark, Ohio Since 2008
Granville Station West Granville Station

Performance
Throughput 10-15 Mbps Latency 8-10 msec High availability and redundancy Monitoring and automatic alerts

Applications
POTT, DCB and Current Diff. Line protection Substation Video Surveillance SCADA Synchrophasor data
Confidential Overview

BPLC Communications Over 138kV Lines

Amperion BPLC over 138kV: Bandwidth performance of 10-14 Mbps and Latency of 6-7 Milliseconds - Amperion Phoenix w/BPLC Coupler

East Broad Station 3.8 miles distance

Taylor Station

Confidential Overview

BPLC System Components

Fully Integrated & Field Tested Product Set

Coax cable assembly Inside the station yard

Phoenix SG-5000
Two 200Mbps BPLC modems Intelligent switch: 6 10/100 Mbps FE ports 2 1000 Mbps GE ports (Fiber) CPU with Amperion embedded SW DC powered from station battery

BPLC Coupler
Safe and reliable design Uses standard utility arrester

Network Management System:

Continuously monitors BPLC modems and links health Performance graphs: system up time, throughput, latency Historical reports: daily, weekly, monthly, yearly Automatic alerts by email

Amperions Patented Advanced BPLC Communications Platform

Confidential Overview

BPLC Enables Substation Upgrades

First Generation Substation Analog relays Pilot wire Conventional PLC Proprietary protocols Next Generation Substation Digital relays Fiber or BPLC Broadband PLC Standard IEC 61850 Substation automation Sonet TDM and Ethernet IP Wide area protection with Synchrophasors Aggregation point of feeders smart grid data and data from adjacent stations Fiber will be used in new substations and on HV lines > 138kV BPLC can be used for station retrofits on sub-transmission lines that are at 138kV and below
Confidential Overview

Communications Technologies
High
Fiber

Application Enabling

BPLC
WiMAX T1 Leased Lines Conventional PLC Wireless

Low Low Cost Effectiveness

(capital & operating expenses)

High

Confidential Overview

Technology Comparison
Conventional PLC
Line protection Backhaul Communications Broadband Utilizes existing line Time to deploy Circuit disruption Distance Cost yes no no yes medium medium long medium

Fiber
yes yes yes no long high long high

Broadband PLC
yes yes yes yes short low medium with repeating low

BPLC is closing the fiber gap PLC

bps Mbps

Fiber
Gbps
Confidential Overview

Communications Cost Comparison

BPLC can be used where there is no fiber, or to expand an existing fiber network or as a secondary redundant method to fiber on an existing line

Method
Copper based Pilot wire system Conventional PLC powerline carrier system Fiber BPLC

Cost of equipment at each station

Not available

Cost of communications line

Not available

Total cost of a 5 mile solution

Not available

Cost of equipment and labor to install wave tuner sets, CCVTs and line traps Attaches to relaying equipment $15,000 at each station

No cost Using own wires

Greater > $150,000

$75,000 per mile for an OPGW retrofit No cost Using own wires

Greater > $375,000 $30,000 Ratio 10:1 advantage vs fiber

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AEP Lab Test Results

L-90 to L-90 Current Diff L90+BB Focus Over BPLC One hop min Over BPLC One hop max Over BPLC Two hops min Over BPLC Two hops max

20.68

24.91

31.25

38.39

40.08

46.19
6-7 msec spread min-max range

421 to 421 POTT

421+BB Focus

Over BPLC One hop min

Over BPLC One hop max

Over BPLC Two hops min

Over BPLC Two hops max

27.98

32.79

40.80

44.88

48.06

53.28

4-5 msec spread min-max range

Lab tests were conducted in April-May 2010 All results are trip times in milliseconds Test results provided basis to proceed with field testing

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Line Protection Field Test with GE & SEL Relays

Field demonstration of current differential line protection with GE & SEL relays

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AEP Field Test Results

Relay trip time for fault at 50% of line
Eight tests: results range from 38 to 42 milliseconds

Similar results for faults at 5% and 95 % of line No trip for external faults Results similar to tests in lab About 20 milliseconds slower than a point to point fiber
Future enhancements in configuration settings and tighter integration improved latency by 10 to 12 milliseconds since Sep. 2010 End to end latency of 27 milliseconds with less than 1.5 milliseconds of asymmetry has been consistently measured since May 2011 Traded bandwidth for reduction in latency Optimization of jitter buffer controls and clock synchronization enhancements

Success of field tests in Sep. 2010 was the criteria for commercial deployments in 2011
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Coexistence: PLC on Ph. 1 and BPLC on Ph. 2 & 3

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BPLC vs Conventional PLC Comparison

Feature BPLC Conventional PLC NO Supports broadband applications YES including current differential as well as POTT and DCB protection Requires Line Traps Operates on two phases providing redundancy and high availability in case of GND fault Uses standard lightning arresters Faster installation process minimizes crew labor and circuit disruption Adds lightning protection and improves reliability for free Scalable, flexible, safe and low cost NO YES

YES NO (but can be at additional cost) YES (line traps) NO NO NO NO

Has elements in series with the HV line NO YES YES YES YES

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Line Protection with BPLC

RELAY A BPLC supports line protection & control requirements: Current Diff, POTT and DCB
Low Latency High Availability Redundancy

RELAY B

Station A

Station B

69kV or 138kV line (or lower)

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Station to Station Communications

Utility Data Center BPLC eliminates the need for dedicated leased lines to each sub station
Take Out Point

Utility Data Center

It offers fully redundant communications paths to each substation and a low cost alternative to other methods

Take Out Point

Station A
BPLC BPLC

Station D

BPLC

Station B

Station C
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BPLC Enables Substation Automation

RELAY/RTU/IED BPLC enables multiple applications:
Line protection SCADA communications Substation Automation

RELAY/RTU/IED

All over the same infrastructure

Station A

Station B

138kV or 69kV line (or lower)

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Next Generation Multiplexer with BPLC

BPLC provides another communications option In addition to Sonet/TDM and Fiber Data Voice Multiplexer Platform WAN Comm Options Serial TDM Relays Fiber BPLC BPLC option has no restrictions: Sonet TDM and IP Ethernet No need to WAIT for Fiber BPLC with Ethernet IP simplifies network management compared to a more complex Sonet/TDM network
Confidential Overview

RTUs IEDs

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Enabling Communications Platform

Meets requirements of core applications today with a migration path to the future Incrementally enables utility applications on top of the same communications platform Transmission Applications
Line Protection Station Communications Station Surveillance
SCADA Data Collection Real Time Synchrophasor Data Streaming Substation Automation

Distribution Applications
Energy Theft and Loss Sensing & Monitoring Grid Reliability Fault Identification Distribution Automation Asset Protection Distributed Generation and Storage Demand Response and AMI Demand Dispatch

Future Smart Grid Applications

TBD platform enables future applications still in R&D

Amperions Patented Advanced BPLC Communications Platform

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Amperion Intellectual Property

Multiple patents with worldwide coverage protect Amperions broadband powerline carrier technologies. The patents cover broadband over powerline communications methods, RF coupling methods, switching and self healing, grid self powering, and advanced filtering methods.

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BPLC Enables Better Protection

BPLC can be used to connect substations over transmission, sub-transmission and distribution lines Transmission protection is implemented today with analog relays using POTT and DCB schemes
Protection schemes can be enhanced with the new generation of digital relays that support multiple options including current differential

At the Distribution level coordination will become more difficult with more distributed generation and multiple terminal points

Current differential is the most accurate and reliable protection scheme

But requires a reliable and fast communications channel

Fiber is too costly for lower voltage substations and not always available
BPLC is the next generation PLC and provides a ready-to-deploy cost effective alternative
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Summary
Over 622,000 transmission miles in the US require an investment of $36B and decades to deploy fiber to every substation 67% of the US transmission lines are at 138kV or below (sub-transmission category) and are potential candidates for the BPLC technology Deploying BPLC instead of fiber costs less than 10% and can be accomplished in a much shorter timeframe Substation automation requires a reliable broadband communications channel to backhaul critical data in real time BPLC can be used to enable station retrofit projects that include upgrading substation equipment and supporting new smart grid applications BPLC can also be used on distribution lines enabling accurate and cost effective current differential protection over short distances Initial applications for BPLC will be pilot wire replacements, leased line replacements, PLC upgrades, fiber extensions and fiber redundancy and back up options

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About Amperion
Provider of advanced communications solutions to electric utilities Developed world class Broadband Power Line Communications (BPLC) technology and holder of multiple foundational patents Innovator of powerline broadband networks and BPLC technology for substation communications required for T&D smart grid applications
BPLC products are fully operational Commercial deployments at JPS and AEP (2011) Large market potential over the next 20 years
Amperion, Inc.
360 Merrimack St. Lawrence, MA 01843 www.amperion.com

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Thank You!
Broadband Power Line Communications (BPLC) Enables Utility Core Applications Today and Provides a Platform for Tomorrows Transmission Smart Grid

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