CPqD

A project developed by CPqD was awarded one of the year’s best technical works at the Award Ceremony of the twentieth SNPTEE National Conference on Electric Power Transmission and Production held in Recife (PE) on November 22-25. The broadband communication system, which is currently operational at Furnas Centrais Elétricas S.A., was designed to support field technicians in the development of a broadband communication system. Promoted by Cigré-Brazil (Brazilian National Committee for the Production and Transmission of Electric Power) and coordinated by Chesf (São Francisco Valley Hydroelectric Company), the event takes place every two years and it is considered one of the most important events in the electric sector in Latin America.

This work is a result of a R&D project that started back in 2006. “Our goal was to add more flexibility to the operation and maintenance of the high voltage electric power transmission lines and, at the same time, reduce the communication costs”, explains Mr. Marcos Guimarães Castello Branco, coordinator of the project at CPqD. Last year, a pilot system – enabled with the Wi-Fi 802.11g technology – was installed at Furnas high voltage towers and connected to a pair of optical fibers within the lines that interconnect the substations of Nova Iguaçu and Angra dos Reis, in Rio de Janeiro. With this system, Furnas’ operation and maintenance teams now have broadband access to the company’s database at a very low cost when compared to other technologies, such as, cellular systems and VHF radio. “The system main benefit is that it uses the transmission line infrastructure to provide online access at a relatively low cost, allowing the technicians to complete their tasks faster and more effectively”, says Mr. Guilherme de Figueiredo Preger, engineer at the Division for Telecom Studies at Furnas.

“We are proud to have this award in recognition of CPqD work in the electric sector”, adds Mr. Eduardo Toi, account manager at CPqD.