Alstom Grid and Hydro-Québec achieve new milestone in their Smart Grid Technology Innovation Partnership

Following its Smart Grid Technology Innovation partnership, Alstom Grid and Hydro-Québec’s research institute, IREQ, today signed a license agreement to commercialise a key product: the MiCOM P848 loss of synchronism relay (RPS).

This cutting-edge technology is designed to detect electrical network instabilities, such as over-voltages and transmission line overloads, providing rapid protection. The technology ensures fast remedial action in 170 ms.  When used in a Smart Grid environment with increasingly interconnected grids and electricity provided from various sources, the relay helps to mitigate frequency instability.

“IREQ is pleased to collaborate with partners like Alstom Grid to develop technologies aimed at improving protection systems for the high-voltage transmission grid, thereby contributing to the quality of electricity service offered to Hydro-Québec's customers,” said Élie Saheb, Executive Vice President – Technology at Hydro-Québec.

“Alstom is delighted to have developed this new product with Hydro-Québec, which will improve grid transmission capacity and ensure a steady power supply to customers,” said Hervé Amossé, Vice President of Substation Automation Solutions, Alstom Grid. “Having previously collaborated on similar technologies, such as the P846 open line detector, Alstom and Hydro-Québec have built a core suite of products to protect power flow over long transmission corridors and to improve the security of Hydro-Québec TransÉnergie’s transmission grid.”

Signed in 2012, the Smart Grid Technology Innovation Partnership aims to jointly advance innovative technologies that can be commercialised, with new solutions tested and validated at Hydro-Québec’s research institute.  The partnership explores fields such as Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control Systems (WAMPACS), which compare data from across a power grid to assess, monitor and assure its stability. All solutions are designed to meet the electrical transmission needs of Hydro-Québec, yet can be applied to other systems worldwide.

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About Alstom

Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The Group employs 93,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales of over €20 billion and booked close to €24 billion in orders in 2012/13.

Alstom Grid has one clear vision: to develop innovative solutions for a flexible, reliable, affordable and sustainable electrical grid, everywhere. We design, manufacture, install and service the power transmission and distribution products and systems that empower the planet’s low carbon economy... for now and for the future.

Alstom Grid has over 130 years’ experience and ranks among the top three in the electrical transmission sector with an annual sales turnover of more than €4 billion. Alstom Grid’s 19,000 employees are spread across 88 manufacturing and engineering sites worldwide and have one common mission: be our customers’ trusted partner, from the source to the city.

We are energizing a smarter world… with Alstom.

About Hydro-Québec - IREQ

Hydro-Québec (www.hydroquebec.com) is a world-class public utility that generates, transmits and distributes electricity and one of the world’s largest hydroelectric power producers. Its sole shareholder is the Québec government. It primarily exploits renewable generating options, in particular hydropower, and supports the development of other technologies—such as wind energy and biomass—through purchases from independent power producers.

Its research institute, IREQ, conducts R&D in generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, energy efficiency, energy storage and other energy-related fields. Hydro-Québec invests more than $100 million per year in research. Technological innovation is an integral part of Hydro-Québec's core strategic orientations. For four decades, the Hydro-Québec’s Research Institute has put its expertise and energy into supporting Hydro-Québec, helping the company improve the performance of its operations, develop areas of growth and better serve its customers.