April 2011 - Control Global

S C A D A
Remote Wind Energy
SCADA Control System
Like old-fashioned farming, tending a wind farm is a 24/7/365 job.
At Iberdrola Renewables, the new SCADA system is a key “farm hand.”
By Harm Toren
At Iberdrola Renewables (www.iberdrolarenewables.us/),
our National Control Center is professionally staffed
24/7/365, performing operations, energy management,
scheduling and generation dispatch functions. This
helps us to better manage risks and uncertainty while
fulfilling energy requirements with sustainable and
clean power. Originally called PPM Energy and part of
Scottish Power, our company began operating in Oregon
in 2001 with 12 employees. As of 2010, more than 850
workers throughout the United States maintain, develop,
build and operate nearly 5000 megawatts of wind power
and other power plants.
Our recent addition to the Iberdrola Renewables fleet is the
National Control Center located in Portland, Ore., the nerve
center of the Iberdrola Renewables generation portfolio. In
a room that looks a little like NASA’s Mission Control, our
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