KEMA to perform protection study of Dominican grid
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - KEMA and Comisión Nacional de Energia (CNE) of the Dominican Republic announced the initiation of a protection and coordination study for the Dominican Republic’s national electrical grid system.
This study funded by a World Bank loan is aimed at providing technical assistance to the energy sector. Working in close cooperation with protection engineers of the Organismo Coordinador and Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica Dominicana, the study will assess current protection settings and perform an integrated coordination study using CAPE, a software suite developed by Electrocon International Inc.
As global electric utilities work to coordinate financial decisions and system reliability, effective protection of the power system against major power failures will require the most innovative use of automation and information technology related to transmission and distribution assets.
With the formal signing of the contract between CNEÂ’s, Licenciado Aristides Fernandez Zucco, Secretario de Estado and Presidente de la Comision Nacional de EnergÃa, and KEMAÂ’s Dr. Renato Cespedes, Director for Latin America, the parties agreed on a program to migrate the current electric model platform to ElectroconÂ’s CAPE, to perform a protection and coordination study using CAPE, and to set and conduct commissioning tests on relays in the field.
KEMAÂ’s experts will conduct a comprehensive analysis to implement the most appropriate technical and financial solutions for the islandÂ’s new relays.
CNE selected KEMA based on the firmÂ’s highly regarded transmission and distribution expertise and objective knowledge, experience and analytical resources. The combination of KEMAÂ’s technical skills and the implementation of ElectroconÂ’s CAPE software make this relationship unique and significant for the Dominican Republic.
A significant part of the activities includes migration and usage of ElectroconÂ’s CAPE software. CAPEÂ’s graphical network modeling and system simulation support automatic relay setting, detection of mis-coordinated settings, and event analysis. With more detailed and accurate models, CNE will be able to simulate real life conditions, perform wide-area reviews and predict protection system performance to ensure proper electric reliability for its customers.
Related News

Opinion: The dilemma over electricity rates and innovation
TORONTO - For more than 100 years, Canadian electricity companies had a very simple mandate: provide reliable, safe power to all. Keep the lights on, as some would say. And they did just that.
Today, however, they are expected to also provide a broad range of energy services through a data-driven, customer-centric system operations platform that can manage, among other things, responsive loads, electric vehicles, storage devices and solar generation. All the while meeting environmental and social sustainability — and delivering on affordability.
Not an easy task.
That’s why this new mandate requires an ironclad commitment to innovation excellence. Not simply replacing “like…