Siemens Energy launches transmission grid digitalization products

Siemens Energy released two new products, Edgeformer and Edgegear. The high-voltage devices were presented at Hannover Fair 2021 and are equipped with “edge computing.”

While most digital solutions for substation assets rely solely on equipment with cloud connectivity, edge-enabled transmission products like Edgegear and Edgeformer offer new ways to connect equipment directly within the substation without having to forego the benefits of cloud-based solutions like app-based data analytics. Edge computing technology enables fast computing capabilities and onsite data storage and processing.

With edge computing the data is kept offline in the substation without compromising a seamless, secure and easy integration into the existing customer IT-landscape. The result is a highly cyber secure system. The edge-enabled transformers and switchgear will come with app-based data analytics and asset management.

“The new generation of digitally enabled transmission products and systems opens new possibilities for grid operators to benefit from data driven applications by deploying them within the local substation network,” read a press release. The new products build on the company’s Sensformer, a digital transformer released in 2018.

The shift to an increasingly decarbonized energy landscape poses tremendous challenges to grid operators that require a new way of managing the energy system. The digitalization of power transmission assets in the substation plays an important role to manage the increased feed-ins of renewable energy and the exponential increase of complexity.