Feb 2, 2006
Open Systems International, Inc. (OSI) has been awarded a major contract by Aquila, Inc. of Kansas City, Missouri to be the supplier of Aquila's next-generation Energy Management System (EMS) technology.
Aquila's electric operations span the states of Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. This necessitates a modern and flexible system solution which not only supports multiple control center operations, but also provides for seamless disaster recovery capability via a back-up control system. Support for remotely located communications hubs is also needed. The new EMS will also serve as the single source of secure real-time data to corporate users across the enterprise. The new system replaces a legacy system supplied by AREVA.
Aquila's main motivation for embarking on this new project was the implementation of a more modern and secure operations control system based on an open system architecture, facilitating future upgrades of hardware and software as well as a lower recurring maintenance cost. Aquila's objectives were best met with the OSI monarch architecture and the proposed OSI implementation strategy.
The proposed system is based on OSI's monarch distributed open architecture and includes Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, Automatic Generation Control and Dispatch (AGC), Historical Information System, Transmission Network Analysis, Operator Training Simulator, Secure ICCP communications, interfaces with SPP, Midwest ISO, and various enterprise systems.
"We are very proud to have won Aquila's trust in OSI and we welcome them to our user community. Aquila's decision to leave their existing long-term supplier and join the OSI family is an affirmation of our superior technology, customer service and customer focus and commitment to the marketplace. We fully intend to meet all of Aquila's objectives and exceed their expectations on this project," said Bahman Hoveida, President & CEO of OSI.
"OSI was chosen as a vendor that has demonstrated flexibility in their architecture design and a strong commitment to customer service. We look forward to partnering with OSI to meet the needs of Aquila's Energy Management System as the industry and markets evolve," said Gary Condict, Sr. Engineer, EMS/SCADA, Aquila, Inc.
Aquila, Inc. (www.aquila.com) operates electricity and natural gas distribution utilities. Aquila delivers energy through networks of transmission and distribution wires and pipes serving seven states in the Mid-continent. Aquila serves 453,000 electric customers in three states: Missouri, Kansas and Colorado; and 910,000 natural gas distribution customers in seven states: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota.
OSI (www.osii.com) provides open, state-of-the-art, and high-performance automation solutions to electric utilities worldwide. These solutions include Energy Management Systems (EMS), Distribution Management Systems (DMS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Systems, and Generation Management Systems (GMS), as well as individual software products and e-business solutions for electric utility operations. OSI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
For additional information regarding this news release please contact news@osii.com.
