MACEDONIA: New ELEM Dispatch Center Put into Use

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Macedonian Power Plants (ELEM) director general Vlatko Cingoski officially put into use Wednesday the new Dispatch Center for planning, coordination and management of ELEM's electricity output.

The EUR 2.2 mln Government-funded Dispatch Center, alongside the EUR 700 000-worth Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system, which was installed in 2009, create a complex system for control, measurement, supervision and management of ELEM production capacities.

"This Dispatch System will continually monitor weather changes, reservoirs' water level, expected amounts of water flows, calculate electricity needs in the country and develop plans for electricity production in line with needs", said PM Gruevski.

According to him, the investment should enable optimization and coordination of domestic energy production, resulting in optimum savings and solid management of natural resources.

ELEM director Cingoski said the Dispatch Center and the AMR system would provide precise planning and regulation of the existing thermal and hydro power plants when producing electricity.

"Siemens-produced hardware and software solutions have been implemented in the Dispatch Center. This German company and its Austrian branch have implemented the system following their most favourable bid at the international public call in 2008", stressed Cingoski.

He stated the dispatch center and the AMR system were only a part of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, whereas such equipment has been installed in all production facilities throughout Macedonia.

Source: www.vlada.mk