Clearing the way for green energy

Advancing innovative solutions in the energy sector

To exploit the full potential of renewable energies, electricity transmission grids need to be expanded. The "SüdLink" and "SüdOstLink" infrastructure projects are therefore essential but are also significant undertakings that have never been attempted before. The transmission of electricity over hundreds of kilometres via underground cabling alone is an innovation.

As a specialist in measuring, testing, and monitoring systems for power grids, HIGHVOLT recognised early on that the maintenance of underground cables over such a length is a major challenge because it is difficult to locate faults with any precision. With a capacity of 2 gigawatts per cable, faults and long maintenance work generate enormous losses in power transmission. This is particularly problematic in terms of supporting and powering critical infrastructure.

HIGHVOLT's HiMON® cable monitoring system, developed and patented in cooperation with the Technical University of Dresden, is the first modular measurement and condition assessment system for the rapid localisation of cable faults. It is also used to assess partial discharges and to provide trend analysis of cable ageing in order to analyse cable failures. The future use of predictive maintenance will mitigate the risk of future cable failures.

The monitoring system is based on up to 2,000 sensors, which are installed at intervals of between two and five kilometres within the underground cable that permanently measure and calculate the transmission quality of the cable. HIGHVOLT has developed mathematical models and the necessary physical devices for this purpose.

However, for the digitisation, storage, and processing of data in the range of up to 100 terabytes per month, HiMON® needed a solid software architecture that also considered the high requirements and regulations for critical infrastructure with regard to security and availability. For cost reasons alone, an on-premises solution was out of the question. For its expertise in cloud technologies, especially Microsoft Azure cloud services, HIGHVOLT brought SoftwareOne on board as a partner.

We chose SoftwareOne after intensive research and comparing three different providers. Why? Because we were very impressed by the professional approach, the willingness to cooperate with other service providers and the great commitment of the employees.

– Thomas Steiner, Executive Director Technology, HIGHVOLT Prüftechnik Dresden

SoftwareOne has an excellent Application Services team. Worldwide, this includes over 1,300 software developers and architects and over 250 Data and AI experts. SoftwareOne is a Microsoft Gold Partner and Azure Expert MSP and holds all 6 Solutions Partner Designations, including "Digital & App Innovation (Azure)" and "Data & AI (Azure)".

Innovation meets cloud technology: SoftwareOne develops software architecture for HiMON® with Azure cloud services

In collaboration with HIGHVOLT engineers and developers, SoftwareOne analysed the exact circumstances and requirements for the solution in several workshops. Using Azure cloud services, SoftwareOne then developed a software architecture for the HiMON® monitoring system. The architecture meets the high requirements for fail-safety and safeguarding, as well as the need to reliably store and process large amounts of data in real time. This allows transmission system operators to receive timely evaluations of the data for possible cable faults. For reasons of cost-effectiveness and to be able to scale up to 2,000 sensors according to requirements, HIGHVOLT decided to use Microsoft cloud technology.

Together with SoftwareOne, we built HiMON® on cloud technology to get a highly scalable and flexible, but also secure solution. With Azure services such as Azure IoT, we have much more scope to test new ideas and respond to our clients' needs and requirements. In addition, services like Azure Kubernetes enable a high level of automation, so our teams benefit from less administration.

– Thomas Steiner, Executive Director Technology, HIGHVOLT Prüftechnik Dresden

The following Azure services are used in the software architecture developed by SoftwareOne:

• Azure IoT: Via the Azure IoT Hub, the measured data from the sensors is received and stored by so-called data collectors. Azure IoT Edge enables the containerisation of own applications such as data reception. The service also covers IoT management for software provisioning and device configuration.
• Azure Kubernetes Service enables the processing and preparation of data on a container basis. Various processes are automated. They enable more flexibility and scalability in case of changes in the architecture and minimise own operating expenses.
• Azure Blob Storage is used to store large amounts of unstructured data. The data lake serves as a source for various evaluation scenarios that HIGHVOLT can develop according to the future needs of transmission system operators or other clients. The data will also be used for future AI trainings.
• Azure SQL Database is used to store processed data that is eventually connected to a portal for HIGHVOLT, and a client portal hosted in Azure Static Web App.
• Data evaluation for the rapid localisation of cable faults, evaluation of partial discharges and signs of ageing in the cable is initially carried out using machine learning (ML) and is to be controlled by AI in the future.

For compliance with high safety standards:

• Azure Key Vault enables the storage of sensitive data such as API keys, connection strings, passwords and the establishment of a corresponding rights management.
• Application Gateway with WAF provides protection against cyber-attacks and bots.
• DDoS Protection protects against overload attacks on the cloud solution.
• Azure Monitoring ensures ongoing operation.
• Azure Entra ID covers identity management.
• Security-relevant data of all architecture components are additionally analysed by Azure Sentinel, allowing security incidents to be registered and responded to more quickly.