Advances in Power Operations Management

Today´s telecommunications power engineer is faced with a multitude of challenges. He must continue to design power systems that have a traditionally high degree of reliability, but he must do so in light of tighter capital budgets. He must operate these systems so that they are ready to respond to almost any contingency, but still be conscious of the high cost of energy. He must properly maintain these systems to sustain that reliabilty, but do it with fewer and fewer skilled people. And finally, he must try to assimilate the rapidly changing technologies that impact his profession, while still getting his job done. Among these technological advances is the emergence of direct digital monitoring and control techniques applied to telecommunications power systems. The application of this technology offers the engineer new opportunities to design cost effective systems that meet many of the challenges mentioned. This paper will address some of the key issues that impact the selection, justification, and implementation of both existing and evolving digital systems designed for that purpose.