118. Application of VSAT Communication Technology for Control and Supervision of Hydropower Projects in Remote Areas Prasad Yogendra, Dr. Jose P.C. (Proceedings, Hydro 2003, Vol. I, Croatia, pp. 219–226). Abstract One of the major problems facing hydropower development at remote sites is the non-availability of reliable and fast communication systems. In order to provide reliable communication facilities, Vsat based satellite communication network for communication activities such as voice, facsimile, data and internet transactions has therefore, been installed by NHPC and is described in the paper. The unique feature of communications satellite is their ability to simultaneously link all users on the earth's surface, irrespective of their locations, thereby providing distance-insensitive point-to-multipoint communications. Also, with satellites, bandwidth capacity can be dynamically allocated to users. These features make satellite communication systems unique in design. The satellite communication technology offers many benefits and advantages over the conventional terrestrial networks, including lower operating costs, ease of installation and maintenance, support for multiservices, the ability to bring locations where the cost of leased lines is exorbitant into the communications loop and the integration of different locations into a network. These features make it ideal for communications with hydropower projects which are located at remote sites. The Vsat communication system is envisaged to be developed for full scale networking applications for interconnecting PCs and PC-based LANs. PC traffic varies depending on applications. Corporate communications such as facsimile transmission, electronic mail, data collection, file transfer, computer-aided design, SCADA systems, project monitoring through videoconferencing, and so on are bulk data traffic that may last several seconds to minutes or even hours. The satellite-based networks are best suited for bulk data traffic. These characteristics are again very useful during construction and operation of remotely located hydropower projects for effective and timely controls. Reliable communication systems are essential for timely execution of hydro-electric projects as well as for operation of the power stations under different operating regimes. In India, a large number of hydroelectric projects with huge power potential have been identified for development on an urgent basis. These projects are generally located in very remote and inaccessible areas and NHPC is presently involved in the development of large number of projects in such remote locations in India where reliable communication facilities have been now installed with the help of Vsat. As already discussed in the paper, the Vsat system has been found to be of immense help for project management in difficult time. Vsat caters for point to point service and offers multiple services like voice, facsimile, high speed data transfer and internet, video conferencing, scada and surveillance applications, the distance has nothing to do with the operating costs and installation cost is not very high. Thus, it has been found that Vsat is an economical solution for multiple services. Besides, Vsat is easy to install and operate. Top Keywords Hydropower development, Nonavailability, Communication systems, Distanceinsensitive, Satellite communication, Corporate communications, Bulk data traffic. Top |