DNV reviews ABB’s control system resilience for reliable remote operations

The remote operations capabilities of the ABB Ability™ System 800xA^® distributed control system (DCS) has received a statement of professional opinion by DNV, the global quality assurance and risk management company that helps set industry standards and ensure compliance with regulations and best practices.

DNV independently witnessed the operation of System 800xA at a purpose-built test site designed to represent a realistic plant topology, reflecting cyber security best practice and simulating a range of network challenges that fiber optic, mobile technology and satellite communications can experience in remote environments. The process used a network emulator to control and degrade conditions, testing several operations including switch over from onshore to offshore control rooms, encryption of communication between two sites, as well as transfer of control.

The test witnessed by DNV confirms that the system design of the DCS – a digital platform for automated control and operation of facilities that sits at the heart of process and energy industries – can handle network issues and works within acceptable boundaries of low bandwidth and high latency networks in offshore and onshore remote locations such as wind and solar farms. This provides the investment confidence that is essential for the expansion of renewable energy sources as part of the energy transition.

"ABB’s System 800xA is a key offering enabling industries to outrun leaner and cleaner, and it is playing an important role in supporting the production of low-carbon and renewable energy in harsher environments and remote locations," said Karen Bomber, Chief Commercial Officer of ABB’s Energy Industries division. "Our role at ABB is to drive technological advancements by collaborating on solutions that give industry confidence not only on investments but over the safety of people and the reliability of energy supply."

The use of remote, unmanned facilities is growing across the energy landscape as companies look to enhance safety, deliver increased efficiencies and leverage expertise from the global talent pool. Renewable energy is expected to meet half of global electricity demand by the end of the decade1, and advances in technology are enabling production in increasingly challenging environments. The reliability of connection to centrally located control systems – often situated hundreds of miles from production facilities – is essential to successful expansion of the sector.

"The energy transition is reliant on greater use of digital assets for remote operations. As these technologies become increasingly networked and connected, energy operators and their supply chains need assurance that their digital operations meet growing expectations for cyber security and network resilience," said Auke Huistra, Director for Industrial and Operational Technology Security at DNV Cyber. "It is our professional opinion that the ABB System 800xA can handle network issues and work within acceptable boundaries on low bandwidth and high latency networks."

The ABB Ability™ System 800xA^® has over 12,000 installed systems in more than 100 countries, monitoring and controlling over 50 million tags. It is part of a suite of DCS that has led to ABB being the global market leader for 25 consecutive years2.

1 Massive global growth of renewables to 2030 is set to match entire power capacity of major economies today, moving world closer to tripling goal
2 ABB no.1 global market leader in Distributed Control Systems

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