OREANDA-NEWS. GE (NYSE: GE) today announced the availability of its GE MultilinTM D20MX substation controller designed to help utilities more efficiently and reliably manage their electrical substations. By collecting, aggregating and processing data from the many intelligent devices in a substation, the D20MX consolidates that data and communicates it to a central location, effectively helping a utility get visibility to what’s happening in its entire network of substations.

Utilities also can use the D20MX to help perform automation tasks such as load monitoring, load balancing and outage detection. Instructions can be sent from a central control center to the D20MX in remote substations to help centralize control of the grid to improve reliability and efficiency.

“Since we launched the D20 platform more than 20 years ago, we have continued to invest in this platform to ensure that it meets the evolving needs of our utility customers,” said Juan Macias, general manager, Grid Automation. “As with previous generations of the product, the Multilin D20MX will help our customers optimize the performance of their substations and increase the efficiency of their power assets.”

GE’s D20 platform, an industry leader for more than 20 years, has continued to evolve over its life as utilities have continued to modernize their grids. This latest version helps utilities meet their requirements under the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) cybersecurity standards and also includes a suite of new client and server protocols allowing communication with more intelligent devices in the substation. The D20MX is modular in design and is backward compatible to the chassis it plugs into, making it a logical upgrade for existing D20 customers.