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Illustration of an data center employee sitting in front of four monitors with analytics datafor power qualtiy
REAL-WORLD APPLICATION

Manage and analyze your power quality

Detect and analyze power quality issues in your data center early with continuousmonitoring and advanced analytics of key parameters in power distribution.Optimize the performance of electrical systems to protect sensitive IT equipmentand data, and stay ahead of downtime or grid instabilities.​

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Challenge

Harmonics, voltage sags, transients, and other power anomalies can corrupt sensitive IT equipment, impair power delivery, shorten the lifespan of electrical infrastructure and even affect surrounding buildings. As data center power systems become more complex - with renewables, power electronics, and fluctuating loads - these disturbances are becoming more frequent and impactful. Severe issues can even disconnect your data center from the grid, highlighting the importance of proactive monitoring.​

Solution

Power quality monitoring continuously measures and analyzes electrical parameters across the power distribution network. By detecting disturbances early and identifying their root causes, operators gain the insights needed to take corrective action before they impact uptime or equipment reliability.​

Prevent costly downtime​

Early detection of voltage disturbances, harmonics, and transients helps operators identify potential failures before they impact critical IT operations.​

Support compliance with standards​

Automated analysis and reporting help demonstrate compliance with relevant power quality standards such as EN 50160, IEC 61000 or IEC 61850. ​

Protect electrical infrastructure​

​Continuous monitoring prevents hidden power quality issues that can damage equipment or shorten the lifespan of transformers, UPS systems, and power supplies.​

Improve energy efficiency​

Reducing harmonic distortion and other disturbancesminimizes energy losses and improves the overallefficiency of electrical equipment.​

Increase transparency

An integrated BMS and EPMS delivers visibility into electrical, cooling, and environmental performance, enabling operators to correlate disturbances, run analytics, detect anomalies faster, and manage infrastructure holistically.

Identify common sources of power
quality disturbances​

Worst case, power quality issues can cause a disconnection from the distribution grid. It is therefore crucial to understand exactly which components are causing the problems. Common weak spots are the MV infeed and Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS), LV main power distribution units, UPS, cooling systems, or the power feed to the racks. Monitoring these locations helps operators detect disturbances early and understand their origin.​

Data center illustration identifying common sources of power quality disturbances.

How to get started

Whether you’re building a new data center or modernizing an existing one, Siemens provides the expertise, software, hardware, and services to manage and analyze power quality issues in your network.

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Consult with experts

Discuss operational goals, uptime targets, and key performance indicators with experts such as Siemens PTI consultants. Identify where power quality measurements are required, such as grid infeed, automatic transfer switches, UPS systems, distribution units, cooling systems, and server racks.

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Plan and design your solution

Define the power quality monitoring architecture and determine optimal placement of measurement devices. Ensure the design supports relevant standards, redundancy requirements, and open communication protocols such as IEC 61850 or Modbus TCP.

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Deploy and scale your solution

Install power quality instruments such as SICAM Q100/Q200 at critical points in the power distribution network to capture parameters including harmonics, voltage sags and swells, transients, and frequency variations.

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Monitor, analyze and report

Use SENTRON Powermanager with the PQ Advisor module to visualize power quality data, analyze disturbances, and create reports based on EN 50160. Dashboards support real-time event tracking, ITIC diagrams, and harmonic analysis. Integration with Desigo CC combines EPMS and BMS data.

Case Study

Power quality recorders connected to the BMS

Company: Greenergy Data Centers

Location: Estonia

Siemens solutions: Integrated BMS-EPMS, power quality, white space cooling optimization (WSCO), low voltage power distribution

With their own 110 kV substation feeding power directly from the grid, Greenergy Data Centers implemented an integrated BMS–EPMS platform to monitor their power quality across HV/MV, LV, UPS, and third-party devices. The EPMS is connected to the network provided by their customers, and it all communicates with the BMS system.

Siemens provided not only the necessary hardware and software, but also the technical solution consulting throughout the project. Learn more!

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