Panama Canal Authority DSS

Synexus Global has implemented the Vista Decision Support System (DSS) for the Panama Canal Authority, to be used by operations staff for long- and short-term water management and generation scheduling. The primary concern is to provide reliable navigation flows over the long term while optimizing hourly dispatch of the generating plants in the system. Analytic studies are conducted with Vista to determine the water use capabilities and the resulting probability of meeting the navigational flow requirements. Work included

• review of all physical characteristic data for reservoirs, locks, control structures and hydro facilities
• development of reference hydrology
• integration with SCADA information system and inflow forecast system
• installation of seven Vista modules
• training of operations staff.

The ACP system is comprised of two seasonal reservoirs, two hydroelectric plants with nine generating units, and two sets of controlling locks. Vista is installed on one terminal and is used primarily by operations staff.

The detailed representation of the ACP system in Vista enables the ACP operations staff to perform optimum scheduling of all generation resources, while meeting all navigational flow requirements in the long- and short-term.