Portland General Electric (PGE) is deploying Swiss firm Oscilloquartz’s PTP grandmaster clock technology from Adva to protects its network against GNSS vulnerabilities and cyber attacks.

As it upgrades to packet-based synchronisation, PGE, one of the largest power utilities in western USA, is using German firm Adva’s scalable timing to enable a smooth transition from legacy synchronisation and ensure new levels of accuracy, reliability and resiliency. It will also let it timestamp data and control grid substations at the edge.

With multi-band GNSS receivers and AI-powered threat detection, Adva’s aPNT assured PNT platform helps maintain resilient timing, even in challenging circumstances such as deliberate jamming and spoofing attacks. Easy to install and operate, it provides multi-source backup, including PTP network timing and in-device holdover oscillators for when GNSS signals are unavailable or disrupted.

“Precise and resilient synchronisation is increasingly vital in the power industry,” said John Lozano, senior telecommunications engineer at PGE. “By harnessing new time-sensitive applications and building smarter energy infrastructure, we can offer even more to customers across our region. Adva’s Oscilloquartz technology will be a key tool as we continue to lead the way to a more sustainable and affordable energy future for our community.”

Adva’s OSA 5420 series supports PGE’s existing synchronisation services while also enabling packet time distribution all the way to the edge of its network.

“With its GPS jamming and spoofing detection, it provides a robust yet cost-efficient defence against cyber threats,” said Lozano. “It also makes maintenance and configuration simple with an easy-to-operate web GUI and customisable database.”

PGE’s new timing infrastructure will distribute stable and accurate frequency, phase and time-of-day information between its power infrastructure data points, including PMUs, IEDs and substation LAN IEC 61850 communications, supporting rapid decision-making and automated assurance.

It is built on the OSA 5410 and OSA 5420 of EdgeSync+ grandmaster clocks and features multi-band, multi-constellation GNSS receivers and supports multiple PTP profiles, including substation power and core telecoms backup sync, while allowing conversion between them and supporting legacy interfaces.

The products are part of Adva’s aPNT platform, integrating threat detection, multi-source backup and intelligent ensemble sync director as a trusted standard for PNT service assurance, control and visibility.

“We’re proud that PGE is leveraging our synchronisation technology and the support of our team as it makes the shift to next-generation timing,” said John Scherzinger, senior vice president for Adva in the Americas. “With its compact and environmentally friendly design, our technology will bring assured and protected synchronisation to the edge of PGE’s network, enhancing efficiency and enabling it to take advantage of emerging smart grid applications.”

He said this would deliver the nanosecond accuracy and the levels of timing availability required by power utilities. It features aPNT capabilities, centralised GNSS monitoring and an assurance tool for predictive maintenance, as well as multi-band receivers with the power to compensate for ionospheric delay variations and protect against GNSS vulnerabilities.

Adva subsidiary Oscilloquartz designs, makes and deploys end-to-end synchronisation systems that ensure the delivery and assurance of precise timing information over packet and legacy networks.