Thorsten Hamann always
has the supply of “his”
Bad Pyrmont in view
in the control room
4
F
rank Jakob and Thorsten Hamann can only be ap-
areas are monitored in the
control room: gas, water,
electricity, and district heating
proached if the gentlemen want to be: their empire is
separated from the rest of the Bad Pyrmont public util-
ities by a security door. For good reason, because the two of
18,000
inhabitants live in the
supply area served by the
Pyrmont public utilities
them work in the public utility company’s Control Engineer-
ing department. This is where information on the supply lines
for electricity, water, wastewater, and gas all comes together,
is checked and repair or service work is initiated if necessary.
It’s not exactly an area where visitors should be able to come
and go as they please. “That’s precisely a part of the first stage
of our security concept.”
and more reliably. Not only do we install them, but we also
Spa resort with tradition assemble our own control cabinets and program our own con-
“In this control room, we monitor the supply for around 18,000 trol systems, which provide remote maintenance on site.” The
residents of our metropolitan area,” says Frank Jakob, Head of technician is not only well-versed in the numerous special
the Control Engineering department. “In addition to the elec- cases that arise from the mix of topics involving gas, water,
tricity, water, and gas networks, we also monitor the supply and electricity. Hamann is also responsible for monitoring
of district heating to key accounts. Bad Pyrmont is a spa town surveillance, particularly for IRMA. “As an energy provider, we
rich in tradition with numerous public facilities and a wealth are subject to the requirements for what is often called critical
of history, including the local state spa with the Steigenberger infrastructure. The lawmakers require us to take particularly
Hotel, the concert hall, and the pump room.” strict measures to protect and secure the systems.”
“The sensor technology with which we monitor the sup- These measures are continuously monitored by experts
ply is almost completely connected by copper cable,” explains who analyze the facilities and their structures in detail during
Thorsten Hamann. “Of course, we too are relying more and regular visits to the Bad Pyrmont public utilities. These visits
more on the digitalization of our systems in order to act faster are called audits. If a supplier passes this audit, it receives the
The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine
UPDATE 4/20
15
à