Energy Management System

An Energy Management System (EMS) is a system of computer-aided tools used by operators of electric utility grids to monitor, control, and optimize the performance of the generation and/or transmission system. The monitor and control functions are known as SCADA; the optimization packages are often referred to as “advanced applications”.

The computer technology is also referred to as SCADA/EMS or EMS/SCADA. In these respects, the terminology EMS then excludes the monitoring and control functions, but more specifically refers to the collective suite of power network applications and to the generation control and scheduling applications. In a slightly different context EMS can also refer to a system in an organization to achieve energy efficiency through well laid out procedures and methods, and to ensure continual improvement, which will spread awareness of energy efficiency throughout an entire organization.