Why technologies are important to grid modernization
BY MANI VADARI, Modern Grid Solutions
Electricity is one of the cornerstones of our economy. A modern electric grid is critical for our economic and national security. The National Academy of Engineering has called the North American power grid the “supreme engineering achievement of the 20th century”. Today’s power grid was designed to deal with a power delivery paradigm that we are slowly moving away from. The...
Power grids around the world are getting smarter thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT). While Smart Grid technologies are making the headlines, and poised to grow to more than $118 billion by 2019, according to November 2015 research from analyst firm Transparency Market Research—many utilities...
Unclogging the arteries of North America’s power grid BY DAVE BRYANT, CTC Global Corporation Without access to affordable and reliable electricity, no society in today’s world can possibly flourish. Canada and the U.S. rely heavily on electricity to pump water to grow crops, manufacture...
Every day across the country, animals enter substations for warmth, food, security, or simply out of curiosity. In many areas, wildlife intruding into power equipment has become the #1 cause of outages, according to a report from the American Public Power Association (APPA) – even...
How to improve situational awareness of grid operations BY MARK FEDERLE, QinetiQ North America The adoption of Smart Grid technology in recent years has accelerated the modernization of the electric utility grid. This is a positive development given that the grid infrastructure in North America is,...
Direct current (DC) is the preferred technology for moving large amounts of power across long distances. DC results in overall higher efficiency and reliability than an equivalently-sized alternating current (AC) system moving the same amount of power. The Advantages of DC More efficient: Over long...
Distributed energy resources (DERs) can benefit the power system and individual homes and businesses. DERs can increase the resiliency and reliability of the power grid, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the overall power cost, and provide power at the point of use. Several types of DERs can...
Three-phase electric power systems are used for high and extra-high voltage AC transmission lines (50kV and above). The pylons must therefore be designed to carry three (or multiples of three) conductors. The towers are usually steel lattices or trusses (wooden structures are used in Germany in...
Insulators under fire, what are we talking about? A line directly in the fire is considered as lost A line near the heat of a fire can be saved What is the condition of insulators on a line nearby a fire? Reliability of insulators during or after a fire is a key consideration for T&D...
Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6) Gas is used as an electrical insulator and arc suppressant in high and medium voltage electrical equipment in the electrical power utility and industrial power industries. SF6 is also used in medical devices, metal production and other manufacturing applications. The same...
Since over 80% of electrical maintenance testing involves evaluating insulation integrity, the first and most important test done on electrical equipment is an Insulation Resistance (Meg) Test. This is because electrical insulation begins to age as soon as it’s manufactured and aging causes...
