Unearthing the potential in Smart Grid technologies
BY DOUG HOUSEMAN, IEEE Senior Member, EnerNex Corporation
After Hurricane Sandy, resiliency became a key factor in the modernization of the power grid. In looking at modernization and resiliency, underground was the first item on many lists. Undergrounding lines avoids many problems that people associate with outages. However, it has its own set of issues, not the least of which is cost—installing underground lines costs approximately three times...
Protecting utility personnel working below ground BY MIKE DOHERTY, PowerTel Utilities Contractors Limited "Safety” in “underground systems” has different connotations for different sectors depending on the tasks performed. “Qualified electrical workers” can have significantly diverse...
How SCADA can help prevent repairs and service disruptions BY RICHARD CLARK, InduSoft Underground transmission and distribution lines create unique challenges, as they require special insulation materials to protect conductors, and complex cooling systems because heat cannot be dissipated in free...
Enhancing protection using directional faulted circuit indicators BY CHRISTOPHER EVANICH, Thomas & Betts Underground electrical networks provide reliable service to end users, but create problems for utility personnel in locating faults. Electric utilities who utilize an underground network...
Aging underground residential distribution (URD) cables is a growing problem in communities around the world, disrupting customers and causing business challenges for utility providers. But in most cases, the traditional remedy for URD cable failure—taking the impacted cable out of service...
Aging underground residential distribution (URD) cables is a growing problem in communities around the world, disrupting customers and causing business challenges for utility providers. But in most cases, the traditional remedy for URD cable failure—taking the impacted cable out of service...
Energy Ottawa offers a state-of-the-art, non-destructive cable measurement system for the dependable assessment of medium voltage distribution cables. We have partnered with National Research Council Canada (NRC), the Government of Canada’s premier research and technology organization, to...
Distribution companies are continually looking for ways to improve system reliability, all while conserving capital investments and operational costs. With an aging infrastructure, one of the main issues that utilities face is a way to assess the actual condition of their capital assets. With...
The TSE Cable Scrapper is Al Asher and Sons’ latest product innovation for 2015. Formerly known as OK Champion, the industry has long recognized the Cable Scrapper as the go-to product for salvaging underground cable up to four-inch diameter. The machine will pull, cut, and load cable all day...
In recent years, the cost to bury high-voltage power lines has decreased dramatically. The American Transmission Company reports that installation costs for underground transmission lines (over 100 kilovolts) are now only 2.5 to 10 times the cost of an equivalent overhead line. Consequently, the...
How to prevent failure with partial discharge testing BY HENNING OETJEN, Megger Partial discharge (PD) measurements are increasingly used as a reliable and non-destructive diagnostic method to detect weak spots in the insulation of underground cables. Routinely, partial discharge measurements are...
