Electrical Substations

Substation Testing & Maintenance

Advanced Automation in Substations: Enhancing Grid Reliability and Efficiency

The rapid evolution of technology has brought significant advancements in the field of electrical substations, transforming them into highly automated, efficient, and reliable components of the power grid. These advancements are crucial in managing the increasing complexities of modern power...

Breakers & Relays

Power Factor Testing of Circuit Breakers

Detecting contamination and deterioration in SF6 breakers to ensure longevity BY LINDA NOWAK, Doble Engineering Company The purpose of “Doble testing”, or power factor testing, SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride) circuit breakers is to detect the presence of contamination and/or deterioration of the...

Lightning Protection

Lightning Strikes

In Canada, lightning flashes occur about 2.34 million times a year; with the highest levels of concentration during the summer months. While most lightning on earth is ground-to-cloud, recent research has identified that the majority of lightning events to tall structures, such as wind...

Substation Technologies

Substation Automation Standard

Reducing engineering costs using IEC 61850 BY ADAM GAUCI, Schneider Electric As substation automation is moving towards software environments based on the International Electrotechnical Commission’s substation automation standard, IEC 61850: “Power Utility Automation”, the engineering process...

Substation Protection

FERC Rejects PJM Transmission Planning Change

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected a proposal from PJM Interconnection, one of the United States' largest regional transmission organizations, to alter its transmission planning protocol. The decision represents a significant victory for state regulators who had expressed...

Physical Security & Monitoring

The Fight Against Animal-Caused Power Outages

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...

Home Transformation Electrical Substations

Distribution Transformer DGA – The Future of Monitoring Distribution Systems

By Leon White and Traci Hopkins, H2scan Corporation

As distributed generation, electric vehicle load, and requirements for increased electricity reliability provide real-world challenges for electric utilities, asset managers must innovate to ensure their infrastructure is in good condition to deliver safe, reliable, and uninterrupted power to customers.

Distribution systems have been designed to transfer power from large remote generators to customers via radial distribution networks. This paper will discuss the progress that is being made...