Electrical Substations

Substation Automation

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...

Physical Security & Monitoring

Critter Guard Introduction

Distinctly Different According to the American Public Power Association, squirrels are among the top causes of power outages across the United States. The Great Lakes region has squirrels as the #1 cause of sustained outages. And in many cases, bird related outages are at number two.Nobody likes...

Lightning Protection

Lightning Discoveries & Technologies

How this phenomenon affects electric utilities BY JIM SIEBERT, FOX 26 Chief Meteorologist Advances in technology are helping scientists understand lightning in ways that were not possible a few years ago. Beforehand, meteorologists primarily studied lightning, focusing most of their efforts on...

Substation Protection

Extend the Life of Your Circuit Breakers

What to ask to ensure proper circuit breaker testing and maintenance BY ROBERT FOSTER, Megger Protecting a utility’s assets is essential. There are many different apparatus in electrical substations that need to be protected. The circuit breaker (CB) is designed to stop the flow of...

Substation Testing & Maintenance

ACCELERATING TOWARDS GREATER TESTING EFFICIENCY - A true transformer test van

Test lead management, including quality of connection and correct lead placement, is an important part of testing. Poor or incorrect connections can be the culprit for nonrepresentative results that ultimately lead to longer test times and, in some cases, wasteful investigations...

Breakers & Relays

Effective and Safe Testing of GIS Switchgear

To fully assess the functionality of medium and high voltage circuit breakers, various mechanical and electrical parameters must be tested. Gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) in particular poses unique and special challenges, including the connection of the test equipment. In today‘s world, where...

Home Transformation Electrical Substations

Detect Electrical Discharge Defects with Ultrasound

Electrical discharge is more common than we’d like to believe; even in new installations. Detecting these defects poses a serious challenge, particularly at an early stage when there is still time to initiate corrective actions. Vigilant technologies help reduce the risk of arc flash explosion while enhancing the overall reliability of electrical assets.
While there is no one perfect inspection technique or technology which can, on its own, detect and localize every defect, ultrasound performs...