There are more than 50 types of transmission lines in use, with even more in the R&D stage. The goals are reductions in line loss and line faults and greater overall grid reliability and efficiency. An increasing number of transmission line applications incorporate high-temperature superconducting technologies. New types of composite conductors are being developed to retain their strength and be more resistant to degradation at high temperatures. What’s more, this sector is seeing some exciting new wide-area management systems (WAMS) and other applications built on top of data from synchrophasors. Some are even proposing an “air traffic control system” for the national grid. Keep up to date with changing transmission technologies by scrolling down.
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SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst shares a glimpse of a new state-of-the-art transmission control center, which he sees as a view into the future – and the future of distribution operations as well. Click inside to find out why.
While power has been restored after a massive blackout cut power to more than a million customers in the San Diego area and parts of Arizona Thursday afternoon, FERC, other federal and state agencies and the affected utilities are investigating the cause. Could smart grid technologies avert such disasters in the future? We think so.
Siemens Energy and RuggedCom have deployed an ultra-fast distribution automation feeder system to improve service reliability for the only hospital serving Virginia's eastern shore. The system offers an impressive array of detection and protection features. Read about them inside.
Researchers at North Carolina State University have come up with a "smart transformer" that could be a key component in the smart grid transformation of our electrical system, even though it may be years before it's ready for grid-scale duty. Read the story for more, and to find out why SGN Chief Analyst Jesse Berst thinks the traditional approach may not be the right one for bringing technologies like this online.
Three new studies paint a promising picture of smart grid growth in the next decade. Click to see what the research gurus predict for the T&D equipment, home energy management and smart meter markets.
ABB unveiled a new family of products at the 2011 Hanover
Fair in Germany that are designed to strengthen the power supply in electricity networks and industrial plants. As this video showcases, the PCS100 family is based on a low-voltage converter and advanced software. It can be adapted to a range of applications, from enabling wind parks to feed power into the grid at the appropriate frequency to connecting various energy storage technologies to the network.
ABB will acquire specialist software provider Insert Key Solutions, a move intended to create a broad set of solutions for asset and work management, maintenance optimization and equipment reliability.
To take full advantage of smart grid technologies and renewable energy will require expansion of the nation's transmission system and a new report from Pike Research says high-voltage DC transmission will be one of the most important high-growth sectors in this market.
Transmission owners are already implementing advanced power electronics for a variety of applications. Now some are taking it a step further to strengthen their systems and account for variable power flows that result from wind and solar penetration. KEMA's Siri Varadan explains why there's never been a better time to investigate what advanced power electronics can achieve.
Developed by Hydro-Quebec, LineScout is a high-performance robot that uses leading-edge inspection equipment and advanced maneuverability technology to complete detailed and comprehensive inspection of energized transmission lines. LineScout can navigate line obstacles such as spacer dampers, insulator connections, and aircraft warning indicators. Hydro-Quebec and BCTC received a 2010 Edison Award for their partnership on the field deployment and enhancement of LineScout.
Standard & Poor's Associate Director Gabe Grosberg discusses the factors influencing the credit quality of U.S. electric transmission companies in this CreditMatters TV segment. He also provides S&P's outlook for the sector, which includes an increase in investment and competition.
Regional transmission operator PJM Interconnection is moving ahead with a program to beef up the digital intelligence of the country's largest electric transmission system by installing more advanced monitoring equipment. A $14 million DOE stimulus grant is covering half the cost of the synchrophasor deployment project.
This article underlines the potential advantages of an EPRI designed, first-of-its-kind DC superconducting cable that could be built with currently available materials. The new cable, which incorporates the best features of traditional and advanced bulk power transfer technologies, could be just what is needed to handle the changing transmission demands of the future.
A University of Houston researcher is working on a Smart Grid technology with high-temperature superconducting wire that could transmit as much as 10 times more power than copper cables.
Midwest ISO becomes the first regional transmission operator (RTO) to move ahead with a synchrophasor deployment. The installation of more than 150 of the units is expected to help improve grid reliability and stability and may yield more transmission capacity.
Public opposition to overhead power lines is a given. But some companies are working in the other direction: under water. A number of underwater transmission projects are underway with more waiting in the wings.
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) researchers have an ongoing effort to research and develop sensor technologies and the associated infrastructure needed to aid utilities in addressing an aging transmission fleet, as well as to increase the capacity of existing assets, and help develop the next generation of equipment and technologies. Research and development efforts are underway in the following areas: Application of Sensor Information; Sensor Developments; Communication and Sensor Data Collection; Security; Power Harvesting and Algorithms and Data Visualization. In this white paper a review of these areas, from sensor applications to visualization, is described for transmission lines and substations.
Electric utilities have pursued devices that can limit fault current levels in transmission and distribution systems while remaining “electrically invisible” under nominal conditions. These fault current limiters (FCLs) have the potential to significantly alleviate power system stress in locations where fault current magnitudes are expected to increase beyond the duty of existing circuit breakers. Today’s superconducting materials can meet the performance requirements of power system components. As a result, a significant portion of proposed FCL designs use superconducting materials to achieve the limiting action. This report investigates the current status of these superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) technologies and describes ongoing efforts to use them in electric power grids.
This report describes the design of an interregional, superconducting DC cable system that is intended to achieve 10 GW power capacity with a nominal current and voltage of 100 kA and 100 kV. When installed, it will enhance the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the existing AC power grid and enable a level of bulk power transfer that is not conceivable with today's conventional technology.
This report is the fourth installment of a Technology Watch series on Superconducting Power Cables that summarize full-scale superconducting cable projects throughout the world. The series provides an overview of technical fundamentals and status updates on ongoing development efforts ranging from full-scale test installations to grid-deployed demonstration projects. This installment of the series covers ongoing full-scale utility installations and proposed demonstration projects worldwide. Information about the capabilities of the high-temperature superconductor (HTS) power cable manufacturers is also presented.
Areva SA has announced that the French consortium of Alstom SA and Schneider Electric SA has been selected to buy its transmission and distribution division, leaving international bidders General Electric and Toshiba in the cold.
Rice University researchers have developed carbon nanotubes hundreds of meters long which they say could be used as electricity transmission lines. These nanotubes may have other Smart Grid applications as well.
The Smart Grid is seeing explosive growth. And Areva T&D is one of the top performers in the Smart Grid space. So why is its Paris-based parent auctioning it off just as the going gets good? Jesse Berst tells you the rest of the story... including the reason General Electric may have trouble winning the auction no matter how much it bids.
Multi-state transmission utility American Transmission Company (ATC) is negotiating two DOE investment grants totaling $12.7 million for expansion of its Smart Grid technologies programs that include grid monitoring and fiber optics communications.
We're getting mixed signals about the vitality of the smart grid market. On the one hand, the recent DistribuTECH conference was one of the most successful ever. On the other, a well-known Wall Street analyst recently told his clients that the smart metering sector is "facing several headwinds," including weak regulatory support in the U.S. and delays in European adoption. Taking the pulse of the smart grid industry is this week's Tuesday Topic.
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