DNOs trial new device for spotting faults

UK Power Networks (UKPN) and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) have begun a trial of a new technology designed to spot network faults before they lead to power cuts.

The distribution fault anticipation (DFA) devices monitor voltage and current on electricity circuits and matches any abnormal waveforms with a library to identify the most likely causes.

The DFA-Plus technology works at high sampling rates to detect tiny disturbances that are not usually visible using traditional network protection.

UKPN has installed ten of the units, each the size of a small games console, at its 11kV and 33kV primary substations, including sites at Aldreth in Cambridgeshire, Bungay in Suffolk and Canterbury, Chartham, New Romney, Broad Oak and Strood in Kent. Engineers will also install one more at Caddington in Bedfordshire and plan to order a further five.

The devices have already detected disturbances on two separate cable terminations up to eight weeks before they interrupted power supplies. It also found disturbances on a high-voltage cable several weeks before it suffered a fault after third-party workers damaged the outer sheath but without causing the circuit to trip.

UKPN said the technology also has benefits after a fault has occurred, for example, allowing engineers to pinpoint the location to within a few hundred meters if cable trips due to contact with a tree branch, rather than having to patrol the whole route.

Chino Atako, senior asset engineer at UK Power Networks, said: “The advantage of using these units is that we now have more eyes on the network to see things we wouldn’t normally be able to see – which could enable a quicker, cheaper, more proactive approach to fault location and repairs.

“Traditionally, repairs are carried out after a fault which has led to customers losing supplies, but such events are preceded by pre-fault events we cannot usually see. If we could identify these, we can further increase the reliability and efficiency of our network and cut the cost of repairs.”

SSEN will also install 15 units on its southern network including in Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and West London.

Its innovation project manager, George Simopoulos, said: “SSEN embraces the use of cutting-edge technology on our network that can improve both the service and power supply we provide to our customers, and the efficient and safe working practices of our engineers.

“The ability to monitor our network – and therefore pre-empt potential power cuts – greatly reduces the risk of unplanned outages, enables us to act quickly when issues are highlighted through the DFA system and reassures our customers that we are proactively using innovative systems to provide them with a more resilient power supply.

The trial, which also involves Lord Consulting, Nortech Management and the Energy Innovation Centre, is being supported with funding from the Network Innovation Allowance.

The technology was developed and is owned by Texas A&M University System. The commercial license is held by Power Solutions and Lord Power Equipment – a subsidiary of Lord Consulting – is the UK distributor.