Over the next 30 years, huge investments will be needed to build a larger grid and adapt it to the variability of solar and wind. The future investments in our power grids will include doubling the circuit kilometres of transmission lines and a more-than-doubling the circuit kilometres of distribution lines by 2050. Power networks needs to be ready to build a future-proof grid, while keeping the lights on for their customers.
Keeping the lights on – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
The Dutch power system is making increasing use of renewable energy such as solar and wind power. While this is essential to meet climate goals, the intermittent nature of these sources can cause fluctuations in the load carried by the distribution cables, impacting temperature and pressure and potentially leading to weak spots and faults.
Alliander is one of the largest distribution network operators in the Netherlands, serving over three million electricity customers. It manages an electricity grid of 92,000 kilometres, including around 40,000 kilometres of distribution cables.
Smart Cable Guard prevents over 200 cable failures
Smart Cable Guard has two functions: preventing faults based on Partial Discharge (PD) activity and bringing back power faster through accurate real-time cable fault location. At Alliander, Smart Cable Guard is used in different types of medium voltage cables. This way, the real-time cable monitoring platform helps reduce both average interruption duration (SAIDI) and average interruption frequency (SAIFI) for the Dutch utility.
Since 2017, Smart Cable Guard has prevented over 200 failures in Alliander’s network. Average interruption duration (SAIDI) for 2022 was reduced by 2.14 minutes by locating weak spots and cable failures in – and even outside - the circuits monitored.
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Impact
- Faster fault repairs saving thousands of lost customer minutes each time
- More effective maintenance scheduling and use of maintenance resources
- Visibility on the health condition of 6,000 kilometres of PILC, XLPE and mixed cable systems.
