Technology trial will detect and avert power cuts

The devices have been installed at sites in New Addington, South London and East Grinstead, West Sussex, as part of a £435,000 trial by UK Power Networks (UKPN). Lucy Craig, director of growth, innovation and digital at DNV said Smart Cable Guards will allow grid operators to digitally monitor their systems.

The box-like devices fit onto an underground power cable where the technology continuously monitors cables for faults and the partial discharges indicative of cable weak spots that could lead to faults. A spokesperson for UKPN told The Engineer that the interface between device and cable is a Smart Split Core CT (current transformer) which sits round the earth wire or the whole cable.

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According to DNV, a Smart Cable Guard includes two sensor units and two control units with one of each installed at each end of the cable to be monitored. The sensor units are High-Frequency Current Transformers that detect and measure pulses coming from faults and partial discharges. They also add small pulses into the cable for time synchronisation required to locate a fault. The control unit handles the measured data and sends it via a wireless connection to a control centre.