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Details which were previously difficult to obtain during the investigatory stages, now provide engineers with a window of opportunity to speed up the entire design process and make cable route planning much more efficient. When Smith Brothers were contracted by SNF to connect their Billingham site to the grid, the project called for the facility to share its power supply with a nearby generation site via an existing radial circuit. This meant that engineers had to plan for a 3.5km dual 66kV cable route to the Point of Connection (POC) provided by the NPg. The team had to speak to air traffic con - trol at Durham Tees Valley International Airport to explain why there would be a drone flying nearby, but the entire process saved days of work during the planning stages – particularly when it came to navi - gating agricultural land. Power line inspections Finally, drones significantly cut the cost of power line inspection – an important benefit given utilities companies are demanding more efficient processes which improve safety, reliability and reduce any 'down-time' associated with inspections. Whether carrying out a routine visit or looking into potential damage follow - ing adverse weather, power lines present several challenges when it comes to in- spection. By using drones, many of these difficulties could be all but eliminated, providing quick and efficient access to these hard-to-reach places. With the advantages of safely capturing images and collecting data increasingly coming to the fore, Smith Brothers has completed more than 20 flights with its drone and has plans to put three more members of the team through the inten - sive, week-long training course. NETWORK / 30 / MARCH 2019 TECHNOLOGY OMICRON's Andreas Cobet introduces MONTESO 200, a revolutionary new device designed to simplify the challenging area of partial discharge testing. Partial discharge (PD) phenomena are often the preliminary stage of a complete breakdown of the electrical insulation in high voltage (HV) assets, which can lead to unplanned outages, high repair or replacement costs and lost production. Therefore, it is crucial that insulation condition be verified throughout an asset's lifecycle and regular PD testing has proved to be a reliable diagnostic method for detecting failures before major damage or a breakdown occurs. In the past, we received one critical piece of feedback from customers: Even though they considered on-line PD measurement and monitoring beneficial for trending insulation conditions in their electrical assets, system installation and data analysis were often too complicated and time consuming, so OMICRON developed a portable on- line PD measurement and monitoring system that is easy to install and use on various assets in the field. Asset manufacturers, service companies, as well as maintenance teams at utilities and industrial sites will benefit from the versatility of this device. Key features include: l Two-in-one solution for on- line PD measurement and temporary PD monitoring l Compact and lightweight for easy transport l Designed for indoor and outdoor use l Built-in computer for continuous, long-term data collection l Web-based interface for convenient remote setup and data access l Automated software features for user-friendly data analysis and reporting. For further information visit www.omicronenergy.com/ montesto-200 or email info. uk@omicronenergy.com I N D U S T RY I N S I G H T Simplifying partial discharge testing