Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/976659
NETWORK / 13 / MAY 2018 Cutting costly false alarms and increasing the reliability of DGA monitoring will be crucial to tackling long- term maintenance budget overruns and boosting asset performance. Advanced dissolved gas analysis (DGA) methods are commonly used for assessing large power transformers in the international power generation and transmission sector. However, there is still scope for improvement to their reliability and cost- effectiveness. Vaisala, a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement, highlights that false alarms from on-site DGA systems and errors during routine oil inspections still pose challenges for asset owners. Utilities can tackle these issues with solid real- time condition monitoring, which leads to reduced maintenance costs, and to improved grid reliability and fi nancial performance. Reducing the probability of error Transformer service costs can be more than €100,000, while a replacement transformer can cost up to €4 million. Associated loss of production can further increase these fi gures. As a result, online DGA condition monitoring is becoming standard practice for aging transformer fl eets. Streamlining monitoring procedures and reducing the probability of errors is highly important. False alarms from on-site DGA monitors disrupt utilities' maintenance schedules and generate unforeseen costs. In addition, the need to validate on-site data via regular laboratory sampling increases the complexity and duration of the process. Combined, these factors highlight a growing requirement for a dependable DGA monitor that not only provides 24-hour real-time online access to critical performance data, but also eliminates false alarms. Vaisala's Optimus DGA Monitor for Transformers, has been specifi cally designed to fulfi ll this requirement. More information: www.vaisala.com/power I N D U S T RY I N S I G H T Power sector performance still hampered by transformer monitoring ineffi ciencies pervasive, and is coming at the energy sector from all angles, whether through technology, data, or the shi to a DSO mod- el. But these changes will only be disruptive if the industry refuses to respond properly to them. Regulation must therefore evolve with changes in a timely and e• cient way, rather than seeking to predict them and • nding itself unable to adapt later. A more agile regulatory framework will help usher in a whole energy system, whilst safeguarding itself from future challenges. Third, the industry under- stands that e• ective policy frameworks must be a guiding force for positive change. Here, the Government must take the lead. The current Government has demonstrated its ambi- tions for evolution in the Clean Growth Strategy, and in its com- missioning of the recent Cost of Energy Review. But within both of these documents there remain signi• cant policy gaps. If the Government does not en- gage further, the industry may be forced to solve its challenges from within itself and the free market. Fourth, there's a new focus within the sector on districts and the localised solutions that may exist there. The Cheshire Energy Hub's Energy Innovation District, for example, envisages linking up utilities within a local area to provide secure, low carbon and lower cost energy through collaborative local-level problem solving. This type of innovation directly supports the whole system approach, by leveraging the ‡ exibility that is available in indus- trial and commercial estates. By creating a platform that can ‡ ex the various energy vec- tors in a way that better meets the collective needs of the community, we can address future challenges. Finally, the energy sec- tor knows intuitively that innovation, as outlined above, will always win out. We must therefore do every- thing we can as an industry to enable innovation. This does not just mean enabling innova- tion in tech and data, but also in the commercial market and sector systems. It also means empowering our greatest as- set - our smart people. In short, we have to be bold. By bringing together empowered customers, agile regulation, radical government policy and joined-up network owners, we can solve future prob- lems, through a whole system approach. Instead of billing people for energy in KW hours, why not charge them instead for warmth and light? challenges. Finally, the energy sec- tor knows intuitively that innovation, as outlined above, will always win out. We must therefore do every- thing we can as an industry to enable innovation. This does not just mean enabling innova- tion in tech and data, but also in the commercial market and sector systems. It also means empowering our greatest as- set - our smart people. In short, we have to be bold. By bringing together empowered customers, agile regulation, radical government policy and joined-up network owners, we can solve future prob- lems, through a whole system approach.