Power plant products |
Covered conductor to be installed in Tasmania
TasNetworks has successfully installed a lightweight covered conductor in the Neika area to the south of Hobart with the intention of increasing network resilience and reliability. The Swedish specialist cable producer Amokabel is co-operating with TasNetworks to provide a full covered conductor solution to an area
previously known for vegetation related outages. The installation is the first full scale installation of the new generation of covered conductor in Tasmania.
The technology consists of conductive wire surrounded by an insulating jacket made of advanced lightweight insulation materials that adds minimal weight. This means that it can be restrung on existing poles to save the distribution network service provider the cost of replacing or adding infrastructure. It is said to be highly cost effective, in this case approximately one tenth of the cost of installing cable underground in the same area.
TasNetworks’ goal is to compare this technology with its existing methods. Lightweight covered conductor is more resilient than bare wire and said to be significantly easier to install than older covered conductor technologies. It is highly resistant to fallen tree branches, a common cause of outages, and a source of danger for people and wildlife.
The TasNetworks team delivering the project commented: “the covered conductor allows us to mitigate many of the potential risks that traditional open wire networks pose at a very reasonable cost, making it a viable standard replacement alternative. These include customer outage or fire-start due to vegetation or animals contacting the conductors.”
Lightweight covered conductor is said to help reduce the risk of bushfire by 98.8% compared with bare wire. This is primarily because, unlike bare wire, an overhead covered line does not produce sparks when it contacts dry foliage or other objects.
Mitsubishi Generator commences operations
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced in April that they had completed the integration of their respective power generator systems businesses under Mitsubishi Generator Co Ltd, which has now commenced operations. The two companies had signed an agreement with MTG Co, Mitsubishi Generator’s predecessor company, for an absorption-type company split, as announced on 11 December 2023. Following that it began working to spin off and integrate their respective businesses,. Mitsubishi Generator says it will now combine the technologies and assets of the two respective businesses to achieve enhanced market competitiveness. The integration is expected to result in strong synergies that will enable Mitsubishi Generator to expand its power-generator systems business on a global scale and thereby ‘contribute to the realisation of a carbon-neutral world’.
Mitsubishi Generator’s business will include primarily the design, manufacture, sales and after-sales servicing of generator and electrical equipment and devices associated with generators for power plant facilities.
Vattenfall to deploy fleet of Lidars in Germany
To continue the progression of its portfolio of new wind development opportunities in Germany, Vattenfall has confirmed that a fleet of ground-based ZX 300 wind Lidars will be deployed for wind resource assessments. The Lidars remotely determine the available wind characteristics including wind speed, and uniquely they scan wind properties from ground level up to 300 metres. The fleet of ZX 300a are subject to validations against the tallest available met masts at local remote sensing test sites in Germany, operated by wind and site specialists Pavana, and will be used to support the strict technical guidance ‘TR6’, published by the German FGW (Fördergesellschaft für Windenergie und andere Dezentrale Energien) which
describes processes used to determine the wind potential and the energy yield at sites for wind turbines. The guidance focuses on wind measurement, covering wind met masts as well as Sodar and Lidar devices. ZX 300 is accepted and approved for use within TR6, and is supported by leading German consultancies. Supporting Vattenfall, ZX Lidars’ trusted service provider Ge:Net will be providing
autonomous power supplies and mobility solutions to promote successful wind measurement campaigns based on the Lidar equipment.
Jim Hough, senior data manager at Vattenfall commented: “Our fleet of Lidars offers real advantages in terms of project development speed and cost. As well as the best-in-class data quality, Vattenfall welcomes the low cost of ownership of the ZX300 and the product’s robustness in the field.”
With over 15 000
deployments in 100 countries globally, the ZX 300 wind Lidar is built to last and is designed to operate in extreme environments, in simple or varied terrain, and in ‘clear air’, all based on its ‘survival-in-the-field’ imperative.
36 | May 2024|
www.modernpowersystems.com
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