Repeated signals of impending faults on a line outside Förslöv alerted Bjäre Kraft’s proactive grid operations and resulted in a planned maintenance work to replace four faulty disconnectors in the station, thus avoiding a possible fire and consequent major outage. The signals came from an intelligent grid analytics platform delivered by clean tech company Dlaboratory Sweden AB (publ).
Regional energy company Bjäre Kraft’s grid includes 14 000 households on the idyllic Bjäre peninsula in northwestern Skåne. Bjäre Kraft has clear ambitions to create a sustainable and digitalized energy system, encouraging solar energy and connecting microproduction to the grid. Procuring and installing dLab’s smart analytics platform was the next step in this digitalization of the grid. With the platform, installed in Förslöv, Grevie and Båstad, Bjäre Kraft can monitor the grid’s health in real time, as well as work proactively with early warning signals, avoiding outages.
In the summer of 2020, the grid surveillance team noted repeated signals of high ohmic earth faults on a line feeding 12 substations. A team was sent to investigate the substations and noticed a burnt smell coming from one switchgear. Customers were alerted to the impending maintenance work and the switchgear was replaced daytime in 3 hours. When demounting the switchgear, it was revealed that the fuses had almost been completely destroyed by heat.
– dLab’s platform enabled us to detect the deterioration in the switches in time. Signs of heat development – melted plastic and cracked porcelain – indicated that we could potentially have had a small fire, and a consequent outage, had we not been given heads up, says Bengt Henrysson, operations manager at Bjäre Kraft. Now, we could replace the faulty gear in no time, in a controlled manner, and with very little effect for our customers.
dLab’s analytics platform is based on dAnalyzer, a unique patented algorithm, automatically analyzing data in substations. Harnessing this data, operations can make faster fault detection, and – as in this case – get early warnings for imminent faults. This enables efficient operations and proactive maintenance.
– We are pleased to see that our solution can give our customer instant benefits, and that they are proactive in their grid surveillance. Here we see clearly how data analysis can optimize grid operations and reduce costs, says Fredrik Akke, CTO at dLab.
