At dLab, we work closely with our customers to develop solutions that simplify daily operations for DSOs. A recent example comes from Sjöbo Elnät, who reached out to us after experiencing recurring earth fault warnings from a specific feeder in one of their primary substations.

During troubleshooting, they replaced the surge arresters on a transformer in one of the secondary substations along the feeder where dLab had flagged potential earth faults—two out of three showed clear signs of degradation. When we analyzed the recordings from the station in more detail, we recognized the waveform pattern from a previous customer case where surge arresters had been identified as the root cause.

Image: Recording from the primary substation.

Based on these insights, we’re now implementing a new suggested root cause in our analysis platform: defective surge arresters. This means that similar patterns can automatically be flagged in the future, further enhancing the possibilities for proactive maintenance.

The faulty surge arresters

Many thanks to Sjöbo Elnät for the valuable feedback – together, we’re making the grid smarter!