Energy is essential – to our way of life, to getting business done, and even to public safety and national security. It’s not surprising energy is garnering so much attention on local, regional, national, and global levels. Ensuring the reliable delivery of power is a priority for all involved.
Attentions and investments are focused specifically on keeping the entire, end-to-end electricity supply chain – from power generation through transmission and distribution to end use – working continuously with few, if any, disruptions in service. Substations are a critical piece of the power grid puzzle, and the focus of a growing amount of attention and concern.
Power substations are making headlines all over the world, for a variety of reasons – not all of them positive:
- Qatar ordered 35 turnkey substations in an $861 million deal as part of its power transmission system expansion project
- Saudi Arabia purchased mobile, trailer-mounted substations for bypassing current substations in case of failure or major maintenance work
- Flooding in Ameren, Illinois, prompted the placement of mobile substations
- The mayor of San Francisco called for a review of substations after a major power outage due to equipment failure
- Fires blazed at substations in California, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, New York, and Washington
Power substation incidents are on the rise, and aging infrastructure, human error and wrongful intention, and severe weather are the top culprits, industry experts reveal. The good news is solutions exist to all these challenges. Proactive power companies are modernizing substations by replacing aging equipment with modern hardware that supports system automation, control, and protection, and that can withstand harsh weather and extreme environments to ensure the highest reliability.
A growing number of power companies count on Crystal Group rugged embedded computer systems, including the IEC 61850- and IEEE 1613-compliant RE0813 and RE0814.