This can contribute to both reduced risks and greater operational reliability, says Ole Kristian Oftebro, Project Manager at Glitre Energi.
Heimdall Power are happy to announce the signing of a contract with the Norwegian DSO Glitre Energi Nett. Our Heimdall Neurons will be used to prevent failures and reduce risks and operating costs related to icing on power lines.
During the winter season, ice loads building up on power lines can cause extensive damage, long outages, and substantial repair costs. Only a few years back, extensive icing caused a breakdown on one of Glitre Energi’s power lines. With this costly experience fresh in mind, Glitre Energi is now looking for new technological solutions to prevent such events from happening again.
Up until now, this type of surveillance has been done manually, with operators traveling regularly back and forth to observe the line status with their own eyes. Moving into the future, Glitre Energi will now leave this time-consuming and costly way of surveillance behind. Heimdall Power will offer a solution for precise monitoring, handling, vibration data and prediction of ice load. First and foremost, we hope that the Neurons from Heimdall Power will decrease our need for sending people manually up and down to monitor icing, says Ole Kristian Oftebro, Project Manager at Glitre Energi. This can contribute to both reduced risks and greater operational reliability. Further, we are also hopeful that the usage of these solutions can help extending line lifespan, concludes Oftebro.
Heimdall Power has created a new version of its Neuron, which also enables operation on de-energized lines. This is an advantage because de-energized lines are even more exposed to ice load related risks compared to a line with current, where the active current is melting the ice away. With the new neurons installed, Glitre Energi will get notified as to when they should power their lines for shorter periods, to avoid extensive icing that could eventually lead to failure.