An estimated 580 million terajoules of energy are consumed worldwide each year, of which around two-thirds come from the use of electricity alone. By 2050, it is anticipated that the world will produce close to 45 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power. The need for energy is always growing.
This increasing demand saw a temporary break in 2020 due to the pandemic, but it soon recovered and is predicted to expand by 4% this year. The population, economic expansion, and technological advancements—the usual suspects—are the main forces behind this increase in demand of indoor cable type current transformer.
The Future of Smart Energy Management
The Smart Grid enters the picture here. An electrical grid that has automation, communication, and technology built in to track the movement of power from the point of supply to the point of consumption is known as a “smart grid.” This allows the system to adjust or reduce demand in real-time to match power generation.
A Smart Grid helps to proactively identify and respond to customer demands by primarily utilizing IoT technology. It makes information analysis and exchange possible, which boosts supply chain efficiency and transparency, optimizes energy use, and increases supply reliability.
Smart grids save operating costs for utility companies, facilitate easier integration with renewable energy sources, detect and fix failures, and forecast demand peaks and troughs to maximize usage and minimize waste. The benefit of linked dispersed energy resource assets, such as renewable energy sources, is therefore possible via smart grids.
The Smart Grid’s fundamental component is effective transformer monitoring
One of the main components of the transition to smart grids is transformer monitoring. It gives power producers the information they need to decide how best to maximize power use and make important decisions about power generation. Demand analysis, which determines what is useful by each family, business, or industrial, where consumption is higher, and when demand peaks, is another benefit of transformer monitoring.
Now let’s examine the many kinds of transformers that utility companies usually work with:
Power Transformers: These are static transformers that move power without changing frequency between the circuits. From the generator to the distribution primary circuits.
Generator Step-up Transformers: The crucial connections that power plants and the transmission network have are generator step-up (GSU) transformers. The transformers are able to withstand high temperatures and are operational around the clock. However, studies show that outages and downtime can impede power generation even at a 1% failure rate. Insulation, electrical, and mechanical dielectric failures are common causes of GSU transformer failures.
How transformer monitoring systems aid in the best possible distribution?
Globally, as renewable energy sources supply more power, distribution networks are evolving as well. Thus, transformer monitoring plays a more important function. Transformer monitoring is available both online and offline by the leading rogowski coil manufacturers. Technicians may conduct condition testing without any limitations thanks to offline monitoring.
However the main disadvantage is that the transformer needs to disconnect from the grid. Which is costly and time-consuming for the electricity provider. Utilizing technology, online monitoring eliminates the need to take the transformer offline.