Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® helps locate, predict, and prevent grid faults
It provides fault location within +/- 100 meter accuracy on a map in just seconds.
Predictive maintenance is based on 24/7/365 partial discharge detection.
Maintaining low SAIDI and SAIFI is difficult
SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) are important metrics used to measure the reliability of power grids.
High SAIDI and SAIFI values have significant negative impacts for power distribution operators. They result in lower customer satisfaction, reduced revenue, and potential regulatory penalties. Power distribution companies are therefore highly motivated to maintain low SAIDI and SAIFI values through effective planning, maintenance, and response to outages.
This may involve proactive measures such as investing in infrastructure upgrades and vegetation management, as well as reactive measures such as prompt outage response and restoration efforts.
Locate faults at 100m accuracy.
Improving grid performance with SAFEGRID
Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® - Actionable data on grid events
Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® employs instant-on sensors and cloud-based analytics for capturing and analyzing grid events. It utilizes sensors for overhead lines and underground cables, accurately locating events. It uses transient detection coupled with GPS time synchronization based triangulation. With proprietary algorithms, the system classifies grid events by type and severity, enabling customers to identify faults, anticipate future issues, and prevent them.
- Fault location: State-of-the-art wireless instant-on sensors that feed data to cloud-based analytics driven by machine learning, enabling advanced insights.
- Predictive maintenance: Real-time identification and location of grid anomalies to provide proactive alerts for users to act before a critical fault occurs.
Safegrid benefits
Full visibility into the grid
Safegrid’s inexpensive hardware and cloud-based software help utilities and operators achieve full visibility throughout their grids.
Precise location of faults
By knowing fault locations, work crews can get to work faster, decreasing both costs and downtime. Fast FLISR and minimized SAIDI and SAIFI improve customer satisfaction and economics.
Enabling predictive maintenance
The ability to monitor grid components and conditions enables effective predictive maintenance measures which improve the reliability and service life of the components.
Decreased damage risk
Fast detection of electric arcs and other dangerous faults both helps prevent fires and helps utilities defend themselves against groundless lawsuits.
Safegrid Intelligent Grid System® overview
Data-driven predictive maintenance
Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® revolutionizes maintenance for utilities by shifting from time-based preventive maintenance to data-driven predictive maintenance. Through real-time sensor data and AI-driven analytics, Intelligent Grid System® can identify and locate grid anomalies instantly, enabling utilities to proactively address issues before critical faults occur. This predictive approach minimizes downtime, reduces maintenance costs, and enhances grid reliability, ultimately optimizing utility operations and improving overall grid performance through SAIDI and SAIFI.
Improving grid performance with SAFEGRID
Locating high impedance faults
Conventional fault passage indicators “FPI” and protection functions like overcurrent, ground fault, distance, and differential relays struggle to detect high impedance faults due to the high impedance levels and low fault current characteristics. Electrical transients, characterized by fast rise time and short duration energy pulses, are caused by grid switching, lightning, or other grid events, including high impedance faults. Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® leverages instant-on transient sensors and cloud-based analytics to capture and analyze these grid events. By accurately locating events through GPS time synchronization, the Intelligent Grid System® identifies transients caused by the high impedance faults. Proprietary algorithms classify events by type and severity, enabling customers to proactively identify faults, anticipate potential issues, and prevent them from escalating.
Locating intermittent earth faults
An intermittent earth fault is an occasional electrical fault where a conductor makes sporadic contact with the ground due to factors like insulation degradation, loose connections, environmental conditions, or rodent damage, posing significant dangers of electrical shock, fires, and equipment damage.
Traditional fault indication methods, like fault passage indicators (FPI) are generally ineffective and face limitations, such as difficulty detecting minor faults or occasional false alarms, and they may struggle in complex grid structures. Electrical transients are produced also by intermittent earth faults. Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® leverages instant-on transient sensors and cloud-based analytics to capture and analyze these grid events. By accurately locating events through GPS time synchronization, Intelligent Grid System® identifies transients caused by the intermittent earth faults enabling customers to proactively identify faults, anticipate potential issues, and prevent them from escalating.
Safegrid's Intelligent Grid System® evolves together with your grid
As the grid becomes more and more dynamic due to Integration of Renewable Energy, Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) and Microgrids, it will be impossible for the traditional hardware-based detection methods to follow when old fault types gain new characteristics. Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® is capable of evolving when the grid becomes more dynamic. By learning the new characteristics of the phenomena in the grid, Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® ensures the investment will provide return still in the future without labor intensive hardware updates. Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® is future-proof.
Integrations
Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® is a modern analytics platform capable of operation fully standalone yet our goal is to be the easiest system in the market to integrate into utilities digital workflows. Safegrid’s Intelligent Grid System® integrates to be part of modern Smart Grid with REST API’s providing real time data for utilities workflows.
- Fault locations and fault type classifications to automatic supply restoration (FLIR/FLISR) and mobile workforce dispatching
- Location of grid anomalies to predictive grid maintenance and repair work orders
- Measured load currents for real time distribution system state estimation (DSSE)
