Insulated Cross Arms - Lecht & St Fergus Trials

Completed

Other Power and Storage Technologies(Electricity transmission and distribution)

Applied Research and Development

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Project Contact
Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc (SHEPD)

Network Innovation Allowance

Ofgem

01 January 2010

01 January 2015

60 months

£489,000

Power

Scotland

Network Innovation Allowance

Project Contact, Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution plc (SHEPD)

Design and build prototypes for the uprating of 132KV tower lines Install prototype 132KV models in a harsh weather environment test area - The Lecht Install current L3 prototype models in a coastal trial site to evaluate the effects of salt and other pollutants on the insulation - St Fergus Installing and monitoring the Lecht and St Fergus trials for the Insulated Cross Arms

Currently the only method open to Transmission Network Owners (TOs) who wish to uprate their 132kV lines to 275kV is to rebuild the towers to a higher specification (i.e. larger towers), at a significant cost, due to the increased clearances from ground required by law for higher voltage lines. Insulated Cross Arms (ICAs) will enable the uprating without the need to rebuild the towers (by effectively raising the height of conductors from the ground). This would allow greater throughput of power on the existing network with less expense on upgrades and quicker time frames for increasing network capacity. The aim of the Insulated Cross Arms is to maximise the capacity of existing infrastructure without rebuilding tower lines. Design and trial of Insulated Cross Arm technology that will allow the voltage uprating of 132kV tower lines to 275kV: The Lecht Trial (Scotland ) will test the mechanical strength of 4 Insulated Cross Arms, the location was selected as one of our most exposed transmission lines; and The St Fergus Trial (Scotland) will test the electrical integrity of 2 of the Insulated Cross Arms to investigate how the arms handle polluted environments, As salt is the primary pollutant in this instance, the location was selected as a coastal location.Note : Project Documents may be available via the ENA Smarter Networks Portal using the Website link above

20/08/18