Icelandic grid operator Veitur supplies the capital of Reykjavik and the southwest of the island – and therefore around 56 percent of the country's population – with electricity. As Technical Manager, Rúnar Svavar Svavarsson is responsible for keeping the 23 transformers of the power grid in operation. For monitoring, the service technicians have had to stand by in primary substations to read off the important condition indicators, such as gases in the oil or the winding temperature. Since this is very time-consuming, Svavarsson wants to gradually digitize the transformer fleet with ETOS®.
Why are you digitizing your transformers? Three questions for Rúnar Svavar Svavarsson.
Rúnar Svavar Svavarsson of Icelandic grid operator Veitur wants to lower costs and increase the reliability of the power grid. The ETOS® automation solution helps him do it.
Why are you digitizing your transformers? Three questions for Rúnar Svavar Svavarsson.
Rúnar Svavar Svavarsson of Icelandic grid operator Veitur wants to lower costs and increase the reliability of the power grid. The ETOS® automation solution helps him do it.
Video of the Veitur digitalization project.
You chose ETOS® – the automation solution for power transformers. Why?
We will receive a lot more information – and in real time to boot! We will therefore be in a position to evaluate the status of our systems significantly more quickly, more efficiently and above all more frequently than before. Almost half of our transformers are between 31 and 50 years old. As a result of the increasing energy demand, we will soon be unable to meet the required redundancy criteria with some of our substations. Therefore, we first equipped two new transformers with ETOS®. These two models continually provide us with information on their state of health and we can therefore act on the basis of this data. This will create many additional options for improved maintenance and reliability as well as reduce costs across the overall service life of the systems – I think this is very clearly the way forward. We will therefore push on with the digitalization of our entire fleet.
What data specifically can you record with ETOS®?
For one thing, it can inform us of the temperatures at various points on the transformer – whether this is on the lower part, the upper part or in the primary or secondary winding. In addition, we can monitor the formation of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and humidity without any corruption and thus continually determine the quality of the oil. Along with this, we receive information via the on-load tap-changer about the current load, voltage, amperage and the position of the tap-changer. Thanks to the MSENSE® BM bushing monitoring, we are also able to continually monitor the transformers online for the first time. Before now, we were not even able to monitor this important part of the transformer.
„The digitization of our transformers means that we will receive a lot more information – and in real time to boot!“
How do you benefit from monitoring the transformers in real time?
The smart transformers simplify our work considerably and help us to cut costs. As we receive all information to our control centers around the clock and in real time, we are able to react to possible problems much more quickly and with more precision. This takes us from preventative maintenance to status-oriented maintenance, which means that we act exactly when required – not too early and not too late. Apart from this, we now no longer need to travel to the transformers to get information. Instead, we can access them directly from the control center. Fewer service calls and the early detection of problems allow us to significantly reduce our costs over the service life of the transformer. This demonstrates without a doubt that our investments in new technology are paying off.
