Zenergy Smart Grid Devices Will Protect AEP Transmission Lines

Summary: American Electric Power (AEP), owner of the largest electricity transmission system, has reached an agreement to install Zenergy Power’s Smart Grid device known as a Fault Current Limiter.  The installation will be the first FCL product installed for transmission voltage in the United States.

The Zenergy Power FCL is a proprietary superconductor technology intended to suppress excess power associated with “fault currents.” Fault currents are abnormal electrical currents associated with problems like short circuits or abnormally low impedance paths.  If successful, the newly developed product could protect large-scale grid equipment such as cables, transformers, capacitor banks, and switchgear.

According to a Zenergy press release, the FCL serves both to increase the reliability of the electricity supply as well as minimize the damage to grid equipment, potentially reducing significant capital expenditures. Zenergy also expects that in some locations, use of FCLs could defer the need to upgrade substation infrastructure.

Quick Take: With so much media attention on smart meters and home energy management systems, the public is liable to get the impression that the Smart Grid is synonymous with AMI. In fact, there is almost no part of the grid that cannot be improved by upgrading to more intelligent technology. Zenergy Power’s FCL product is just one example of how smart technology can benefit the transmission portion of the grid.

More information: AEP, which conducted extensive evaluation of the FCL business case as it pertained to their requirements, is expected to install the FCL at the 138-kV Tidd substation near Steubenville, OH, in late 2011.  AEP owns some 39,000 miles of transmission lines and is one of the U.S.’s largest generators of electricity.

Zenergy’s FCL was installed for distribution voltage earlier this year by Southern California Edison near Los Angeles. The AEP agreement means Zenergy may be the first company to install and operate superconductor FCLs for both medium-voltage (urban distribution) and high-voltage (long-distance transmission).

   Zenergy press release