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April 7, 2015

City Light calls these new power lines ‘self healing'

By JOURNAL STAFF

The equipment can detect outages and quickly reroute power. Photo from Seattle City Light [enlarge]

Seattle City Light is installing automated switching equipment in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park that can detect outages and reroute power in seconds to areas not directly affected by the outage.

City Light describes the technology as “self-healing” power lines.

“Customers will no longer have to wait for a crew to arrive for the first steps of power restoration to begin,” Energy Delivery Operations Director Bernie Ziemianek said in a release. “And the crews will know where to go to make repairs, further speeding the restoration of service.”

The equipment, called distribution automation, is being installed on two feeder lines and should be working before the fall storm season. In addition to rerouting power, it isolates the faulty section of the circuit.

If the equipment is successful, City Light plans to install it on other feeder lines.

City Light said it is building a smarter grid in Seattle that uses this technology, advanced meters, and components that monitor and control substations. The goal is to reduce energy losses, integrate electricity from customers' solar panels and support for e-vehicles.




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