London-based superconductor company Zenergy Power plc (ZEN.L) announced last week that it signed a contract with Consolidated Edison (NYSE: ED) to build
and test a smart-grid device for improving the stability and reliability of New York
City’s electrical system.
The equipment, known as a Fault Current Limiter (FCL), instantly
detects and absorbs spikes in power that, left unmanaged, could damage electrical
equipment or trigger power outages.
Con Edison, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc., authorized a project
to design, build and test a single-phase FCL of a type that would be applicable to a
number of substations within the utility’s electrical systems. Zenergy expects to deliver
the prototype by the end of August.
Common events, such as storms or accidents, can produce large spikes in current on
the grid. These surges are termed “faults” and may damage electrical equipment or
cause partial or total power failures on an electrical network. In part due to steadily
increasing electricity demands of New York City, Con Edison has been active in studying
new technologies to manage the impact of these ‘faults’ and maintain its system’s
reliability.
Pat Duggan, Project manager and FCL specialist at Con Edison, said:
“Fault current limiters will be an essential element of the smart grid to maintain reliability
and improve its resilience and ?exibility. This is especially important as the load grows,
including the move to electricity as a preferred source for new uses such as plug-in
hybrids.”
In practice, Zenergy’s FCL is electrically connected to the grid it protects. It allows normal
current to pass through unimpeded but, when it senses a fault current, instantly counters
the electrical ?ow. This reaction, created in part by the superconductor in the device,
chokes off a potentially damaging electrical spike. Once the fault current subsides, the
FCL again allows standard levels of current to ?ow, protecting the electrical system
automatically without human intervention.
At the conclusion of testing, Zenergy expects
to extend its designs to other FCLs that are customized for protecting Con Edison’s and
other utilities’ equipment on higher voltage lines of up to 138kV and beyond.
Today, power disruptions from faults and related issues are estimated by the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) to cost the U.S. economy more that $100 billion per year.
Under its mandate to lead the modernization of the electric grid, the DOE partially
funded Zenergy’s development of the FCL to address these issues.
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