GRID RESILIENCE
As the switch to electrification across the world continues to grow, the US government is prioritizing grid resilience like never before. With nearly 70 percent of the nation’s grid more than 25 years old, the White House is making historic investments that will strengthen the transmission and distribution grid to drive down energy costs, generate good-paying jobs, and help keep the lights on during increasingly extreme weather events.
The Department of Energy estimate that outages alone cost the US economy $70 billion annually and this is only set to worsen without modernizing and expanding the domestic power grid.
But it’s not just about building bigger and better to resolve the issue of energy security and reliability. To operate in an ever changing and volatile environment, utilities should develop effective resilience strategies, with greater system flexibility, delivered through digital and emerging technologies.
The magnetic actuator is that rare maintenance-free mechanism, because only one moving part makes for minimal wear and tear. This is pretty unique, as spring-based alternatives with open compartments expose technicians to the danger of mechanical components, plus multiple gears and chains require a lot of regular cleaning/lubrication and spare parts - and are far less reliable when it comes to maintaining critical power supply.
Electric grids need to become more robust and allow a quicker response to outages through better use of fault detection, isolation and restoration. Additionally, monitoring systems that perform complex functions, such as asset management, can greatly reduce capital costs and provide optimal grid efficiency.