In New Zealand there has been a broad strategy to set up CIGRE panels. In January 2020 I moved from Queensland to New Zealand to take up my new role as the innovation project engineer at ETEL transformers. Seeking to continue my involvement with CIGRE, I approached the CIGRE NZ chair, Doug Ray, on how I could be involved. His response was, “We can have you act as convener for our NZ Panel A2 Transformers”. Since then I have been working to establish and grow this panel by engaging with volunteers and supporting organisations.Read More

Virtual reality technology (VR) refers to a kind of computer simulation system, which can emulate reality in the form of a virtual world that can be interacted by users. It uses a computer to generate a virtual environment in which users can immerse themselves in an artificial environment.Read More

Busbar protection systems protect substation busbars and associated equipment from the consequences of short-circuits and earth faults. In the early days of power system development no separate protection device was used for busbar protection. Remote end-line protections served as the main protection for busbar faults. As a result of increased network short-circuit capacity, dedicated differential relays for busbar protections have been applied to limit the damage caused by high fault currents.Read More

South African power utility company, ESKOM’s fleet of reticulation transformers is greater than 200,000. More than 90% of which are pole mounted transformers (PMT). In the winter months (May to September) the average PMT failure event is 2200. This costs the company R70.4Million ($4.1Million) annually. Additionally, this has a significantly negative impact (>10%) on system average interruption duration index (SAIDI).Read More