The new issue of Testingly, the KEMA Labs magazine , is now available online, for free , at this link .
Innovative Tests for Resilient Grids focuses on the topic of power grid resilience, analyzing the specific reasons that make independent TIC laboratories paramount for electric networks. As a matter of facts, in an environment where complexity and uncertainty are drastically growing, an independent verification of the level of performance, reliability and adaptability of power-grid’s key components is needed, in order to ensure that power systems can withstand disasters, minimize disruptions and quickly recover to normal operational conditions. Digital, Emulation, and the combination of Cyber and Physical tests represent the new way of Testing .
In particular, the Innovative Technologies section presents the strong connection between battery storage and grid resilience, showcasing how (by using lithium-ion batteries) power supply can become more resilient, both at a system level and at communities or single customer level .
In the Interview with… section, Peter Vaessen (Innovation Manager at KEMA Labs, Arnhem) describes the key role of testing in high-voltage engineering to guarantee power grid resilience. As he puts it, “I have seen an 800-kV transformer fail, because of a small detail. A very small plastic cap that was missing caused a failure during the lightning impulse testing. If this would have happened in service, the failure in this 10-million-worth object would cause an outage of the transmission link!”
The importance of testing is clearly evidenced in the article Testing of HVDC cable systems: Current market situation and future trends , in the Testing Facilities section, which analyzes how various test activities can impact the HVDC cable market , providing customers with resilient components that can improve the reliability of the whole grid. In this respect, new facilities and equipment designed for specific HVDC tests are presented in the article.
In addition, the Case History section focuses on a ground-breaking temperature rise test of three-phase current-limiting reactors, which shows how maintaining a continuous power supply is a challenging task, as the complex and interconnected nature of the electricity grid makes the safety and reliability of each single component an extremely valuable issue, in order to guarantee the whole power network’s resilience.
Finally, in Join the Conversation you will be able to start a conversation with KEMA Labs experts and ask them questions, specifically on the topic of testing components in the digital era.
Read the full issue of Testingly n.3 at this link .
