Condition Monitoring of high voltage cables: Turning information into extra capacity

Continuous and cost-effective monitoring of the electric transmission and distribution grid is the essential success factor of Smart Grid implementations. Increasing demand for power is forcing power utilities to load power cables to their physical limit, and safety and efficiency concerns are making it more and more critical for operators to understand what is happening thermally both inside the cables themselves, and along the cable route. During high-load conditions and under emergency circumstances (such as when a failure occurs in a segment of the grid and power must be shifted to other sections to compensate) it often becomes necessary to load cables right up to the limits permitted by the relevant regulations.