New AI-developed digital twin technology from Lucy Electric is set to cut grid fault connection times and costs by two thirds.
According to the secondary power distribution products and solutions provider, its AI technology creates a ‘digital twin’ at cable level to “revolutionise fault detection and asset management for underground cables.”
The launch follows successful trials with several UK Distribution Network Operators, although the company has not specified which.
A fault detection, classification and accurate location solution, SYNAPS uses sensors at substation and feeder level to identify anomalies in grid performance. Following this, the technology creates a ‘digital twin’ of the network to pinpoint the probable location of intermittent faults.
The ‘digital twin’ is able to simulate faults in a multitude of scenarios and compare these to the measured network data captured during a current transient.
Lucy Electric stated that SYNAPS is more effective than similar technologies due to its ability to work both large transients where there is an immediate chance of the fuse operating, and very small transients, which are more typical at the start of a cable fault.
This allows network operators to pre-empt and repair faults as part of planned maintenance, avoiding expensive unplanned maintenance costs which usually cost three times more than planned.
SYNAPS was launched as part of Lucy Electric’s GridKey grid monitoring and fault detection solutions.
Digital twin technologies are receiving increasing attention for the part they could play in the energy market transition. Earlier this year Energy Systems Catapult released a new report indicating that digital twin technology could be used to present complex energy systems in an accessible way to support government and regulators in developing possible future policies.
