The Illuminating Co. to upgrade electric system in Ohio
USA, Ohio, Cleveland: The Illuminating Co., a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., is completing electrical grid upgrades in eastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
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USA, Ohio, Cleveland: The Illuminating Co., a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., is completing electrical grid upgrades in eastern Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
The upgrades are to limit the frequency and duration of power outages. The work is part of an initial three-year phase of the company’s grid modernisation plan and includes installation of new, automated equipment and technology in substations and along power lines.
Customers will benefit from the installation of more than 50 new automated reclosing devices that will help limit the frequency, duration, and scope of service interruptions. The electrical devices work like a circuit breaker in a home that shuts off power when trouble occurs, with the added benefit of automatically reenergising a power line within seconds for certain types of outages to keep power safely flowing to customers. This technology is safer and more efficient because it often allows utility personnel to automatically restore service to customers rather than sending a crew to investigate.
Additional power lines are being constructed to provide more flexibility in restoring outages because of events such as storms and vehicle accidents. The new power lines will help reduce the length and overall number of customers impacted during an outage by switching them to a backup line for faster service restoration.
More than 70 capacitor banks are also being installed to help ensure all customers served by a single power line receive the same flow of safe and reliable power by evenly distributing electricity down the line.
“Every project is customised and designed to address the particular reliability needs of each community where work is being done,” said Mark Jones, regional president of The Illuminating Co. “These upgrades will allow us to restore service to our customers faster following severe weather events, as well as pave the way for a more robust power system that has advanced technology to support different types of energy sources in the years to come.”
Source: T&D World