Fibre replaces substation copper

GE Digital Energy says its Multilin HardFiber System eliminates the need for thousands of copper wires in a substation and replaces them with a few fibre-optic cables.

By eliminating the need to install and maintain the copper wires, used for signalling and monitoring in electrical substations, utilities can save up to 50% of protection and control installation and maintenance costs, while at the same time increasing worker safety and power system reliability.

The system, based on IEC 61850, is made up of four key elements: the brick, the cross connect panel, the rugged outdoor fibre cables and the universal relay IEC 61850 process card.

The system's single, pre-terminated fibre-optic connections reduce the multitude of copper wires that need to be pulled, spliced and terminated.

It provides an identical interface to all primary system equipment, eliminating custom designs.