University HV Fault

31st August 2024

We recently received a call during the early hours of a weekday morning from one of our long standing customers; a leading University. They were reporting a loss of power to part of the site and had already contacted the DNO which had confirmed there was no issue with the incoming supply.

We immediately dispatched our on call SAP and 11kV jointer who were on site within a couple of hours. Fault finding testing identified a cable fault between two substations and as the private network was on a ring we were able to sectionalise the fault and restore supplies, much to the delight of the university as the students were beginning to wake!

With site now having a susceptible supply should any other issues arise, our attention turned to identifying the location of the fault and getting it repaired as soon as possible. Utilising our in house cable fault location equipment complete with suitably trained and experienced operatives, we pinpointed the fault. Using our dedicated civils team, we excavated the area and uncovered the cause of the fault: an 11kV intermediate straight joint.

We further mobilised an 11kV jointing team and with suitably rated HV cable and joints readily available from our stores, we cut out the faulty joint and carried out an 11kV insert, and completed commissioning checks, re-establishing the Hv ring to it’s normal operating status.

Everybody happy and, with the pressure now relieved, we updated the cable drawings, submitted with all commissioning data and our civils team followed up the next day to reinstate and ensure site was left tidy

Our Contracting Engineer James Grigg said:

Having all the resources available when needed is just one part of EME Power Systems service levels we pride ourselves in; our customers have the peace of mind when that 2am issue arises EME Power Systems will be there to help.

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