News

Standards for testing electrical grid components need updating to prevent disruption caused by operational events

When using equipment in high-voltage grids, reliable high-voltage tests are required. These tests verify that high-voltage devices can withstand any operating conditions. The testing of components of future transmission grids often includes the application of superimposed high voltage forms. These so-called combined or composite voltages are carried out in the test laboratories without sufficient metrological traceability and standardisation.

In May 2020, EMPIR project Support for standardisation of high voltage testing with composite and combined wave shapes (19NRM07, HV-com²) was set up to address these issues, with participating industrial partners, universities and seven European metrology institutes.

In order to establish a metrological infrastructure for combined and composite voltage waveforms, high-voltage measurement systems consisting of modular universal voltage dividers, digitisers and software packages were developed. These measurement systems were validated, and their measurement uncertainty established in a measurement campaign at PTB, Germany's National Metrology Institute, in summer 2022. All tests showed that the measurement uncertainty of the new modular universal divider was less than 0.2 % off the test voltage value for all voltage types. Measuring capabilities of the new modular universal divider are DC up to 400 kV, AC peak up to 400 kV, LI up to 400 kV, SI up to 400 kV.

Following this work, the systems were used as references at the TU Graz and the TU Dresden to successfully test the capabilities of several commercially available universal divider systems.

Project Coordinator Johann Meisner from PTB said

‘Now that all measurement campaigns have been completed successfully and the reference measurement systems have been set up, the final stage of the project is underway. In the coming weeks, standard recommendations will be submitted to the responsible technical committees in order to establish the new metrological field of traceable testing with composite and combined high voltages’.

This EMPIR project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

Want to hear more about EURAMET?

Sign up for EURAMET newsletters and other information

Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter