News Release from: Copper Development Association
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 5 February 2004
Improving reliability with standby power supplies
The Leonardo Power Quality Initiative has published its latest power quality application note covering standby power systems.
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The Leonardo Power Quality Initiative (LPQI), an adult engineering education programme part funded by the European Commission, has published its latest power quality application note covering standby power systems. Power blackouts have been big news in recent years, with large-scale power failures in six highly developed countries (USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Italy). The total cost of these incidents is incalculable.
There have been several deaths, mainly caused by car accidents or domestic falls in the blackouts.
The direct economic impact - relatively easy to calculate on a plant or company level, but more difficult on a national level - has been significant.
There is also the additional social impact - the population is inconvenienced and its confidence in the reliability of the infrastructure reduced.
Many people are shocked and concerned that the supply of such an essential service as electricity can be disrupted so quickly and over such a wide area.
The fact that these failures all occurred in the summer months, when demand is perceived to be low and the lack of it less critical, increases the public's concern.
The precise cause of each incident is still a matter of investigation, but it is already clear that some problems resulted from the fragmentation of the supply industry and cross border supply arrangements.
These issues will not be quickly or easily resolved, requiring the installation of more plant, better protection systems, and smarter control systems.
Clearly, users have to take some measures to assure themselves of a continuous supply of power.
Application Note 4.3.1 "Improving reliability with standby power supplies" is part of a series on resilience and reliability.
It deals with all aspects of standby power supplies, from embedded systems through uninterruptible power supplies to large engine driven generator systems, covering measures to protect against interruptions from a few tens of milliseconds to hours or days.
Selection of equipment for protection of particular loads is covered, together with the types of energy storage available and the topology of the installation.
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