Electrical utility operators face a growing number of challenges every day for the reliable operation of the transmission grid. These challenges range from managing aging infrastructure to meeting compliance requirements as the transmission operators focus more and more on achieving performance and safety targets. In North America as well as in Europe, the average age of operating power transformers is around 40 years and although age alone cannot be considered a significant risk factor, it certainly plays an important role in the failure mechanisms and statistics when other associated parameters are also taken into account. These factors could be the age of the whole installation, including protection devices and gauges, availability of spare parts, expert knowledge and information about a given outdated design, lack of historical operational data and test results, cumulative effects of external stresses such as lightning and overloads, among others. Combined, all these aspects certainly increase the risk of failure, particularly in those regions where demand growth and power quality play a leading role, as additional constraints to an already aged infrastructure.
展开▼
