In this episode of the DC Power Hour podcast, we learn about equipment redundancy. In the Battery Blarney segment, industry experts George Pedersen and Allan Byrne explain what it is, why it is important, and what applications it pertains to. They discuss their experience in the telecom industry and the evolution from redundant chargers to redundant battery systems. Today, the utility industry recognizes that redundancy is essential to maintain the electrical supply.
In the second segment, Dennis Martini, Engineering Technical Consultant for Dominion Energy speaks with George about equipment redundancy in DC substation systems and how Dominion Energy has prepared for potential loss of power with a high level of redundancy.
Episode Highlights
1:42 – As the industry evolved, UPS’s started coming on the market.
3:20 – On my first visit to a substation, to say I was shocked was an understatement. There was a substation controlling quite a large area for people in that area and it had a single battery and a single charger.
4:37 – We have a lot of substations in this country and it’s going to take a long time to get them all up to speed and meet the requirements of the new standard.
5:39 – When you talk about redundancy, you’re not just talking about a redundant charger, you’re not just talking about a redundant battery. You’ve got to look at the whole system.
12:36 – When you start looking at redundancy within the utilities, one of the challenges has been there simply isn’t enough space to add another battery. A 120 volt battery is quite large.
17:53 – If you’ve lost the ability to charge them, you’ve only got the run time of the battery, that’s all you’ve got before you have complete failure.
26:30 – Dennis- We’ll use them (secondary chargers) in a load-sharing capacity so they’re both on all the time, but the one is there in case one were to fail. We also do it in locations where we need quicker recharge time.
27:48 – We also have battery trailers that are outfitted with chargers and a whole set of batteries. If we got into a bind, we strategically place them throughout our system on stand-by.
