UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 25, 2018. Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FGC UES) is currently testing a new digital monitoring unit at its 110-kilowatt Olenya-Yamburg Main in Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District; this section of the electric grid is in charge of power supply to the entire district, including Gazprom facilities in the area. The digital monitoring unit will be used to make reference measurements of the grid and main parameters, which is useful for making on-the-spot repair decisions.

According to FGC UES Western Siberia’s PR & Media Group, the digital monitoring system is currently operating in a trial mode; this is part of the company’s R&D program on reducing accident/emergency rate at electric mains in Western Siberia and the Polar North’s challenging engineering, geological, climatic, and geo-cryological conditions.

The digital monitoring system was made in Russia, with the company’s R&D Center’s contribution. The sensors that are now installed on the mains themselves as well as on the ground ensure ongoing monitoring of both the mains’ condition and the weather (for outside temperature, humidity, frosting-over, and so on). All the information gets sent to FGC UES Western Siberia’s Grid Management Center online.

The new monitoring unit is expected to ‘foresee’ and warn about possible emergencies and power outage issues.

Now Olenya-Yamburg Main is 107 km long and situated in the permafrost territories where the ground surface is very different from the rest of the planet. Strong winds and frosting-over might cause power outages, so the new digital monitoring system allows to keep track of all the changes and take steps to clean the mains/remove the frosting if necessary.