An International Perspective on the IEEE/PES Expo

April 28, 2008
With more than 600 booths in the exposition, the conference attendees who waited patiently for the 10 a.m. opening were greeted by a great display of exhibits capturing every aspect of the T&D utility business. In addition to the regular exhibitors keen ...

With more than 600 booths in the exposition, the conference attendees who waited patiently for the 10 a.m. opening were greeted by a great display of exhibits capturing every aspect of the T&D utility business. In addition to the regular exhibitors keen to strengthen and expand their global markets, companies from South America, Asia, Australia and Europe now seek to increase their share of the large U.S. market. The busy show floor was made more colorful this year as a result of the increased number of delegates and visitors from more than 20 countries.

This report highlights just a few of the new technologies and products on display identified during a brief tour of the show floor, but each and every exhibitor had products on offer and experts on hand to ensure a rewarding visit.

With increasing interest in cyber security, RuggedCom from Canada offered the NERC CIP Security Solution. This relatively new company has received recognition from Frost & Sullivan and Newton-Evans Research for its communication equipment now sold in 25 countries. It was pleasing to see the range of underground cables (330 V to 345 kV) offered by the Okonito Co. remaining buoyant in a world market seemingly dominated by Nexans and Prysmian Cables.

Similarly, Synergy Cables, now 70 years old, continues to supply 30% to 40% of its cables rated to 345 kV to the United States, the remainder being sold in Europe, Africa and the Far East. UK-based FKI Switchgear has on display the latest 15/27-kV outdoor circuit breaker “Horizon Compact,” developed for the U.S. market.

Siemens exhibits should not have been missed, but new on display was the company’s range of Siemens Assets Services designed for asset management. This will be extended to include distribution networks, the work originally developed by Power Technologies International for transmission systems. The software from Siemens in Germany is designed to interface with all systems and communication protocols. With the facility to supply a complete real-time snapshot of the distribution network every five minutes, it seems set to attract distribution system management staff.

The High Voltage Technologies booth included the new portable VLF and oil test equipment developed by BAUR (Austria) together with the host company’s on-site partial-discharge test equipment. The AZZ Electrical Products Group showed an interesting range of products that included the fabrications designed to accommodate gas-insulated lines.

Designed to capture interest from utilities with extensive overhead-line networks was the non-contact current transformer, designed for installation on line supports without the need for an outage displayed by SSI Power, LLC. Apart from real-time load flow this equipment is available for fault-finding applications. Trialed in California for two years, this is now available for a market that has every indication of being global. This company already has well-established manufacturing facilities in France and Italy.

Representing Greece and a first-time exhibitor, Hellenic Cables offer ed underground cables in the voltage range from 1 kV to 150 kV, increasing to 400 kV next year. In addition to the 60% export market to European Union countries, the Middle East and Africa, this company now supplies 35-V cables for U.S. wind-farm applications. Representing China with a complete range of distribution equipment at the IEEE expo for the first time was Tian Electric and Zhejiang Songhe Metering Co. with their range of AMR and load-management metering that is offered to suit customer needs.

For those with a keen interest, health hazards often linked to the exposure from electro-magnetic fields (EMF) and high-frequency magnetic fields (mobile phones), you might be interested in the newly developed equipment offered by EMF Safety Inc. This is only one of many Korea-based companies exhibiting on the KEPCO booth. Among these, the Green Power & High Efficiency Transformer offered by Han Chang and the High Speed Power Line Communications displayed by Samhyun Electronics Communications should not have been missed.

Finally, Saudi Arabia was represented for the first-time by the Arabian International Co. responsible for the manufacture of transmission line towers. Currently supplying the home market, the company exports to Egypt, Sudan, Bangladesh, Iraq and Sudan, in addition to the main contractor (Hyundai) responsible for the construction of the GCC transmission interconnector.

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