High Voltage Test Systems For Electricity Network Research

The UK needs to reduce the amount of fossil fuels it uses for heating / transport to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we emit into the atmosphere. Replacing fossil fuels will only be possible through the use of more electricity generated from low carbon sources (nuclear, wind, solar and marine). Estimates suggest the electricity transmission system may need to carry a peak power four times higher than is carried today. The power that flows through the transmission system will also become more intermittent as wind and solar power is dependent on variable weather conditions. We therefore need to develop a new generation of equipment that can be used to carry electricity from generator to customer. This equipment needs to be cost-effective and have a minimal impact on the environment (whether this be measured in terms of visual impact, noise, ability to recycle at end of life or a whole range of other factors).

The advances in disciplines such as material science mean there are many exciting opportunities to examine new ways to manufacture and operate transformers, overhead lines, cables and circuit breakers that will be used on the electrical transmission system. We need to have facilities that are capable of translating underpinning science at the scale of full size transmission system equipment. We need to ensure we can test objects measuring some metres in length with a maximum weight of thousands of kilograms. We need to apply over 400,000 volts continuously to this equipment and at times up to 1.6 million volts to simulate the impact of lightning. We can only do that using a specialist facility that includes a large space into which we can place equipment and the high voltage test sets. The test supplies must be capable of testing equipment when we spray water onto surfaces in a way that represents rainfall. It must operate 'quietly' and allow us to measure extremely small electromagnetic signals associated with failures in insulation systems.

Delivering this test facility will ensure we can help the efforts to decarbonise the UK energy system. The facility will allow the UK academic community to play a leading role in the global research community that is developing new insulation systems and the next generation of transmission system equipment. Working with the new full-size substation being developed by National Grid to test equipment for prolonged periods, we will attract industry to the UK and will support the efforts of smaller companies to convert their ideas into reality. Through the facility we will train the next generation of engineers who will support the efforts to develop a low carbon electricity system that is reliable and provides low cost energy to customers for many years to come.

This proposal outlines an ambitious project to provide open and accessible High Voltage Test Facilities at the University of Manchester that complement other academic facilities (such as the Power Networks Demonstration Centre and the HV laboratories at Cardiff and Southampton) and add value to a range of industrial partners. The facilities build on current capability and capacity, and existing collaboration between a number of universities (particularly those working as part of Hubnet) to deliver high-value state-of-the-art equipment that enables the creation of a sustainable research facility.

The facilities requested in this bid will have an impact on a range of academic research related to the development of low-carbon energy systems. The facilities will directly impact a number of existing research grants and will support researchers from other disciplines such as material science in scaling-up / translating their research to the scale required for electricity transmission and distribution systems. The contribution to academic impact when working with other researchers is expected to result from the generation of new research opportunities and outputs when sharing research findings as well as opportunities resulting from our commitment to make the new facilities available to external researchers. The capital equipment will play a vital role in ensuring work in underpinning disciplines can be translated into the scale required for HV systems and ensures our researchers can maintain involvement in international networks of excellence such as CIGRE, IEC, IEEE and CIRED.

The research facilitated by the equipment will directly support efforts to decarbonise the global energy system through the development of advanced high voltage equipment. Within the UK, the research supported by the equipment will address the specific challenge of developing equipment that can better withstand changing load patterns while extending its life / reducing its costs. The equipment will deliver value to the manufacturers of electrical transmission system equipment by delivering opportunities to scale-up underpinning research associated with the use of advanced materials and through access to a high voltage facility supported by a range of other leading facilities for material test / characterisation. The academic researchers involved in this bid have well established contacts with industrial partners in the electricity supply industry.