AP Sensing Monitors Large Solar Power Plant in Abu Dhabi

Power cables from solar power plants pose an additional challenge over regular power cable monitoring, as these have high dynamic load changes in a day-night cycle. A typical repair can take 2-4 weeks of downtime to repair and is incredibly costly, depending on the level of damage. Additionally, some damages such as a joint failure may lead to blasts that can harm humans in the surrounding area and facilities.

AP Sensing recently completed yet another successful project commissioning for the Abu Dhabi Al Dhafra Solar Project! Our fiber optic power cable monitoring solution consisted of one N4385B Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) data warehouse rack, a single-ended configuration utilizing multimode fiber optic sensor cable, 3 circuits utilizing our Real Time Thermal Rating (RTTR) engine, and our SmartVision Asset View software. The alarm outputs utilize Modbus TCP/IP. 

Our power cable monitoring solution for this project offers continuous temperature data along the entire power cable, detecting hotspots and potential issues such as termination failures and joint failures. Additionally, the use of our RTTR solution delivers operational status, condition assessments and power circuit rating data.

 

The end customer was very satisfied with the results, especially with AP Sensing’s dedicated and extensive technical services and customer support provided in the Middle East region. Additionally, our team offers timely project commissioning and support throughout the product lifecycle. Other projects with the customer are already underway.

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