It’s lightweight and low-cost but has the power to move you from darkness to light in a jiffy. The new
emergency retrieval system
(
ERS
), which comprises
temporary support structures
, can restore electricity supply when
transmission line towers
collapse or fail during natural disasters such as cyclones or disruptions such as vehicular accidents.
Researchers from
CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre
in Chennai, who developed the technology, say the structures can be assembled and installed quickly at disaster sites to restore
power supply
temporarily before permanent restoration begins, at a cost 60% less than imported systems presently used in India.
“The
indigenous ERS
has modules made from
aluminium alloy
, which is what makes it lightweight,” says scientist Rajendra Pitambar Rokade of Steel Structures Laboratory, CSIR-SERC. The system, he adds, is designed for scalability to support 33kV to 800kV class transmission lines. Usually, when a transmission line tower failure is reported, a team surveys the damage and identifies the land available in the area to create a bypass corridor with the readymade modular structures. When there is not enough land for a bypass corridor, twin-mast structures are installed, and permanent structures built in the space between them. “If a tower fails, it takes about 40 days to restore power the conventional way. ERS structures can be carried to remote locations and deployed in two days.”
Experts say the concept of standardising ERS began in 1982 in the US. ERS was not indigenously developed in India.
By 2010, the Central Electricity Authority in India came up with the regulations for use of ERS and made it mandatory for power transmission companies having 220kv transmission lines to procure one set containing 10 structures for every 5000-circuit km. Those operating 400kv lines could either procure or borrow ERS from other companies. The imported structures, besides being expensive, are heavy — the hinge connector at the bottom of the structure, for example, weighs 250kg. “In our ERS, the hinge connector weighs only 30kg but can still support an 800kV transmission line. It is also easy to fabricate. We have tested it, and it fulfills IEEE standards,” says Rokade. The technology has been transferred to the industry and the researchers have applied for patents in India, USA and Canada.
English (US) ·