We are pleased to announce Warwick Beech’s appointment as Sales and Marketing Manager. Warwick joined HV Power in November 2007 setting up our Wellington office and establishing a local presence for HV Power to our lower North Island customers. His promotion to this new role acknowledges the significant contribution Warwick has already made to the business. We wish him every success in this strategic role and the challenges that lie ahead as the company expands its operations.

Geoff Vaughan’s focus now includes establishing a presence for HV Power in Australia.

For the voltage regulation of three winding transformers, a special feature is available on REG-D and REG-DA devices. This “three winding” function enables voltage regulation on the selected winding and “supervises” the other. A range of automation functions are available to select which winding is to be regulated and which one is to be supervised. The three winding function can also be used for other applications such as regulating interconnecting transformers where reverse power flow can occur. With increasing distributed generation being added to the network, reverse power flow is becoming more of an issue for non transmission customers. The REG-D/DA can take care of these applications.

For further details, refer to the three winding technical note located in the Voltage Regulator section of the HV Power Technical Library Website, www.hvpower.co.nz.

The following is based on advice provided on the Tekron Blog website. You can access the blog site to find other useful information by following the “About” menu on the Tekron website, www.tekroninternational.com

We occasionally get a support query from a customer who is experiencing problems with poor satellite reception. Usually the answer is straight forward - the antenna is being blocked. The ideal GPS antenna installation is on the roof of a building with a clear line of sight of the whole sky. For New Zealand locations, a clear view of the lower Northern region is especially critical. If the antenna is being blocked (shaded) by another object, you are likely to get poor reception.

Users of Tekron clocks will recognise the image below - a snapshot of the GPS tab in the Configuration Tool. This particular picture shows a large area to the South with no satellites, which is typical of NZ reception. Reception at this site is good, there are seven satellites showing “green” - Tekron clocks require a minimum of 4. The picture also shows patchy satellite reception to the East, which could be caused by something blocking the antenna.

The setup of Tekron clocks includes an antenna mask angle. This is the elevation above the horizon below which satellites will not be used in time and position calculations. A good starting value is 5°. This may need to be increased in valley locations where distant hills cause signal quality loss due to multi-pathing effects. Increasing the mask angle value does reduce the number of satellites in view, but can eliminate those causing loss of time quality.

If you do experience problems with poor satellite reception, go and have a look at your antenna. You never know - you may find that someone has installed a great big obstruction - right next to it!

For applications where gear is mounted on pole tops or in roadside cubicles, physical space is often at a premium. This is not the place for 19 inch rack sized IEDs or shoe box size revenue meters. HV Power has a range of compact IED devices for Protection and control, Scada I/O , Check Metering and Time Synchronisation ideally suited for applications where space is tight. For example:

Shark 200 – a comprehensive Power Meter with local display ( or without display Shark 200-T). These devices provide check metering as well as a variety of quality of supply / PQ monitoring functions. Shark 200 and Shark 200T also act as a small RTU with optional digital I/O and “speak” DNP 3:00.Shark’s footprint is 125mm x 125mm x 125mm – panel or DIN Rail mount.

Argus 7SR12 Directional Overcurrent Relay – provides a suite of over current elements, recloser and basic feeder functionality, Front Panel breaker controls and Annunciator LEDs. It also“speaks” DNP 3:00. The Argus’s footprint is just 180mm x 105 x 220mm deep.

TTM 01-E is Tekron’s smallest GPS clock that fits in the palm of your hand. It's Din Rail mount. TTTM 01-E provides time synch outputs to IEDs as IRIG-B or NTP, depending on options selected. The clock's footprint is 55mm x 60mm x 90 mm.

IEC 61850 is being adopted by utilities around the world as their way forward for substation automation. With IEC 61850 expanding into areas such as condition monitoring and power quality, it won’t be long before IEC 61850 is available in some form in all substation equipment, and throughout network management infrastructure.

In NZ, DNP serial is the current default, and for many is simply the unchallenged SCADA protocol. At HV Power, we believe that local utilities need to be thinking about how IEC 61850 will be accommodated in their future infrastructure plans.

Clearly, ripping out all legacy equipment and embarking on grand infrastructure upgrades is not the solution, nor is it commercially viable for most utilities. However with sound planning processes, utilities can now be installing equipment and infrastructure that will support the staggered introduction of IEC 61850 in the future. Typical IED and network equipment installed today is very likely to be in service in 10 years time. It’s also very likely that in this timeframe, utilities will have at least some pockets of IEC 61850 functionality in their networks. Why not make sure that what you purchase today will be compatible with tomorrow’s infrastructure ?

HV Power can assist customers understand the truth and benefits of IEC 61850. There are different levels of implementation and architecture to suit network size, topology and budgets. We can assist with advice regarding cost-effective staggered implementation into your existing substations, or advise on introducing a step change with a completely new and economical alternative of your RTU topology.

IEC 61850 is a mature technology, with over 8 years of field experience. Put it in your 5 year plan now - and stay ahead of those not utilising the many advantages of this technology - they may end up years behind you!