Minimize power outages and their impact on customers. The right protective equipment helps electricity providers secure overhead distribution systems, reduce downtime and deliver better power quality.
Hawaiian Electric has deployed hundreds of Siemens Fusesaver medium-voltage circuit breakers and remote control units (RCUs) to support its power quality and reliability initiatives, particularly in remote and rural service areas.
Fusesaver clears transient faults at the fuse level which helps utility providers like Hawaiian Electric achieve improved network reliability and reduced operating costs, while also bolstering wildfire mitigation.
Hawaiian Electric is increasing its grid resiliency to provide customers with affordable, reliable and clean energy.
“Our goal was to improve the reliability of our distribution circuits,” says Richard Shiroma, consulting engineer. “We began looking for smart devices and were introduced to Siemens.”
The company launched a pilot project to test Fusesaver’s effectiveness in Hawaiʻi’s challenging operating conditions.
Mitchell La Puente, protection engineer, explains how sectionalizing devices in remote areas can establish a stable, reliable power supply.
“We can get trees and other things that fall onto the lines, and of course high winds,” says La Puente. “Instead of leaving the whole circuit vulnerable, sectionalizing devices create smaller sections of service to keep customers online.”
For Shiroma, what set Fusesaver apart was the built-in peer-to-peer wireless communications allowing single- or three-phase tripping. Because each Fusesaver has an integrated short-range radio, engineers can easily connect to the devices for commissioning. In addition, a remote control is enabled via the wirelessly connected RCU so there is no need to roll a truck to reset the device after it has operated.
“For the pilot project...it’s important for us to have communication with these devices from the dispatch center so we have visibility into their status,” he says. “We can also use the communications to remotely trip and close the devices, which saves travel time and labor when it’s time to restore power."
Following a successful Fusesaver pilot program, Stacey Ueda, protection engineer explains that Hawaiian Electric chose to standardize on Fusesaver because it would allow the organization to adopt a standard policy setting while also streamlining training requirements for the company’s line crews.
In addition, she says, “The Fusesaver is easy to deploy and decreases testing times. We can deploy them almost anywhere very quickly.”
This is mainly due to the device’s mounting arrangement and small size. Fusesaver weighs only 12 pounds and can install directly on the conductor, crossarm or pole.
Rural, remote locations benefit from Fusesaver’s self-powering off, lightly loaded lines
Hawaiian Electric’s remote service areas also mean that their lines can be more lightly loaded, meaning that any devices installed must be low-powered devices. La Puente says that they tried smart devices in the past, but: “We had issues with operating them the way we wanted because of their current requirements.”
Fusesaver helps resolve this challenge because it can be self-powered off as little as half an amp, which makes it ideally suited to lightly loaded applications, such as rural locations and low-density residential loads. And now that Siemens has a rechargeable battery available for these circuit breakers, “It’s a big plus,” says Shiroma.
Fusesaver’s reputation for fast fault clearing is an important aspect of Hawaiian Electric’s wildfire protection and mitigation strategies, Shiroma says.
“We’re watching the industry to stay ahead of the curve on wildfires so that we have protection in areas that are vulnerable,” he says. “We partner with the fire department to deploy recloser devices, including Fusesaver, that give us fast tripping capability as part of our mitigation solutions.”
Because high-risk wildfire days are mainly determined by temperature, humidity, and wind, providers like Hawaiian Electric work to eliminate any probability of electrical network faults that might ignite a fire.
Fusesaver’s ultra-fast fault clearing capability means that arcs are cleared in less than one cycle, minimizing electrical arc hazards.
Siemens assisted Hawaiian Electric apply Fusesaver to achieve their reliability and resiliency goals.
According to Shiroma, “The Siemens team has been helpful to explain things and help us understand the device operation so we can apply it correctly.”
Ueda concurs, noting that the teams have been responsive to Hawaiian Electric’s questions: “We had an event we needed them to review, which they did, even going further to conduct a bench test for us to confirm the current operations.”
Shiroma concludes that the reliability team has partnered with Siemens to help make Fusesaver work well for Hawaiian Electric’s infrastructure needs: “Ultimately, it’s a better product we’ve worked with.”
We’re seeing correct operations in terms of sectionalizing the circuit and minimizing the number of customers without power.
Download the story of how Hawaiian Electric enhances grid reliability With Siemens Fusesaver medium-voltage circuit breakers.
