Renewable Energy Asset Management

Unlike conventional power generation facilities, renewable sites – wind farms, solar farms, and battery energy storage plants – are significantly more reliant on underground cable network reliability. Proper cable system commissioning tests help to alleviate unplanned outages for renewable energy plant owners and developers and prevent costs incurred by repairs, lost revenue, and power purchase agreement impacts.

While new cables are susceptible to outages due to any number of factors, 40% of newly installed cable systems contain at least one defect inflicted during manufacturing processes, shipping, construction, or installation, substantiating the importance of testing cables during site commissioning.

Renewable Site Cable Defects

An average of 99% of new cable failures are due to anomalies introduced during manufacturing or installation processes, such as:

Testing the system to cable and accessory manufacturers’ standards, or factory-quality controlled testing, during commissioning can help plant owners and developers identify and address these defects before system operation in order to avoid costly outages.

Factory Grade^® Cable Scanning Technology

Factory Grade Cable Scanning Technology by IMCORP^®, an Osmose^® company, assesses each individual foot of cable, providing cable owners with real-time condition data and reporting – a roadmap for proactive system repairs. During the assessment, IMCORP performs an offline 50/60 Hz partial discharge (PD) test with 5 pc sensitivity while filtering out background noise, ensuring defects are located.

Standardized cable scanning ensures defects are observed under operating conditions, producing results comparable to factory tests. IMCORP’s precise reporting provides a foot-by-foot profile and component level predictive analytics.

Learn how one renewable site developer discovered the value of Factory Grade technology during a wind farm site commissioning.