SSE Enterprise Telecoms is partnering with Synaptec to deliver new capabilities that will help their energy customers monitor and manage smart grids.
SSE Enterprise Telecoms already provides the communications solution for energy firm SSE plc, so energy customers are home turf for the firm. It therefore has a good understanding of their emerging requirements. The firm will deploy Synaptec’s passive sensor networks into its existing 12,000-km fibre infrastructure to enable greater visibility and control. SSE says this will improve wide-area protection, control and asset management functions, as well as reduce costs.
Synaptec’s condition monitoring capabilities will enable SSE Enterprise Telecoms to support energy providers in making more informed decisions about network upgrades and preventative maintenance, as well as enhancing real-time control of critical high-voltage assets. The sensor networks will deliver data to a newly-created real-time analytics platform for predictive maintenance of critical assets, which are often remote or inaccessible. This will allow early identification of issues such as ice build-up on power lines or impending failures in underground cable systems. This will aid future development and decision-making.
At the same time, SSE Enterprise Telecoms says the technology will significantly reduce the capital and operational costs of monitoring complex circuits.
Announcing the partnership, Colin Sempill, Chief Executive at SSE Enterprise Telecoms said: “The global demand for energy is changing significantly…Supporting this shift to smarter energy requires suppliers to rethink how networks are managed in real-time, and to keep them safer, more efficient and reduce waste [sic]”.