Overview & Events

Research Value

• More effective use of existing infrastructure and data
• Early identification of type issues, reducing unplanned outages.
• Improved reliability and availability using analyses based on actual asset health and risk to determine maintenance actions.
• Reduced reliance on time-based maintenance
• Improved capital planning decisions based on industrywide equipment performance and failure data.
• Gain more accurate and timely knowledge about asset condition and life expectancy

Member Benefits

• Offer guidelines on what equipment specific data to collect and why?
• Provide information based on industry wide equipment performance and failure data to help utilities in making better informed decisions. For example,
  • Capital planning and spare strategies
  • Maintenance program development; task and timing selection
  • Specification and selection of new assets
  • Benchmarking
• Provide consistent analytical basis for making capital and O&M decisions

At A Glance

The life-cycle performance of an underground transmission system is determined by the performance and condition of its materials, components, and subsystems. Together, they drive the requirements for maintenance and refurbishment or replacement. However, the data, analytical tools, and models required for underground transmission system risk assessment and management are not well established. Utility maintenance practices vary widely, as do manufacturers’ designs and recommendations. There is a need to develop the new metrics and analytics required to support best practices in underground transmission system life-cycle management. Proposed research intends to better understand underground transmission system materials, component, and subsystem performance by:

• Collecting and analyzing industry wide cable system inspection, periodic testing (e.g., dissolved gas in oil analysis, insulation tests, partial discharge), and outage and maintenance work management data.
• Design, develop, populate, maintain, and extract information from industrywide databases (IDBs) for underground transmission systems and components that help quantify historical performance.
• Assess and understand factors influencing asset performance.
• Develop methodologies to project and assess future performance and risk.

It is anticipated that the results would help utilities better understand:

• Material, component, and subsystem performance.
• The impact of make, model, manufacturer, environment, and operating practice.
• Cable insulation service life.

Key Activities for 2023

• Provide guidelines on what underground transmission asset specific data to collect and why?
  • Review and annually update data models (detailed lists of what data should be collected and what types of analysis and decisions such data can support) developed in previous years for extruded, pipe-type, and self-contained cables, joints, and terminations.
  • Develop new asset data models for other underground transmission system components (not mentioned above)

• Underground Transmission System – Component and Sub-system Population Performance Assessment Based on Collection and Analysis of Industry wide Failure Data
  • Collect asset component failure and performance data from member utilities, with the goal of enabling utilities to determine metrics more accurately such as failure rates and to optimize maintenance, repair/replacement decisions, and specification practices. Results are delivered in the form of new metrics and analytics.
  • Ongoing data collection and analysis efforts focus on a variety of underground transmission system components (e.g., joints, terminations, cable failures, accessory failures etc.). The data is used to develop new metrics and analytics that may help utilities in better understanding component and sub-system performance (e.g., joint and termination defects; oil filled cable leak rates etc.), identify outlier designs and optimize maintenance, repair/replacement decisions, and specification practices.

• Framework for Underground Transmission Systems Component and Sub-systems Risk Assessment
  • Development of risk assessment analytics for underground transmission system and components, considering both individual components (such as joints and termination, cable, accessories etc.) and the circuit as an integrated system.
  • Using industry wide data such as, results from condition assessment data and failure modes and degradation research, subject matter expert experience, and other inputs (family, make, model, manufacturer, operating environment, and so on), researchers intend to investigate the development of a comprehensive, holistic approach for risk assessment

Engagement Opportunities

For more information, contact: Bhavin Desai, Sr. Program Manager, (704) 804-1188,