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“BDVB Oil Stick” – Key enabling technology for online monitoring of crucial electric grid infrastructure. Striving for global market leadership

Project description

Improved management and monitoring of transformers

The transition to clean energy is a top priority. As such, innovative solutions that assist power grids in this transition are required. Currently, most European power grids rely on transformers, which need to be controlled and maintained. Renewable energy solutions create dangerous amounts of strain due to their fluctuations and due to the unfortunate lack of online monitoring. This puts power grids at high risk. The EU-funded BDVB Oil-Stick project by Passerro GmbH aims to fill this gap by introducing a breakdown voltage basic oil stick that can concurrently monitor breakdown voltage, oil humidity and temperature. It also allows for accurate and efficient management of transformer assets.

Objective

The R&D Team of Passerro GmbH has developed the BDVB – Break Down Voltage - Basic Oil Stick. The BDVB Oil Stick, enables for the first-time online measurements of transformer oil dielectric breakdown strength. Using multi-frequency ultrasound spectroscopy, the Oil Stick determines simultaneously break down voltage (BDV), temperature (T) and oil humidity (Wc).
Transformers are crucial infrastructure assets of Europe’s and the world’s power grids, which must be controlled and governed carefully. Today’s power supply with huge but fluctuant shares of renewable energy (solar, wind) seriously stresses transformers– leading to an increased degeneration of the transformer insulating oil and thus to a significant influence of performance and decrease of their life time. If the oil’s insulating capacity is down, transformers can’t resist higher voltages as well as the power load and often break down in fire after short circuit. A transformer loss results most often in tremendous damages: loss of production capacity, loss of power supply, loss of grid stability and supply security. The replacement time of power transformers lasts up to 80 weeks and is cost intensive. To date, no reliable online monitoring of the crucial oil parameters is available, and the transformers are operated merely in a manner of blind flying.
Passerro developed the BDVB Oil Stick to TRL 6-7. Functionality has been successfully demonstrated, during long-time operation in transformers in Italy, Romania and Germany. The next step is the consequent commercialization and distribution of the device by efficient marketing and business development.
The BDVB Oil Stick enables a groundbreaking transformer asset management system and allows the accurate utilization of the grid capacities. Moreover, it is a key enabling technology towards a smart grid.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020

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Coordinator

PASSERRO GMBH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 50 000,00
Address
GLETSCHERSTEINSTRASSE 43
04299 LEIPZIG
Germany

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Sachsen Leipzig Leipzig
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 71 429,00

Participants (1)

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