First Basslink cable campaign completed

QUARTERLY SUPPLEMENT FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS

ISSUE 2

• First Basslink cable campaign completed: Pirelli’s cable laying vessel, the Giulio Verne, has laid the first section of the 290km HVDC submarine electricity cable connecting Victoria and Tasmania as part of the Basslink project.
• Locating powerline faults: EnergyAustralia completed a 16-month trial of a system that can remotely detect faults in an electricity supply network. The Fault Locating System (FLS) was designed by Nippon Kouatsu Electric Co.
• Apprentice recruitment campaign: EnergyAustralia launched a recruitment campaign to attract more than 100 new apprentices as the company embarks on a $2 billion spending program to improve the network.
• Spinach to power mobiles: Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Tennessee, and the US Naval Research Laboratory are developing an electronic device that uses spinach to convert light into electrical charge using a process similar to photosynthesis.
• Preventing pole top fires: Western Power is coating insulators on 40,000 power poles across WA with silicone as part of a new $6 million strategy to combat pole top fires.
• Strategies to improve cabling compliance: An Australian Communications Authority report on the cabling industry has identified a number of strategies to improve levels of cabling compliance.
• Inefficiencies overload power systems: Australia’s power distribution grids are unnecessarily overloaded due to inefficiencies in the use of electricity, according to electronics expert Michael Baker, CEO of Brisbane-based power electronics company Emsby.
• Small and safe nuclear plants: A nuclear reactor that can power developing countries without the risk of the by-products being used to make weapons is under development by the US Department of Energy, reported by New Scientist.
• Fuel-cell compatibility: The International Electrotechnical Commission has formed a working group to draw up standards that will ensure compatibility between micro fuel-cells and their fuel cartridges.
• Enhanced LEDs for better lighting: A research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York has created a new type of reflector that improves LED luminance, potentially accelerating the replacement of conventional lighting.