Gateshead-based Turbo Power Systems (TPS) has won first prize in the Losses Competition at the annual Energy Innovation Centre Awards, with the support of its partner, UK Power Networks.
The ceremony was held at the Rum Warehouse, Titanic Hotel in Liverpool on 28 September 2017 and was hosted by Jason Bradbury, star of Channel 5’s Gadget Show. Throughout the event, 11 awards were handed out to different products and service providers to showcase the value they have added to the UK utilities sector through applied innovation and perseverance.
The Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) inaugural ‘Losses Category’ award that TPS has been granted aims to commend innovative solutions that generate a reduction in distribution network costs. TPS’s Soft Open Point (SOP) converters have been awarded due to their great impact on improving losses on the electricity distribution network.
To highlight how our converters can enhance the network, we need to mention that these unique SOP converters can be installed where the Normally Open Point usually exists on the distribution network. Installing an SOP converter in such a location provides means to share power between concurrent lines and phases.
Transferring power from a heavily loaded line to a lightly loaded line reduces the total additive losses in the two lines. This, in turn, reduces stress on existing assets and releases capacity in the current infrastructure to support greater use of distributed generation and low carbon technologies such as electric vehicles.
Applying a converter at the Normally Open Point ensures that controlled power exchange between the two lines is achieved. In addition, the converter provides extra functionality, which further contributes toward the reduction of losses on the lines and assets, including voltage regulation, harmonic reduction and power factor correction.
TPS’s Soft Open Converters have been operating successfully on the low voltage distribution network in the south-east of the UK for a number of years. As part of the award application, TPS demonstrated how they plan to achieve the same benefits using a different architecture of converter for deployment as a Soft Open Point on the medium-voltage distribution network.
Nominated in the final category of the evening at UK EIA 2017, TPS was proud to be presented with the award by SSE managing director, Stewart Reid. Collecting the award was engineering manager for smart grid and energy, Dr Fainan Hassan, and engineering and business development director, Dr Nigel Jakeman.
In response to this great achievement, Dr Jakeman said: “It’s a real honour for TPS to be awarded winner of the first-ever Losses Award. EIC do a fantastic job supporting and recognising innovators in this sector, so to have them and the utility sector recognising the significance of our technology once again serves as real testament to the importance of these converters in the electricity distribution network of the future.”
TPS would like to thank UK Power Networks for their support in winning this prestigious award.