Self-healing technology to improve Duke Energy power grid
Power outages can be a major concern when severe weather moves through your neighborhood.
Now, Duke Energy has new technology that helps the power grid heal itself.
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The technology has been part of a years-long comprehensive grid improvement strategy to make the grid more reliable, cleaner and smarter. Some of the upgrades included replacing old wooden poles with longer steel ones and adding rooftop solar for greener alternatives to power the grid.
But the shining jewel of the repairs has been what the company calls self-healing technology.
"Think of this as a GPS for the power grid," Duke Energy Communications Manager Jeff Brooks said. "It's identifying problems when they occur -- whether it be a tree on the line or a car hitting a utility pole -- and then quickly rerouting power to other power lines and restoring power really in seconds in most cases.
Duke Energy said this is a vital improvement to their system, especially in areas that continue to see rapid growth.
"The self-healing technology can actually reduce the number of customers impacted by an outage by as much as 75 percent," Brooks said.
Approximately 25 percent of Duke Energy customers already benefit directly from self-healing technology. The company expects that to increase to about 80 percent over the next 3-5 years.
"The power grid of the future will reconfigure itself constantly to be as efficient as it can be. But also to be as reliable as it can be, you know, as it works to deliver the quality our customers expect," Brooks said.
