Within the funding received from the National Reconstruction Plan (NRP/KPO), the team from the Łukasiewicz Institute of Electrical Engineering has planned upgrades to the laboratories at the Research Centre for Power Engineering and Electrical Equipment.
The Centre is primarily tasked with the modelling of fault conditions in electrical power equipment, which can hazards threats to the safety of people and property and induce high electrodynamic forces in the current paths of test objects.
The testing is designed to verify the performance of the equipment under near-real-life conditions. Prototypes of new equipment, gear and designs already in production by businesses are subjected to this type of testing to obtain the relevant certificates.
“The infrastructure upgrade done as part of the NRP-funded project will increase the research capabilities of the laboratories and provide a higher level of security for the work carried out. Thanks to the upgrade, the Institute will become one of the few research and development centres with the capacity for comprehensive testing of electrical power equipment installed in transmission and distribution networks.”
The planned infrastructure will be used to perform:
– safety testing of prototypes
– verification of declared technical performance
– studies to determine the maximum technical performance of high-voltage equipment
– tests for conformity assessment of high voltage switchgear, in particular circuit breakers, earthing switches, disconnectors, contactors, disconnectors, including fused disconnectors and reclosers, transformer substations and high voltage switchgear operated in transmission systems of the national power grid.
Energy transformation, the upgrading and expansion of transmission networks, as well as the development of technologies such as high-voltage direct current (HVDC) grids and renewable energy sources (RES), are key elements of sustainable development and the functioning of the economy in Poland and Europe. The expanded research capabilities that will be available through the Institute’s activities will become essential to achieving these goals.
The research done at the Centre, using the upgraded infrastructure, is of particular importance to both scientific and business partners, supporting the implementation of the domestic policies for science, technologies and innovation.
Andrzej Kober is responsible for the task; he is the Director of the Research Centre for Power Engineering and Electrical Equipment.
