Identifying High Impedance Faults for Proactive Network Management

High impedance faults have traditionally been challenging for utilities to address, requiring long manual inspections and reactive fixes informed by customer incident reports. Now, technology and insights have enabled EDBs in New Zealand to move past this reactive model, bringing cost and resource savings – as well as fewer disruptions to customers.

Leveraging advanced metering data, Hiko enables EDBs to detect high impedance faults by assessing over and under voltage events occurring at a similar time, connected to the same low-voltage network. 

Our collaborative data-driven approach highlights the value of leveraging smart meter data and statistical analysis to address not only current challenges, but also evolving energy demands and optimising LV Network infrastructure for future sustainability.

Customer Insight: Nelson Electricity

Nelson Electricity was able to use Hiko's High Impedance Fault tool to precisely locate and proactively manage a detected fault.

The algorithm flags any ICPs experiencing voltage fluctuations that coincide with similar swings at other ICPs on the same low voltage network. It uses a traffic light colour system to indicate the severity of these fluctuations and displays the number of occurrences over the past three weeks.

Network Manager James Walton says, “the real time and cost saver was in the reports and tools available to diagnose exactly the nature of the fault and then where it was.

“The high impedance tool that flagged the fault initially is a good start, but there are a number of benign reasons why it might flag. Being able to manipulate the data and get a good picture of the network health in the area is what really confirmed a problem. Then being able to locate the area of concern by looking at the profiles of multiple consumers really saved time.”

Fig 1: Hiko's High Impedance Fault tool showing potential high impedance faults.

Typically, locating and fixing a high impedance fault would be a time-consuming and costly process. A contractor would have to carry out extensive testing, usually over a long time period, on the entire circuit back to the substation. They would then draw conclusions from those results. 

Instead, Nelson was able to use real world data in Hiko’s powerful visualisation tool to proactively manage their network, with confidence.

“With the Hiko platform we had all of the information needed at our fingertips and we could draw our conclusions within an hour or so of noting the fault. Now we can easily monitor the area and see that the fault is actually fixed,” says Walton.

Fig 2: Shows voltage profiles for ICPs on the LV Network changing to normal ranges after the fault had been fixed.

Join the discussion

Having enhanced data and powerful tools at your fingertips means identifying potential faults before they escalate to dangerous levels. 

With Hiko, our partners are able to shift from reactive emergency responses to planned, efficient maintenance.

Electrical engineers, network managers and planners will recognise the need to address issues like this, to ensure network maintenance and performance in a rapidly evolving energy environment.

Join the conversation on addressing high impedance fault detection and prevention in low-voltage networks. 

Share your insights and innovative ideas to tackle this challenge and let's explore new strategies and technologies for optimised network performance together.

Reach out today to be part of the solution.