Increasing the Reliability of Main Electrical Feeders

DORELCO is a rural electric cooperative located in the town of Tolosa, Island of Leyte, in the Philippines. They provide electrical service to 13 municipalities throughout a mostly rural area.

With high exposure to densely growing vegetation and wildlife, it proved difficult for DORELCO to keep the 13.8kV distribution lines clear of faults on main electrical feeders. The single-phase lateral circuits that extended to the remote areas were tapped on the main 3-phase feeder line. Any transient or permanent fault on the single-phase lateral lines would be almost sure to trip the main feeder breaker, causing an interruption of electricity to the entire service area. Also, permanent faults often took several hours to locate and clear.

In DORELCO's efforts to improve SAIFI and SAIDI, increase customer satisfaction and minimize lost revenues due to faults, they decided to install their first HUBBELL® Versa-Tech II recloser on a select number of lateral circuits in 2016.

The Versa-Tech® II single phase recloser clears faults well ahead of the main feeder breakers and can automatically reclose the circuit successfully on transient faults. If necessary, the recloser can also keep the permanently faulted lateral circuit isolated until the line crew manually clears the cause of the fault. This is all possible while keeping the other customers on the un-faulted segments energized.

Soon after realizing the benefits, DORELCO decided to install the Versa-Tech II recloser on as many lateral lines as possible. The line crew also found the Versa-Tech II easy to install. The unit is light enough to carry and position while on a bucket truck. The crew mounted the unit using a standard transformer mounting bracket. Settings, final commissioning and verification were easily accomplished using the WiFi connection to the recloser, while an engineer remained at a safe distance.

KEY BENEFITS:

• Improves system reliability
• Easy installation
• Self-powered operation-no external power required
• Fully programmable
• Stand-alone or SCADA-connected operation
• Minimal maintenance, very low cost of ownership
• Environmentally friendly-no oil design
• WiFi or radio communication options
• Light weight and compact