Retrofit of switchgear and protection in HV and LV networks

With the world-wide trend within industry towards greater efficiency and the concentration on “core” business, commercial pressures are growing on companies to maximise their plant utilisation and minimise their plant lifetime cost, often with elderly equipment. This paper examines the changing position of the manufacturer to play an important role in the “aftermarket” and equipment lifetime management. It covers the options available to the owner or operator for optimising the life of their electrical plant. The relevance of health, safety and environmental considerations and their influence on the aftermarket options available is examined, in the light of changing technology. Practical experiences with retrofit for both MV and LV switchgear and protection are covered. The influences of operational constraints and available resources of finance are discussed as factors which effect the plant lifetime decision processes. The paper concludes that retrofit can be a realistic option to maximise equipment life whilst keeping system disruption and capital spend to a minimum