Application of a diagnostic and predictive maintenance system at an HV/MV station

This paper describes how an Italian electric utility has started to experiment with a philosophy which consists of equipping its substation plant with a system to support the maintenance engineer´s decision making. This system will help in planning his activity, based on predictive condition-based maintenance criteria. The purpose of this system is to extend the useful life of the plant and to avoid costly work, while still maintaining the necessary safety standards. To achieve this, the company decided to introduce an expert system for apparatus online diagnostics