--- title: "Secondary substation and MV/LV transformer monitoring" description: "Monitor MV/LV transformers in secondary substations: hot spots, oil level and gas, hourly load against the limit and alarms, without new primary equipment." url: "https://www.gridbit.tech/solutions/transformer-monitoring" language: "en" translation: "https://www.gridbit.tech/bg/solutions/transformer-monitoring" --- # GridBit MV/LV transformer monitoring GridBit adds sensors, analysers and a gateway to a secondary substation and shows the state of the MV/LV transformer in real time. It is a retrofit: the primary equipment stays as it is. - Retrofit for existing substations - MQTTS to the cloud [Request a quote](https://www.gridbit.tech/contact?product=GridBit%20Transformer%20Monitoring) [Watch the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtVfARmi4xU) - **years of work for DSOs**: 21 - **smart meters installed in metering projects**: 2.1 M+ - **data concentrators installed**: 20 000+ - **specialists in development**: 30+ Why now ## More load on older transformers 01 ### Intense electrification Demand for electricity grows by about 4.1 % a year. Heat pumps and charging points overload lines and transformers that were sized for another time. 02 ### Ageing infrastructure Old equipment fails more often under a load that changes through the day. The problem ## The low-voltage grid is still in the dark Generation and transmission were digitised decades ago, and SCADA shows high and medium voltage in real time. Below the secondary substation the operator works blind. 1. Generation 2. Transmission 3. Distribution 4. Low voltage and customers Without data from the low-voltage side a DSO risks: 1. 01 Expensive but inefficient maintenance 2. 02 Revenue lost while equipment is down 3. 03 Lower customer satisfaction because service takes longer Illustration of a secondary substation How it works ## A substation that reports its own condition GridBit gives the substation digital senses. Compact modules and sensors go in without long outages, and everything talks Modbus to one gateway. 01 Transformer ### Temperature and condition of the transformer An infrared camera and optical sensors watch the hot spots without touching them. RFID and contact sensors sit where a cable cannot go. The integrated safety detector reports pressure, temperature, oil level and gas. - IR camera (TCAM) - Optical temperature sensor (TIR) - RFID temperature sensor - Integrated safety detector monitor 02 Environment ### The room itself Optional third-party sensors on the same Modbus line: humidity and temperature, smoke, water and moisture, intrusion, and any sensor with a 0 to 10 V output. - Humidity and temperature - Smoke detection - Water and moisture - Intrusion - Other sensors, 0 to 10 V 03 Gateway ### One gateway for the whole substation GridBit GWU collects data from the modules and the sensors over Modbus and sends it over the mobile network or Wi-Fi. The link is MQTTS: encrypted and two-way, so commands reach the substation too. - Modbus - MQTTS - GSM or Wi-Fi 04 Platform ### Software as a service The platform runs in the cloud on Microsoft Azure. It opens in a browser on any device, with nothing to install, and the data is encrypted. - SaaS - Microsoft Azure - Any device The platform ## One panel per substation ### The transformer at a glance Load and imbalance as gauges, current per phase and in the neutral against its limits, the phase angles as a vector diagram and a table of current, voltage and angle per phase. ### Load against the limit, hour by hour The chart marks the hours near the limit and the hours above it. A second tab shows the K-factor, the extra heating that harmonics cause. ### A substation that needs attention The state turns critical, the bell counts the active alarms and the values outside their range turn red, here an imbalance of 36 % and an overloaded hour. Screens from the interface design, with sample data. Planning ## See the overload coming A transformer rarely fails without warning. The load creeps up over months as new consumers and plants connect. With the load of every hour against the limit, you know which transformer to resize first and which one still has room. Limit of the transformer 1. 00:00 5. 04:00 9. 08:00 13. 12:00 17. 16:00 19. Overload 21. 20:00 Load through the day Normal Near the limit Overload Illustration, not measured data. Functions ## What the platform does 01 ### Real-time monitoring Problems are found and handled before they grow. 02 ### Notifications and alarms In the platform, by e-mail, by SMS and other channels. 03 ### Cloud No servers to buy or maintain. Benefits ## What you get ### Proactive maintenance Failures are predicted before they happen, which extends the life of the substation components. ### Lower costs Preventing a major failure saves the repair or the replacement. Fewer site visits lower the cost of maintenance. - Regulatory compliance Continuous monitoring helps meet the requirements and avoid penalties. - Customer satisfaction Reliable supply and faster grid expansion. Clients > The most useful and important function for our work is the monitoring of the electrical infrastructure. It gives information about the state of the equipment and the infrastructure and helps us optimise our maintenance costs and our response time. Krastina Cholakova Member of the Board of Directors, Energy Effect JSC Translated from Bulgarian. ## Hardware in this system - Installed and replaced with minimal downtime of the equipment - Designed to international and industry safety standards - [Gateway GWU-5 4G LTE gateway for Modbus devices, with Ethernet and MQTT 4G LTE Cat 1 Mobile network, 2G fallback RS485 + Ethernet Modbus RTU and Modbus TCP](https://www.gridbit.tech/hardware/gwu-5) - [Gateway GWU-4 2G/4G gateway for Modbus RTU devices, two digital inputs 4G LTE Cat 1 Mobile network, 2G fallback RS485 Modbus RTU](https://www.gridbit.tech/hardware/gwu-4) ### Sensors for the transformer - TCAM Infrared camera - TIR Optical, contactless temperature sensor Electrical infrastructure digitalization ## Also on the same platform GridBit Street Lighting ### [GridBit street lighting management](https://www.gridbit.tech/solutions/street-lighting) Control and monitor street lighting cabinets from one system, with schedules that follow sunrise and sunset, measurements per phase and alarms for every cabinet. Learn more GridBit Switchgear Monitoring ### [GridBit LV switchgear monitoring](https://www.gridbit.tech/solutions/switchgear-monitoring) Current, voltage, power and power quality on every phase of the low-voltage board, and the state of each outgoing feeder, fuse and protection, from DIN-rail Modbus modules and one gateway. Learn more GridBit Asset Passportization ### [GridBit asset passportization](https://www.gridbit.tech/solutions/asset-passportization) An asset register for DSOs, with an asset passport for every secondary substation that holds its identification, technical parameters and connected generation. It works on its own or together with monitoring. Learn more Questions ## Short answers Another question? [Ask an engineer](https://www.gridbit.tech/contact) ### What is GridBit transformer monitoring? It is a monitoring system for the MV/LV transformer of a secondary substation. GridBit adds sensors, analysers and a gateway to the substation, and the platform shows the state of the transformer in real time, with alarms. ### Do we have to replace equipment in the substation? No. The system is a retrofit and the primary equipment stays as it is. The compact modules and sensors go in without long outages. ### What does the system measure at the transformer? It measures the temperature of the hot spots with an infrared camera and optical sensors, and reads pressure, temperature, oil level and gas from the integrated safety detector. Optional sensors in the room add humidity, temperature, smoke, water and intrusion. ### How does the platform show an overload coming? With the load of every hour against the limit of the transformer. The load chart marks the hours near the limit and the hours above it, and a second tab shows the K-factor, the extra heating that harmonics cause. ### How does the data reach the platform? A GridBit GWU gateway collects the data from the modules and the sensors over Modbus and sends it over the mobile network or Wi-Fi. The link is MQTTS, encrypted and two-way, so commands reach the substation too. The platform is software as a service on Microsoft Azure and opens in a browser. ### Why monitor the transformers of secondary substations? Because the load on them grows. Demand for electricity rises by about 4.1 % a year, heat pumps and charging points load transformers that were sized for another time, and old equipment fails more often under a load that changes through the day. Hourly load data shows which transformer to resize first. ## Ask for a transformer monitoring proposal Tell us how many substations you have and what you want to see in them. We answer with a configuration and a quote. [Request a quote](https://www.gridbit.tech/contact?product=GridBit%20Transformer%20Monitoring) [office@add-bg.com](mailto:office@add-bg.com)