Public Funding for Synaptec Ltd

Wide-area monitoring of the power system is becoming increasingly important as the UK is transitioning to a net-zero economy. To prevent blackouts, high-performance distributed sensors are required to provide sufficient real-time data for rapid control and protection of the power system. Moreover, extensive condition monitoring of often dynamically-rated power lines and cables is required as the grid undergoes unprecedented stresses due to the volatile loading scenarios and new weather extremes. Synaptec's distributed photonic sensing technology is an ideal solution to this challenge as it piggybacks on the grid pre-installed fibre and offers cost-effective coverage of large geographic areas using high-performance passive sensors, not requiring buildings, power supplies, communication infrastructure, or GPS signals. Synaptec's customers have implemented novel control or protection schemes with a fraction of the cost of conventional technologies. However, the technology requires a significant upgrade in terms of the sensor dynamic range and accuracy to be adopted universally by the network operators -- including circuits both outside and within the substation. While protection-grade measurements external to the substations are sufficient to implement hybrid or multi-ended circuit protection schemes, metering-grade or combined metering/protection-grade sensors are necessary to offer a holistic approach for extra- and intra-substation measurements. We estimate a 10-fold increase of the market share for Synaptec's solutions if the extended dynamic range challenge could be solved. Consequently, this project will develop an extend-range sensor based on a ground-breaking new concept of passively auto-ranging the photonic transducer. The concept has been patented and early proof-of-concept investigations indicate its great success; however, the technology requires significant development before it can be turned into a commercial offering. Therefore, the project consortium comprising Synaptec, University of Strathclyde and ITL will design and demonstrate a TRL6-7 distributed sensor system based on the auto-ranging concept. The innovation will involve ultra-low-power electronics to deliver passive auto-ranging functionality that is local to the sensors, together with extended-range current-to-voltage inductive converters, and an algorithm operating within the firmware of the central sensor interrogator to detect remote range changes and provide output scaling. The project will deliver a technology demonstrator that will be proven using Strathclyde's kA-level current injection facilities. The solution will compete on the measurement range and accuracy with nonconventional optical instrument transformers while offering an unprecedented level of multiplexing and geographical coverage, unachievable at this price point by any other technology. The project will significantly benefit and accelerate UK's transition to a sustainable energy economy.

Power generation from offshore wind is subject to harsher environments than onshore wind, which can cause greater challenges for the reliability of critical infrastructure. One asset that is fundamental to the economic success of an offshore wind farm is the subsea cable infrastructure. This includes intra-array and export cables, failure of which will lead to significant loss of revenues through failure to export generated power, as well as penalties imposed by regulators. Since 2013, 8 TWh of electricity generated offshore has been lost due to subsea cable faults resulting in £\>1bn of losses for operators. In the offshore wind industry, 80% of the total cost of insurance claims are attributed to cable failures, while subsea cable expenditure only accounts for 9% of the capital cost of a new windfarm. Therefore, better cables or enhanced failure prognostics and monitoring systems are required to reduce the number of detectable cable failures and minimise the lost generation in the event of a fault. At present, no existing system is capable of accurately identifying, locating and offering mitigation in the event that a fault is detected. SmartCable will bring a radical solution to subsea cable condition monitoring, with Proserv integrating numerous state-of-the-art monitoring systems and the data they generate to provide operators with, for the first time, a complete picture of subsea cable heath for predictive maintenance with cost savings associated with reduced failures, and optimised repair scheduling. This will enable for the first time a cable monitoring system that can be deployed on subsea cabling for new and existing offshore wind farms. The SmartCable system, to be developed by Proserv will act as a decision-enabling platform to take the wealth of data -- temperature, electro-mechanical, partial discharge and acoustic data from the subsea cable fibre optic and main cores -- and correlate it centrally, developing a new common data language and applying bespoke machine learning algorithms to provide actionable intelligence to owner-operators on cable condition, and detect an operational fault at the earliest possible stage, long before a failure will take place. This will enable effective prediction of cable failure, allowing for contingency actions to be taken to reduce the risk of failure and plan for repairs. Analysis of the performance metrics and system data during a demonstration at Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine(LDT)will allow the long-term robustness and stability of the system to be validated in an offshore environment and optimised prior to commercialisation.

This project will address the problem of poor reliability of electricity supply in developing countries, focussing on a representative test case, Nepal. The approach will involve deploying revolutionary distributed instrumentation and control technology, pioneered by a UK start-up, Synaptec, in order to resolve power grid inefficiencies and offer greater availability of supply to large populations, thus addressing the competition's scope. The project consortium, also comprising of the University of Strathclyde, Instrument Transformers Limited, Maxwell Technologies, National Physical Laboratory, Nepal Electricity Authority, and Kantipur Engineering College will further develop key elements of Synaptec's technology. The adopted approach will improve upon the current state-of-the-art by offering unprecedented visibility of the power grid at low cost, thus enabling targeted and automated system response to achieve efficiency gains in energy transport and connection of intermittent generation. The technology will improve efficiency and availability, impacting NEA's day-to-day business; Synaptec and ITL will develop new products and access new markets; and the RTOs will discover and disseminate new knowledge. Keywords: distributed sensing & control; power grid management; smart grids.

"The use of High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) power transmission has grown over recent decades as power electronics have enabled DC power to be converted easily to AC, which is a more usable form of electricity. Over the coming decade, demand for HVDC based power systems is expected to rise substantially due to growth in adoption of offshore power generation and an increasing desire to minimise transmission losses. Given this growth in the HVDC transmission market (primarily interconnectors and export cables for offshore generation), it is desirable to develop systems to improve the reliability of DC power transmission platforms. Synaptec's instrumentation technology integrates optical fibre and piezoelectric technologies to facilitate novel distributed measurements of voltage and current along transmission lines using the pre-installed optical fibres. This offers unprecedented power system visibility for a low cost, enabling new control and protection functions to be implemented on complex circuits. However, present techniques that are successfully employed to measure AC current will not work for measurement of DC current, and new approaches and innovations are required to extend this platform to DC circuits. In this project, NPL will conduct a literature review of DC current measurement techniques that may be appropriate to be used as part of Synaptec's wide area distributed sensor platform. The merits and drawbacks of potential methods will be compared and the results of this analysis will be used to establish if a suitable method can be realised. Selected methods will be reduced to practice in collaboration with Synaptec. The aim of the work will be to provide Synaptec with a potential solution that can be further developed into a prototype product. Accessing the DC power transmission market would have significant impact on Synaptec's growth, and the success of this project will benefit the UK economy through development of new IP with the potential to improve the reliability and efficiency of clean power generation and transmission over long distances."

"Offshore wind power generation is subject to harsher environments than onshore wind, imposing greater challenges on the reliability of critical infrastructure. Of particular concern are subsea export and intra-array cables, failure of which can lead to significant loss of generation and repair costs. In offshore wind farms, such failures are reported to account for 75-80% of the total cost of insurance claims, while total cabling expenditure accounts for only around 9% of the capital cost of a new windfarm. Significantly enhanced protection and monitoring systems are required to ensure robustness of these key assets and minimise lost generation in the event of a fault, but no existing instrumentation solution provides the required visibility at low cost to implement such a system. This project will deliver the required innovative solution, built around unique photonic sensor technology developed by UK SME Synaptec Ltd, enabling for the first time cost-effective distributed electrical instrumentation of offshore systems. The technology will enable robust differential protection schemes to be deployed on array cabling for immediate identification of the affected section in the event of a cable fault, significantly reducing associated generation downtime and loss-of-revenue. The wealth of information leveraged using this technology can further be used for harmonic measurements, which can be used to identify cable resonance conditions known to weaken insulation. Combined with compatible fibre-optic temperature measurement on known points of failure to detect hotspots, this would enable for the first time prediction of cable failure on an integrated platform, allowing swift contingency actions to be taken to reduce the risk of failure or plan ahead for repairs, enabling lifetime extension through targeted maintenance. ORE Catapult will contribute engineering and market expertise, and enable Synaptec to test the subsea cable monitoring/protection platform developed in this project in a realistic environment on OREC's 7MW test turbine in Levenmouth, Fife. Logging of measurement and system data during the trial will allow the long-term stability of Synaptec's sensors installed in offshore environments to be assessed for the first time. Synaptec and OREC will examine this wealth of data to determine what ancillary information can be obtained beyond basic faulted cable detection functionality, e.g. power quality measurements and failure prognostics based on harmonic information. OREC will leverage its expertise in and contacts throughout the offshore renewables sector to produce a commercial case and organise stakeholder workshops to ensure the technology developed by this project accurately addresses the industry need."

Offshore renewable energy such as tidal, wave and offshore wind is an increasingly important part of the UK energy supply. However, there are challenges when it comes to operating in an offshore environment. Cable infrastructure can be vulnerable to being dragged or worn. Installation, repair and maintenance operations are all costly. The cable transmission capacity can limit the amount of energy taken from a device or device array. This project seeks to investigate the feasibility of two types of sensor technology measuring a wide range of cable parameters, that can operate over the optical communications fibre that is already present in most power cables. These systems can provide real time monitoring of electrical performance and also the physical condition of offshore cabling infrastructure. The expected outcome from the project are sensor subsystem designs that have been validated in the laboratory and in samples of marine power cable at partner test sites. This will allow the UK team to move forward to larger scale development and testing with a core of large industry partners

This project will conduct the substantial industrial R&D required to prototype and test a novel distributed photonic sensing technology for the power and energy industries. The unique sensing technology, developed by Synaptec Ltd, can provide wide-area monitoring of both electrical and mechanical parameters (e.g. voltage, current, temperature, vibration) from across the electrical grid from central locations such as transmission substations. By piggy-backing on pre-installed optical fibre on power networks, it will allow network operators to leverage existing infrastructure to improve the robustness of network protection, monitoring and control functions in order to bring on more distributed and renewable generation and reduce the risk and impact of faults or outages on the electrical system. This 36-month project will allow Synaptec to fully develop, validate and prototype a full suite of sensor systems (through both hardware and software engineering) based on this innovative technology platform in partnership with the UK's leading industrial, research and metrological institutions, and to prepare for commercial pilot installations with UK and EU electricity network operators.

Offshore renewable energy such as tidal, wave and offshore wind is an important part of the UK energy supply and is becoming more so. However there are challenges when it comes to operating in an offshore or marine environment. The cable infrastructure can be vulnerable to being dragged or worn. The transmission capacity can limit the ammount of energy taken from a device or device array. Repair of offshore cables or infrastructure is costly. This project seeks to investigate the feasibiity of combining two types of sensor technology on a shared optical fibre network that can provide real time monitoring of electrical performance and also the physical condition of a cable in a marine energy project. The proposed system would use pre- existing optical fibre already on the installed power cable to opticallly interrogate electrical sensors and to also perform as a dsitributed sensor The expected outcome from the project is a system level design with technical and commercial development plan to fully exploit this technology.

This project will assess the feasibility of deploying novel distributed photonic sensing technology in the power industry. The technology has been developed and patented by the University of Strathclyde, which has spun out Synaptec Ltd to commercialise the IP. The technology can uniquely provide measurements of both electrical and environmental parameters from a high number of widely-distributed locations on a power system. By coupling into existing optical fibre on power networks, it will allow network operators to leverage existing infrastructure to meet both present and future instrumentation demands in a manner that is highly cost-effective, secure, and rapid enough to underpin network protection, monitoring and control functions. This 12-month project will allow Synaptec to liaise with UK network operators and their approved vendors to define, construct, and characterise proof of concept systems for use on power networks with reference to relevant IEC industry standards. The project will design and simulate sensors to meet specific standards and accuracy classes and will therefore provide specifications for full-scale R&D to be pursued through a Mid-Stage award.