Prisma Photonics is using a system based on optical fibres to monitor Israel Electrical Corporation (IEC) transmission lines for faults and damage.

PrismaPower provides alerts for different power transmission events. It was deployed as part of a commercial agreement, monitoring damage to lines and towers, electrical faults, and extreme weather conditions.

The collaboration started as a part of Israel’s Innovation Authority’s programme to run pilots in governmental companies and national infrastructure. Moving on from that beginning, these days, over 100km of transmission lines are being monitored.

PrismaPower uses the existing optical fibre network deployed as part of IEC’s transmission grid. The system identifies safety events such as inflicted damage and climbing on power towers, detecting electrical faults, short circuits, partial discharges, and alerting on extreme weather conditions, strong winds, lightning strikes near the power lines and more. Monitoring the optical fibre also protects from physical interferences to the communication infrastructure.

PrismaPower turns the optical fibre network into a set of highly sensitive distributed sensors detecting and pinpointing events to power tower locations in real time. That’s without any extra sensor installation on the powerlines or towers. It is remote sensing for hundreds of kilometres, all the time, everywhere, and in any weather.

This system monitors the entire overhead electric grid using optical fibre sensors. It is an important step forward in the collaboration between the two companies. In addition, it demonstrates IEC’s commitment to leveraging innovation to ensure the transmission grid’s safety, integrity and functionality while remaining environmentally responsible.

“In keeping with its innovation strategy, IEC is constantly looking for new, innovative and creative technology for its core business,” said Amir Livne, senior vice president at IEC. “As a leading energy company, we welcome the cooperation with Prisma Photonics, as part of our partnership with start-up companies to strengthen our abilities to provide reliable, high quality, readily available electrical power.”

Eran Inbar, Prisma Photonics’ CEO, added: “A cooperation between a government-owned corporation and a start-up is not obvious. It shows the commitment to the changes in the local and global energy ecosystem and the openness to embrace innovation. We want to thank IEC for their trust in us and see this as the first step in a joint journey ahead.”

Prisma Photonics’ Hyper-Scan fibre sensing technology is for monitoring long-stretch utility infrastructure and covers safety, preventive and predictive maintenance, and security scenarios. The company was established in 2017 by entrepreneurs experienced in lasers, optical fibres, algorithms and machine learning.

The IEC is a public and government-owned company, generating and supplying electricity to all sectors of the economy. It is 99.85% owned by the state of Israel. Activities include the generation, transmission and transformation, distribution, supply, and sale of electricity.