Great River Energy to deploy grid monitoring solution on fibre optic network across Minnesota
Prisma Photonics and Great River Energy.
Minnesota coop Great River Energy will deploy Prisma Photonics’ grid monitoring technology across 90km of transmission lines.
The multi-year project is planned to implement the PrismaCircuit and PrismaClimate solutions across five critical transmission lines connected to four substations through fibre optic infrastructure in central and northern Minnesota.
The aim is to enable real-time monitoring and notification of threats to Great River Energy’s power lines, including wildfires, icing, wind and physical damage such as downed lines.
“As we work to maintain reliable service for our member-owners throughout Minnesota’s distinct seasons, we’re leveraging innovative new technologies that maximise our existing infrastructure investments,” said Great River Energy’s Priti Patel, VP and Chief Transmission Officer.
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“This solution allows us to utilise our current fibre optic network in a new way to increase resilience in areas of northern and central Minnesota.”
Unlike traditional monitoring solutions that require installing physical sensors on power lines, Prisma Photonics’ approach enables seamless and rapid deployment without service interruption or specialised installation crews.
The technology covers every section of the monitored lines in all weather conditions, delivering real-time alerts for various grid events, including electrical faults, physical disturbances and severe weather conditions, with precise location information down to the specific tower.
With this maintenance crews are able to respond more efficiently, reducing downtime and improving overall grid reliability.
Dr Eran Inbar, CEO of Prisma Photonics, adds that the partnership with Great River Energy demonstrates how utilities can extract additional value from their existing infrastructure to enhance grid resilience.
“As the world grapples with increasing extreme weather events, innovative power utilities like Great River Energy are working to adapt by hardening and modernising grid assets to ensure safe, continued service for customers.”
In March 2024, Great River Power launched an initiative to install Heimdall Power’s dynamic line rating technology on its transmission system – at the time stated as the largest project of its type in the US – following a pilot demonstrating an average almost 43% average increase in transmission capacity in the existing lines.
