About the innovator

Altea power monitoring solutions is a young, innovative company, focused on the development of low power instrument transformers (LPITs) for the measurement of voltage and current in power distribution grids.
The diffusion of small generating points, the increasing amount of energy demand by modern cities, and growth of the electricity demand by electric vehicles, stress the distribution networks. That leads to accelerated aging and faults.
Altea's low power instruments transformers are the enabling technologies for the evolution of power grids into smart grids: a cost-effective, minimum footprint measurement equipment permits a widespread dissemination of measurement points, enhancing the capillary knowledge of the grid. That gives the possibility to analyze the network status and equalize its loads to reduce the stress and fault probability. Moreover, a capillary knowledge of the grid allows real-time fault detection and self-healing of the affected portion.

What is the innovation

Power grid is a critical infrastructure, its functionalities and reliability are of paramount importance, so its elements must follow strict standards.
Typically, Current and voltage measurements were performed by iron-core transformers. Their performance is good enough for a basic power-grid control and protection, but not for power quality and grid analyses. Moreover, it is impossible to install many expensive, big, and heavy transformers to have a widespread covering.
In the last years, new technologies were emerging to overcame transformers' poor performance, with larger bandwidth, lower cost weights and dimensions, higher accuracy and reliability: low power instruments transformers (LPITs). These new solutions attracted the attentions of the distribution grid operators and Altea developed new medium voltage low power current and voltage instrument transformers for trials and highly customized systems.
The better performance of LPITs was confirmed by more and more customers, and in the last year the new IEC 61869 standard was published. This standard strictly standardize the interface of LPIT, ensuring the interoperability between them and all the new "smart" power-grid automation systems, so opening the market for this new technology. So Altea, in the SOGNO project, reviewed the design of its indoor and outdoor low-power voltage and current instrument transformers for medium voltage distribution grid monitoring. These products are now compliant to the new IEC 61869-10, -11 standard. Attention has been payed to reach the good performances needed for protection applications, measurement (i.e., accuracy class 0.5), power quality analysis, and fault identification and location.

Out of the lab. Into the market

Altea is already present in the low power instruments transformers market, and it is proposing them to big and small distributor system operators, to power-grid automation systems manufacturer, and leading companies in the market of electrical equipment, proposing to embed the LPITs in standards elements. Moreover, Altea is providing to start-ups the measurement points for testing their highly innovative medium voltage grids monitoring systems.
The feedback is really positive: a lot of pilot projects have started to test the operation of the new low power instruments transformers.
The homologation of the product is necessary to step into the market, so Altea is running type tests in accredited laboratory in compliance with the new standard IEC 61869-10, -11.

Benefits of participation in Horizon 2020

The Horizon 2020 programme enable Altea to work together with small and big distributor grid operators. The results of its various test pilots will one basis for a market expansion of Altea's new solutions.
The great networking between Altea and new start-ups operating in grid monitoring is an important plus: we are enhancing their experience in "on the field" problems and their approach and we are working in cutting edge systems and technologies.
Moreover, the financial contribution by the Horizon 2020 programme, permitted to work on more LPIT development projects together greatly reducing the time to market.

This innovation was funded via H2020 project Sogno-Energy.

Team behind the innovation

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