Funding for technology to protect power supply

A device which protects power networks from disruption and damage has won extra funding for commercial development.

FaultCurrent uses ground-breaking magnetic technology to allow the power grid to cope with excessive fault conditions, brought about by the rapid move towards decentralisation of electricity generation, including the connection of alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.

Developed as a spin-out from research undertaken at Cardiff University, the device is inactive during normal power flow and only reacts when excessive fault currents are detected, inhibiting the flow to allow the existing power network protection systems to safely isolate the problem.

Eriez Investments becomes a shareholder

in FaultCurrent, and Eriez Magnetics Europe Limited, who were engaged in the manufacture of Fault-Current’s full-scale prototype, will manufacture the commercial product under licence at its facility in Caerphilly.

Martin Ansell, Chairman and CEO of FaultCurrent, said: “With help from the UK Government’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and our founding investor the IP Group, FaultCurrent has already successfully tested a full-scale prototype and now has the investment needed to refine its design into a commercial product, suitable for application on power distribution grids.”

The patented technology behind FaultCurrent has been developed by Dr Jeremy Hall at Cardiff University’s Wolfson Centre for Magnetics.