Acquisition adds powerline monitoring

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jan 11, 2007

Nexans has completed the acquisition of The Valley Group (TVG), the world leader in real-time thermal rating technology for overhead power transmission applications.

Nexans has completed the acquisition of The Valley Group (TVG), the world leader in real-time thermal rating technology for overhead power transmission applications to provide reliable power line monitoring for electric utilities.

This strategic acquisition will enable Nexans to add further value for utility customers by expanding its role from supplying overhead power cables to providing power transmission solutions and optimising their operation.

TVG, based in Connecticut, USA, has annual revenues of around US $2 million.

It was founded in 1991 to develop real-time rating equipment, software and services.

The company's key high added-value product is the CAT-1 transmission line monitoring system that provides real-time monitoring of the load on overhead power lines by measuring conductor tension and local weather parameters and feeding the information back to the network operator's Scada control system.

The operator then uses this data to optimise the load on the overhead lines, so that they can transmit more power, while ensuring that the line sag remains well within safety limits.

TVG is a specialist in real-time thermal rating technology for overhead lines, with over 300 systems installed at 50 utilities worldwide.

The rating technology can help to optimise an existing network, as well as improving the performance of new networks, by providing increases in transmission capacity of between 15 to 30%, to avoid network congestion.

"This acquisition reinforces our leadership position in high voltage transmission systems as TVG's world-leading technology will enable us to deliver even greater added value for utility customers by helping them to improve the reliability and operational performance of their networks to ensure security of supply", said Pascal Portevin, Executive Vice President, Strategic Operations.

"It is a strategic development that sees our role expand in scope from product supplier - in this case cables for overhead power lines - to be a provider of optimised power transmission solutions".