Gil Parker
A BRIGHT IDEA (excerpt)—November 2000
Fibre optics have fed numerous amazing discoveries into industry. None has more potential than measurement of power in mainline and commercial substations. On first look that doesn't seem very exciting, but this technical breakthrough could eliminate the presently-used, ceramic-insulated, iron-core transformers--devices that degrade over time and sometimes fail catastrophically.
NxtPhase, a Vancouver start-up technology firm, hopes to lead the power measurement race, an estimated $600 million market annually over the next decade. Started as a research project in 1993 at the University of British Columbia, NxtPhase was formed in 1999 as a combination of Carmanah Engineering and a group from Honeywell Inc., of Phoenix, Arizona. The company is convinced that their patented optical current and voltage transducers are an essential link in sorting out the new energy milieu.
The need for safe and accurate measurement of current and voltage is not simply fueled by replacement of failed conventional devices. It is driven by the trend to power utility deregulation. The separation of generation, transmission and distribution, especially in the USA, is creating a burgeoning market for advanced technology. Like the long-distance telephone competition of the past decade, the drive to become "your power company" could soon become the equivalent commercial bazaar.
