Overview

The New Millennium is a time of change for the Electric Power Industry; new trading blocks have been formed, transnational mergers of manufacturers are being consolidated and key European utilities are all introducing unbundling programmes to split the generators from the transmission network and distributors, often by privatisation of nationalised undertakings. The European Community has introduced the Single Market and the Utilities Directive has changed the way that purchasers and manufacturers are making commercial contracts within the Community.

The widespread use of power electronics to control large items of power plant, and to replace conventional high voltage devices, is revolutionising the control of high-voltage networks, allowing operators to redirect power flow through under-utilised parts of a network in order to maximise power flow in a system while minimising capital investment. At the same time new testing techniques are evolving where microprocessors and computers are used for the on-line manipulation and enhancement of recorded signals to provide better information regarding equipment under test.

During the 1980s and 1990s there was reduction in popularity of power engineering amongst students, and many high-voltage laboratories at universities and polytechnics were closed down. The equipment was sold and the space converted to provide laboratories for light-current engineering. In the United Kingdom the industrial base shrank due to mergers and closures, and many industrial high-voltage laboratories were closed or mothballed. Few young engineers saw a future in the area of high-voltage engineering and the remaining high voltage laboratories are largely staffed by older...