Serveron's Blackout-Preventing Systems Gain Europe's CE Marking And IEC Certification
Hillsboro, OR - Serveron Corporation, a leading provider of smart grid technology to help prevent transformer failures and power system blackouts, recently announced it has received European regulatory approval and the CE marking for its suite of transformer monitors, as well as certification to several European Norm (EN) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards.
The CE Marking, also known as an electronic product's trade "passport" for Europe, indicates compliance with the essential health and safety requirements established by European Directives. The letters 'CE' are a designation also widely recognized and accepted in other markets throughout the world.
In addition to the CE mark, Serveron has been certified to a variety of EN standards, which are set by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), for radiated and conducted emissions and immunity, as well as certification to (IEC) standards for product safety. The IEC is the international standards and conformity assessment body for all fields of electrotechnology.
Serveron's CEO Bart Tichelman stated, "Although customers for Serveron's products do not require suppliers to obtain CE designation, we pursued the approvals to demonstrate our broad commitment to the European market and the reliability of our products for the harsh environment of electric power generation facilities as well as transmission and distribution substations."
"Serveron has uniquely focused on developing well-designed products that meet international standards for performance, reliability and safety," Mr. Tichelman continued. "Use of our on-line monitoring has demonstrated that it prevents catastrophic failures of the large power transformers that are among an electric utility's most valuable assets."
Power transformers, which either step-up or step-down the voltage of electricity to enable its transmission and distribution, represent the single largest asset class for power generating and power distribution companies other than the power plants themselves. Replacement cost for a failed transformer can range from €1 million to €5 million or more, and there are hundreds of thousands of such units now deployed worldwide.
More than a dozen major electric utilities in the United States are committed to new voluntary transformer-monitoring standards to help prevent transformer failures, which can be a major cause of blackouts. Serveron now markets its advanced dissolved gas transformer monitoring technology to electric utilities, and other power generating and distribution organizations in Europe and around the world. They enable power producers to constructively address the impact on global reliability of aging power generation and distribution infrastructure.
On-site transformer monitoring helps electric utilities manage their expensive transformer assets more reliably, operate them with a greater margin of safety, enabling them to minimize or delay the costs of repairing or replacing these valuable assets.
SOURCE: Serveron Corporation