How Total Energies Are Maximising Profits & Operations With Voltage Optimisation


Case Study For Total Energies in Luanda, Angola

Total Energies is 1 of the 7 “Supermajor” petroleum companies in the world and has maintained a presence in Angola since 1953. They are primarily active in exploration & production, gas & power, and renewable energies. 

Total Energies expanded its operations in 2012 with a newly built Commercial Building to support its ever-growing Exploration & Production business in the region. 

Photos at the end

The Problem:

Angola’s Pitfall Dealing With Unreliable Power

With frequent outages, regular brown-outs, low electricity connections, and ever-rising electricity tariffs, Angola’s transmission infrastructure stand out as one of the least efficient in Africa.

To meet the increasing energy demand of its growing population, the Angolan government has stated that it aims to improve electric power availability by achieving a national electrification rate of 60%.

However, problems of electrical reliability have been a setback to the goal, as such problems for commercial and industrial purposes can have potentially devastating effects on their operations, firm productivity, and growth.

The Painful Impact On Total Energies

Total Energies grappled with a wide swing of incoming voltage fluctuations that was detrimental to the operations of its new commercial building. 

It has been suspected that a power quality issue from the local grid and an isolation transformer configured for a full load resulted in the building’s voltage experiencing a fluctuation of up to 448 V.

The huge spike would lead to a shortened lifespan of the connected loads, easily causing disruptive breakdowns or malfunctions that impact operational efficiency and even devastating downtime – risking the company millions of dollars in profitability.

The Ashley Edison (UK) Solution 

Ashley Edison identified that the following challenges had to be resolved – while meeting the client’s requirements:

• Total Energies suffered low incoming voltages of almost 289V (3 Phase).
• Erratic voltage fluctuations to a high of up to 448V (3 Phase).
• Conventional isolation transformers could not solve such challenging irregular mains supply.
• Power rating requirements of up to 10 MVA.
• Constant and stable incoming power supply.
• Requirements for only the best solution in the market.

Upon careful investigation and meeting requirements, Ashley Edison recommended that the IVSI series of oil-immersed magnetic induction voltage stabilizers be installed at the building along with the main switchboards. The Ashley Edison team is involved in implementing the following setups to eliminate the effects of fluctuating incoming voltage:

Reliability That’s Worth Every Penny

In 2012, Ashley Edison implemented a Plug & Forget Solution for Total Energies:

The IVSI Series – Automatic Voltage Stabiliser offers industrial-grade protection for 3-phase applications that demand highly precise output regulation. These voltage stabilizers are based on the magnetic induction design, which boasts reliability, and low operating costs for a huge range of applications. Not only does the IVSI Series provide ± 1.5% regulation accuracy, but different models are also available to support a wide range of input voltage swings. 

Maximum Protection Against The Harshest Environments

This specified Automatic Voltage Stabiliser series includes:

• Magnetic Induction, Brushless Technology
• Contactless Design for high reliability
• Oil Immersed for enhanced cooling and improved operational efficiency
• Independent Phase Balancing & Control: Automatic voltage sensing & precise regulation to ensure the individual phase voltages remain stable – regardless of load change or unbalance.
• Exceptionally wide input voltage tolerance that compensates low voltage values from 280V, and covers high voltage values up to 460V.
• Transient Voltage Surge Protection (TVSS) to protect critical loads against harmful high energy surges, transients and spikes.
• Big capacity power rating to cater for future facility expansions
  
  

The Complete Solution comprises of the following:

• Automatic Voltage Stabilisers (Model: IVSI Series)
  • 1,000 KVA x 1 unit
  • 1,250 KVA x 5 units
  • 2,000 KVA x 2 units
• Main Switchboards x 8 units (from 1,000 KVA up to 2,000 KVA)

The Results

As expected, the fitting of automatic voltage stabilizers ensures that the building receives a stable and clean power supply. The installation included a 3-year warranty on all parts but since 2012, there has been no reported operational issues to date. This installation still stands, powering and heavily protecting the entire development.

In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Total Energies was ranked as the 29th-largest public company in the world. 

To learn more on how to optimise your electrical system and protect your uptime, drop us an email at sales@ashleyedison.com.