Southern States
Description
The Quality Name in High Voltage Switching
For over 100 years, Southern States has been a provider of essential products and services to electric utilities in the U.S. and Canada to support the Nations Electric Power Infrastructure. This includes high voltage switching products which transfer bulk power, switch loads to balance the system, and protect assets from damaging over currents.
Group Operated Disconnect Switches
Southern States manufactures one of the broadest array of group operated air break disconnect switches of any supplier in North America.
You can find these group operated disconnect switches utilized in substations and transmission line applications throughout the world, delivering energy reliably, safely and efficiently. You would expect no less from Southern States, which has set the standard for performance, quality and innovation in the power switching industry for more than 100 years.
Capacitor Switching
As utilities move toward a green energy future, the transition to cleaner fuels and the increasing installation of large-scale and distributed renewable energy resources are fueling an increased need for reactive power compensation. Shunt capacitor banks are a reliable and proven method to support this demand, providing voltage improvement, increased power flow capability, released capacity, and a reduction of line losses. With an inherent variability of output, however, the increase in renewable penetration, particularly that of solar and wind, has generated a greater need for frequent switching of these shunt capacitor banks.
For switching devices not specifically designed to this application, such as traditional circuit breakers and vacuum switches, energizing capacitor banks can result in harmful overvoltage and overcurrent transients. Deenergizing capacitor banks can also result in restrikes that can damage the capacitor bank, switching device and other system components.
Transmission Line Switching
An aging infrastructure, load growth, system capacity and an increase in renewable generation has fueled the growth of electric transmission line projects. This growth, along with a desire for higher reliability, has driven the need for more transmission line switches. Transmission line switches offer significant advantages for system operators, providing the ability to remotely isolate a faulted section of the line, reconfigure power flow and minimize the outage impact for its customers.
Although infrequently used, it is still critical that transmission line switches perform as designed when they are called upon to operate. Failure to do so can result in extensive customer outages, lost revenues as well as repair costs that can have significant financial impact for the utility.
Southern States supplies an array of traditional and innovative transmission line switching solutions along with many accessories that can minimize installation time and cost, maximize life of the switch, ensure proper adjustment and closure of the switch as well as offer interrupting capability. These switches include side-break and unitized configurations as well as integrated solutions such as “Substation in the Sky.”