Power projects of any sort provide vital services to the public and as such operational downtime must be kept to an absolute minimum. But what could lead to operational downtime? Fault currents can cause significant damage to a power infrastructure; however it is not always as serious as that, some maintenance activities may require a proportion of a power network to be temporarily closed down.

The JMI technical team has developed a number of systems over the years to overcome a range of challenges, including establishing safe testing methodologies for live systems, retrofitting new corrosion resistant earthing / grounding measures, along with the obvious need to provide effective earthing / grounding, lightning protection and surge protection provisions for power sites.

Steve Hutchinson, FM Sudafix Group Chief Executive, commented, “I have always pushed our team to offer superior levels of support in the power generation and transmission sector and I think they have done some really great work over the years, and I am really proud of that. We are fortunate to be recognised for our excellent products and services and that significant power companies all over the world know to come to us if they face challenges. I love the power sector, I find it exciting, and being able to visit significant power projects in all of the countries where we operate gives me a great deal of satisfaction, especially when I can recognise the improvements that we contribute.

“Conducrete, a high performance conductive aggregate, always proves incredibly useful in achieving the target resistance value, and it has been a big hit with power organisations all over the world.”

If you have any concerns about the effectiveness of electrical safety systems on a power project then you are welcome to get in touch.

In the UK the telecommunications infrastructure is mostly provided by BT and their position in the market is largely without comparable rival. Companies such as Virgin Media have competed with BT, becoming the service provider for hundreds of thousands of broadband users, but infrastructure has mostly continued to be owned by BT. Now it seems that Fujitsu is attempting to join in the domestic broadband marketplace and have targeted rural users as their chosen entry point demographic.

The government has a fund to help stimulate rural broadband initiatives and Fujitsu will be seeking to obtain a significant proportion of this finance, as well as relying upon some of BT’s incumbent infrastructure that the organisation has recently been made to make available to competitors.

Fujitsu is likely to be encouraged by significant internet service providers like Virgin Media and Talk Talk have already affirmed that they will use the Fujitsu infrastructure, but the scale of government investment that the company seeks (some £500m of the £530m available) is likely to make their proposal more than challenging.

Whilst Fujitsu’s plan would introduce some real competition to BT in rural areas it is far from certain, it clearly demonstrates that the seeming monopoly that BT has largely enjoyed for decades is going to be challenged from now on.

Whether the telecommunication company is BT, Fujitsu or any other organisation, they can rely upon the expertise of the FM Sudafix Group to help protect their broadband infrastructure. Broadband exchange cabinets face demanding challenges when it comes to electrical earthing due to the restrictive footprint within which earthing systems have to fit, the prospect of vandalism and thieves, whilst achieving the target electrical earthing resistance value. Fortunately the technical arm of the FM Sudafix Group can develop systems meeting stringent performance requirements, and this is made all the more achievable through excellent products like Conducrete, which is a conductive concrete, and has been used in earthing systems in trenches, boreholes, backfilled earth rods, encased plates and lattice mats, and even as foundation slabs.

When it comes to telecommunication earthing systems choosing FM Sudafix as a partner holds numerous advantages and benefits from cost saving to performance enhancements, so feel free to get in touch.

As FM Sudafix has recurrently demonstrated Conducrete® is the ideal earthing/grounding solution. With transferable application and installation methodologies Conducrete® is able to substantially enhance the performance and durability of any earthing/grounding arrangement. As the demand for information about this product and its impressive attributes expands it has become necessary to resource Conducrete® with a dedicated website, which can now be found at conducrete.com. This resource is intended to provide information for architects, consultants and project managers seeking to apply the most cost effective and performance enhancing earthing/grounding arrangement, and for other interested parties seeking to learn more about this highly sought and widely applied technology.