Distribution System Component Failure Rates and Repair Times – An Overview

Fredrik Roos Sture Lindahl

Lund University, Sweden Lund University, Sweden
fredrik.roos@iea.lth.se sture.lindahl@iea.lth.se

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a literature search for publications containing
failure rates and repair times, based on operational experience, for distribution system
components that are critical to the reliability of a distribution system. Furthermore,
component failure rates found are compared with the conclusions drawn from a previously
conducted literature search.

INTRODUCTION

The awareness among electric utilities around the world of the importance of collecting and
analyzing component failure and repair data increases for each year. By incorporating
reliability considerations in the system design and in the planning of system expansion,
operation and maintenance the quality of supply can be improved. To obtain useful results
from system reliability assessments, reasonable values of component reliability parameters
need to be used. However, the required accuracy of the reliability data depends on the purpose
of the assessment, i.e., more accurate parameter values are required when determining actual
system performance than when comparing different system configurations.

For utilities participating in national statistics co-operations, databases of failure and repair
statistics are easily accessed. However, researchers at universities and those utilities that have
insufficient historical performance data on their own components have to rely on published
component reliability data. This published data may or may not be representative for the
system under study. Thus, before trusting any results obtained from a reliability study based
on published reliability data, it is advisable to perform a sensitivity analysis of the results to
component reliability parameters.

Component failure rates and repair times are obtained by observation of a population. Usually
the long-term average annual failure rate, λ, calculated as

number of failures
λ= ,
number of components considered ⋅ number of years of recorded data

is used in distribution system reliability analysis. The failures are divided into sustained
failures and temporary failures. Sustained failures require some kind of repair work to restore
the function of the component, while temporary failures will clear themselves if the
component is de-energized, the fault location is de-ionized and then the component is re-
energized.

The causes of component failures are due to a variety of factors such as:

• weather conditions (storms, lightning, snow, ice, outdoor temperature and air humidity),
• contamination,
• vegetation,

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• animals,
• humans,
• excessive ambient temperature,
• moisture,
• excessive load,
• lack of maintenance,
• ageing,
• wear out,
• design and
• manufacture.

These factors make the component failure rates vary with time and location. Therefore, it is
sometimes not accurate enough to assign identical average failure rate values to all
components of a particular type. Ideally, each component is treated as an individual with a
unique failure rate. However, by considering information sources providing average failure
rate values valid for a variety of conditions ranges within which it is reasonable to expect the
average failure rates to vary can be derived. Note, that the causes of incorrect behaviour of
protection and control systems and of circuit breakers are somewhat more complicated,
Heising et al. (1994), Kjølle et al. (2003) and Johannesson, Roos and Lindahl (2004).

Generally, the repair time is defined as the time it takes to restore component operation after a
permanent failure of the component. The repair time can be decomposed into the following
portions: The time required to get to the site, for switching operation and application of safety
earthing, analyse the failure, obtain spare parts, repair and return the component to service. In
addition, deliberate delays might be included. It is common practice to distinguish between
repair time and restoration time. The restoration time is generally defined as the time it takes
to restore customer service after a permanent failure on a component. There are three ways to
restore customer service after a permanent failure in a radial distribution system: through (1)
component repair, (2) component replacement or (3) switching operations. However, the
definitions of the repair time and the restoration time are not as well established as the
definition of the failure rate. Furthermore, other terms such as down time may occur.
Therefore, it is appropriate to define the time parameters for each occasion.

The purpose of this paper is twofold. The primary purpose is to present the results of a
literature search for publications containing distribution system component failure rates and
repair times, based on operational experience, that can be useful in distribution system
reliability studies. So far, there are two comprehensive reviews on information sources
providing distribution system component reliability data, Bollen (1993) and Brown (2002). In
addition to component reliability information based on operational experience, both these
previously conducted literature reviews considered recommended values found in book and
standards and values used in reliability studies. The references in Bollen (1993) were
published during the period from 1957 through 1992, with a majority of the references
published during the 1980s. Therefore, this paper considers information sources published
during the recent decade between 1993 and 2003. The secondary purpose is to investigate if
the recently published information sources indicate that the failure rate values suggested in
Bollen (1993) still holds.

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COMPONENT RELIABILITY DATA BASED ON OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCE

CIGRE 13.06 Working Group has conducted two worldwide reliability surveys of the
reliability of high-voltage circuit breakers in the voltage range 63 kV and above. Reference
Heising et al. (1994) summarizes the most significant reliability data from the two surveys. A
distinction is made between major failures and minor failures. A major failure occurs when
the breaker can no longer perform all of its fundamental functions, or when intervention
within 30 minutes is necessary. All other failures are referred to as minor failures. The circuit
breaker down time is defined as the time from the discovery of the failure until the breaker is
returned to service, excluding deliberate delays. For single-pressure SF6 breakers installed at
voltage levels 63-99 kV the second survey comprises 24,355 breaker-years. Table 1 shows
some of the results from the second survey covering the years 1988 through 1991.
Table 1 Major failure rate, minor failure rate and down time for major failures that are
presented in Heising et al. (1994).
down time
component major minor
average median
0.3 / (100 2.2 / (100
circuit breakers (63-99 kV, single-pressure SF6) 39.1 hrs 24.0 hrs
breakers, year) breakers, year)

In Lauronen and Partanen (1997) 8,000 km of MV rural distribution systems located in

Finland is studied. The work is based on all the sustained failures that occurred on the MV
distribution systems under study during the period from 1989 through 1995. The paper
presents the average sustained failure rates and the maximum annual sustained failure rates
for the period of study as shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Average sustained failure rates and maximum annual sustained failure rates
presented in Lauronen and Partanen (1997).
component average maximum
0.5 / (100 1.0 / (100
pole mounted transformers (< 315 kW, spark gap protected)
transformers, year) transformers, year)
overhead lines (including insulator and cross arm failures) 0.93 / (100 km, year) 1.81 / (100 km, year)
poles (impregnated wood) 0.084 / (100 km, year) 0.223 / (100 km, year)

Reference Maciela et al. (1999) reports on the French experience with the reliability
performance of MV polymer housed surge arresters that have been installed since 1992. The
population studied consisted of about 800,000 units. Table 3 shows the average failure rate of
these MV polymer housed surge arresters.
Table 3 Average failure rates of MV polymer housed surge arresters that have been installed
in France since 1992, presented in Maciela et al. (1999).
component average
surge arresters (MV, polymer housed) 0.03 / (100 arresters, year)

In Shwehdi et al. (2000) reliability data on industrial transformers is presented as shown in

Table 4. The data was recorded between 1995 and 1998 from observations of the performance
of transformers in operation at voltage levels between 2.5 and 35 kV in six different plant
locations in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The population studied consisted of 6353
units.

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Table 4 Average failure rates and average repair and replacement time presented in Shwehdi
et al. (2000).
repair and replacement
component average
time
0.5 / (100 transformers,
industrial transformers (2.5-35 kV, liquid filled) 308.9 hrs
year)

In Statnett (2002) average temporary and sustained failure rates for power system components
in Norway, for the period 1993 through 2002, are presented as shown in Table 5.
Table 5 Average temporary and sustained failure rates presented in Statnett (2002).
component temporary sustained
overhead lines (33-110 kV) 1.04 / (100 km, year) 0.5 / (100 km, year)
underground cables (33-110 kV) 0.15 / (100 km, year) 0.95 / (100 km, year)
0.4 / (100 0.6 / (100
power transformers (33-110 kV)
transformers, year) transformers, year)
0.9 / (100 0.6 / (100
protection and control for power transformers (33-110 kV)
transformers, year) transformers, year)

In addition to average failure rates, the cumulative distributions of the repair time for various
power system components are presented in Statnett (2002). In general, repair times differ
significantly, even for components of the same type, which results in a large value of the
standard deviation of the repair times for components of a particular type. Consequently, the
mean value of the component repair times cannot be considered as a “representative” value of
the component repair time. Despite this inadequacy of the mean values of the component
repair times given in Statnett (2002), the mean component repair times, based on repairs
carried out in Norway during the period 1993-2002, are shown in Table 6.
Table 6 Mean component repair times, based on repairs carried out during the period 1993-
2002, presented in Statnett (2002).
component mean repair time
overhead lines (33-110 kV) 54 hrs & 1 min
underground cables (33-110 kV) 127 hrs & 55 min
power transformers (33-110 kV) 115 hrs & 59 min
protection and control for power transformers (33-110 kV) 14 hrs & 48 min
circuit breakers (33-110 kV) 52 hrs & 1 min

CONCLUSIONS

The authors´ experience is that the amount of published distribution system component
reliability data, based on operational experience, is quite limited. Though, reliability data,
published during the period 1993 through 2003, has been found on the following distribution
system components that are critical to the reliability of a distribution system.

• overhead lines,
• underground cables,
• circuit beakers,
• pole mounted transformers,
• power transformers,
• surge arresters and
• protection and control systems.

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The sustained failure rates for MV/MV transformers published during the recent decade
indicate a variation of the average transformer failure rates in the range 0.4-1 failures / (100
transformers, year). As a comparison the transformer failure rate ranges suggested in
reference Bollen (1993) are given below.

MV/LV transformers: 0.1-0.2 / (100 transformers, year)

MV/MV transformers: 1-1.3 / (100 transformers, year)
HV/MV transformers: 1.4-2.5 / (100 transformers, year)

Reference Statnett (2002) report on a sustained underground cable failure rate of 0.95 failures
/ (100 km, year), while reference Bollen (1993) suggests the underground cable failure rate
range 1.3-2.5 failures / (100 km, year).

Transformer and cable failure rates published during the recent decade indicate somewhat
lower values than the suggested values in reference Bollen (1993).

DISCLAIMER

The authors have done their best in providing an overview of the available information
sources, published during the period 1993-2003, on distribution system component failure
rates and repair times derived from historical component performance data. However, it is
very likely that there is relevant literature that has not been given the attention it deserves. The
authors are aware of the existence of the following publications, which have not been
available to the authors due to a limited budget.

Verlo, T.; Lundgaard, L. and Faremo, H.: ”Failure Statistics of Mass Impregnated Cables,
Joints and Terminations”, Technical Report, TR A4432, SINTEF Energy Research, June
1996.

Gjærde, A. C.; Lundgaard, L. and Faremo, H.: ”Feilstatistikk for massekabel,

endeavslutninger og skjøter 1991-1995”, Technical Report, TR A4540, SINTEF Energy
Research, May 1997. (in Norwegian)

Worth mentioning is the IEEE standard 493-1997. This standard is a revised version of the
IEEE standard 493-1990, which has been included in the literature reviews Bollen (1993) and
Brown (2002). IEEE standard 493-1997 provides a summary of electrical equipment
reliability data obtained from extensive IEEE surveys.

REFERENCES

Bollen, M. H. J.: ”Literature Search for Reliability Data of Components in Electric

Distribution Networks”, Technical Report, EUT 93-E-276, Eindhoven University of
Technology, August 1993.

Brown, R. E.: “Electric Power Distribution Reliability”, Section 4.5, pp. 134-141, New York:
Marcel Dekker, 2002.

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Heising, C. R.; Janssen, A. L. J.; Lanz, W.; Colombo, E. and Dialynas, E. N.: “Summary of
CIGRE 13.06 Working Group World Wide Reliability Data and Maintenance Cost Data on
High Voltage Circuit Breakers Above 63 kV”, Conference Record, Vol. 3, pp. 2226-2234,
1994 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, October 2-6, 1994, Denver.

Johannesson, T.; Roos, F. and Lindahl, S.: “Reliability of Protection Systems – Operational
Experience 1976-2002”, Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1, pp. 303-306, Eighth IEE
International Conference on Developments in Power System Protection, April 5-8, 2004,
Amsterdam.

Kjølle, G. H.; Heggset, J.; Gjerde, O. and Hjartsjø, B. T.: ”Feilstatistikk for vern, kontroll- og
automatiseringsutstyr 1-420 kV”, Technical Report, TR A5739, SINTEF Energy Research,
February 2003. (in Norwegian)

Lauronen, J. and Partanen, J.: ”The Fault Rate of Electrical Distribution Network Components
in Different Weather Conditions and in Different Seasons of the Year”, Conference
Proceedings, Power Quality Applications ´97 Conference, June 15-18, 1997, Stockholm.

Maciela, F.; Le Roux, P.; Gazzola Ferraz, C.; Malpiece, F. and Tartier Sediver, S.: ”French
Service Experience with MV Polymer Housed Surge Arresters”, Conference Proceedings,
Fifteenth CIRED International Conference on Electricity Distribution, June 1-4, 1999, Nice.

Shwehdi, M. H.; Bakhashwain, J. M.; Farag, A. S. and Assiri, A. A.: “Distribution

Transformers Reliability; Industrial Plant in Saudi Arabia”, Conference Proceedings, Vol. 4,
pp. 2769-2774, 2000 IEEE Power Engineering Society Winter Meeting, January 23-27, 2000,
Singapore.

Statnett (2002): “Driftsforstyrrelser i 33-420 kV nettet – Årsstatistikk 2002”, Statnett. (in

Norwegian)