Germany – German electric utility company E.On has mapped its first high-voltage substation in virtual reality (VR), which will allow its partner companies to conduct substation training at any location by wearing appropriate VR glasses.
After a project phase of several months, the new technology will be used in practice by Bayernwerk, a German network operator within the E.On Group which has around 750 substations and switching stations in its network area, reports Electric Light & Power.
The use of VR for training and instruction purposes on such a high number of substations is estimated to create an annual saving potential of around 800 to 1,000 hours of travel time when the transformer stations are fully digitized.
The first transformer station shown in virtual reality is located in Gebelkofen, a small town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. Bayernwerk assumes that the complete mapping of all its sites in VR will take another four years.
VR elements or comparable technology are also used by other German E.On network operators such as Avacon, e.dis and HanseWerk, as well as E.On Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The new technology offers recruiting and training benefits, without any safety risk.
Source: Electric Light & Power