Calgary, Canada – A major Canadian utility has reported a 45% reduction in outage duration for its rural power networks after upgrading to the ABB REF542PLUS protection relay. The upgrade, completed across 28 remote substations in Q1 2025, has also improved the utility’s ability to integrate solar farms—helping it meet provincial renewable energy targets 6 months ahead of schedule.
Rural power networks face unique hurdles: long transmission lines, frequent weather-related faults (e.g., ice storms, lightning), and limited on-site maintenance staff. Prior to adopting the ABB REF542PLUS, the Canadian utility relied on legacy relays that took 2–3 hours to isolate faults and required monthly on-site checks. This led to extended outages for rural communities and slow progress in adding solar capacity.
“Our rural customers depend on reliable power for homes, farms, and small businesses—but legacy relays made it hard to respond quickly to faults,” said Mark Thompson, Grid Operations Director at the utility. “With the REF542PLUS, we can detect and isolate a fault in under a minute, and remote monitoring means we only visit substations when necessary. For a community that used to be without power for hours during a storm, this is a game-changer.”
The relay’s impact was felt across three critical areas of the utility’s operations: Faster Outage Recovery: The REF542PLUS’s rapid fault detection cut average outage duration from 90 minutes to 50 minutes, reducing customer complaints by 60% and saving the utility an estimated $240,000 annually in outage-related costs. Simplified Solar Integration: The relay’s flexible DER settings allowed the utility to connect three 5 MW solar farms to its rural grid without upgrading existing infrastructure. This added 15 MW of renewable capacity—enough to power 4,500 homes—and helped meet 12% of its 2025 renewable target. Lower Maintenance Costs: Remote monitoring eliminated 80% of unnecessary on-site visits, reducing travel costs and freeing up staff to focus on critical tasks. The utility estimates it saves 120 staff hours per month on maintenance.
“Rural power networks are the backbone of communities, but they often get overlooked in technology upgrades,” said Sarah Johnson, ABB’s Regional Sales Director for North America Power Grids. “The REF542PLUS is designed to meet the unique needs of these networks—combining ruggedness, speed, and smart features to keep power flowing reliably. This success in Canada shows how the right technology can bridge the urban-rural reliability gap.”
The Canadian utility plans to install the ABB REF542PLUS in 15 more substations by the end of 2025, with a goal of reducing rural outages by 60% overall. For more details on how the relay supports utility and industrial power networks, visit ABB’s customer success page.
