Fiber-optic sensors could soon be deployed commercially to help cut theft from overhead power lines, after a successful demonstration project by UK firm Bandweaver.
The company’s distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system, which exploits back-scattering effects to detect disturbances along an optical fiber, showed it could detect any intrusion and disruption of the line.
Following the proof-of-principle tests at an electrical sub-station in the Dominican Republic, a large-scale deployment looks likely next year, with other potential customers interested and tenders being drawn up in India and Thailand.
