High-power testing: key to quality assurance of circuit breakers in a deregulated environment

In the past, system operators (SO) and power companies had long term relations with some (mostly local) suppliers/manufacturers. The (sometimes) high costs of the components were not under discussion because the prime target was reliability and the ability to meet considerable growth in the (far) future. Nowadays SOs and power companies are in the process of privatization. Cost need to be reduced, the time span of planning is shortened and manufacturers from all over the world supply "equal" equipment. At the same time, technical expertise fades away from the equipment users and is (going to be) left in the hand of the supplier or is outsourced to third party consultants. Meanwhile the operation of the network is becoming more complicated due to a variety of economy-driven reasons. Its components have to cope with higher and more varying stresses. In this diffuse field, the independent certifying laboratories, nowadays more than before, play the important role to intermediate in the process of guaranteeing that key components (such as circuit breakers and power transformers) meet the requirements of the user, also in nonstandard situations.