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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Beginnings: 1990
The Valley Group was founded in 1990 by Tapani "Tap" O. Seppa as a sole proprietorship. After decades in the power utility industry, in research, sales, marketing and management, Tap decided to start The Valley Group. His idea was to find a simpler and more accurate method of transmission line thermal rating - a way to increase the amount of power run through overhead power lines almost all of the time. This idea would become the CAT-1 Transmission Line Monitoring System.
The Valley Group got its name from its first location, North Valley Road, where they were based from 1990-1994.
CAT-1 Series 1: 1991
In 1991, after developing the prototype CAT-1 system, the first production series of six CAT-1 systems was built for Virginia Power, Public Service of Colorado, and Imatran Voima of Finland.
The accuracy of CAT-1 took a quantum leap from previous thermal rating methods. Tension measurements by precision load cells took direct measurements from the line, unlike weather-based methods. And importantly, tension provided a measurement directly related to the average temperature of the entire line section (between dead-end structures) and directly related to all the sags and clearances in the entire line section, unlike spot temperature measurements.
CAT-1 stands for "Clearance Assurance of Transmission", the reliable and safe operation of transmission lines assured by CAT-1 at the higher line ratings provided. The name is also inspired by "catenary," from the catenary curve shape of the transmission line spans measured by CAT-1.
Early CAT-1 systems operated as data loggers, with data downloaded every few weeks for engineering analysis. Part of the rugged reliability and ease of use of these early systems was their employment of cellular data transmission for this purpose.
The first CAT-1 system was installed on a 500 kV line by Virginia Power in 1991.
CAT-1 Series 2: 1992-1997
An improved production series, CAT-1 Series 2, was started in 1992. From 1992-1997, 88 Series 2 systems were sold.
The development of the Net Radiation Sensor in 1994 made CAT-1 even more accurate. The NRS, a replica of the unenergized conductor, was used to greatly simplify rating calculations without high maintenance solar transducers and the complicated trigonometric equations involved otherwise. The patented NRS provided the CAT-1 with an ease and accuracy to its real time ratings that could not and still cannot be matched by any competitor.
In 1995, the company's operations transferred to The Valley Group, Inc., a Connecticut corporation. The Valley Group, Inc. moved to its current location of 871 Ethan Allen Highway in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
The first EMS/SCADA-integrated real time rating systems were installed in 1995-1996 at Entergy, Florida Power Corporation and Boston Edison.
CAT-1 Series 3: 1997 to present
Another improvement in the CAT-1 design was realized when the single board design of Series 3 was launched in 1997.
In conjunction, specially-manufactured stainless steel load cells with patented electrical protection were developed. Our years of experience with providing monitoring equipment for the transmission line environment has given us the experience and insight to provide highly reliable equipment for this difficult operating environment. We even decided to provide an additional year on the warranty of the load cells because of our great confidence in them.
Since TVG's founding, over 300 CAT-1 systems have been installed by over 100 utilities in 20+ countries on 5 continents, including the United States, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Other Products
In 1998, The Valley Group, Inc., began to market the RateKit Thermal Rating Toolkit, a software tool for fast and easy rating calculations. Version 5 was released in 2008.
Acquisition by Nexans
On January 1, 2007 The Valley Group was acquired by Nexans. The Valley Group, a Nexans company now enjoys the synergies of working with Nexans, an international leader in transmission line cable solutions.
Our North American headquarters are in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Our international headquarters are located in Paris, France.
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