RTV Silicone Coatings

for Insulators
Reliability and Beyond
Faisal HUDA, General Manager
CSL Silicones Inc., Guelph, CANADA

Presented at 2005 World Congress & Exhibition

on Insulators, Arresters & Bushings
Hong Kong, 27- to 30-NOV-2005

1 Background: An Industry under Stress

Through the industry-wide trend of the balkanization and privatization of power companies, the
reliability of the worlds electric power infrastructure has deteriorated.
The IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the Council of Europes Parliamentary
Assembly, the United States Department of Energy and the World Energy Council are only a few among
an ever-growing number of international authorities that view this deterioration with increasing alarm.
In the past decade, no populous region of the world has gone unaffected by wide-ranging, catastrophic
electricity blackouts. Yet, a cost-efficient and readily available solution to the crisis exists. Until we
stretch ourselves beyond our limited thinking, this solution will remain isolated in use and unexploited
by the wider industry, where its greater benefits can be harvested.
Since mid-2003 alone, major events in the extended loss of power supply have occurred in the USA and
Canada; London, UK; Denmark and Sweden; and Italy. The combined effect of these outages has been
economic losses in the billions of US dollars and inconvenience for millions of individuals and
businesses.
If we extend our scope of interest to include the past decade, we find a number of similar incidents
affecting Malaysia and India. In Taiwan, a seven hour blackout in late July 1999 triggered a six month
backlog in TFT-LCD production, a near doubling of prices for memory chips and panic of attack from
neighbouring China.
What is alarming from the sequence of events in Table 1 is the increasing frequency of catastrophic
power outages around the world; as modern society grows increasingly dependent on reliable power
supply, that reliability eludes us.
When economies were built around incandescent light bulbs and electric motors, a reliability of 99.9
percent (three nines in industry jargon) was acceptable and sufficient to keep industry humming. It is
at this level that reliability has rested for more than a century. At 99.9 percent reliability, eight hours of
outages is permitted. However, an economy built on microprocessor-based controls and networks of
computers demands six nines, or 99.9999 percent, of reliability. This amounts to no more than a few
seconds of allowable outages per year. EPRI (the Electric Power Research Institute based in Palo Alto,
California, USA) estimates that 80 percent of the power hiccups that wreak chaos on an electrical system
last fewer than a few seconds. It further estimates that the quality of electrical power must reach nine
nines only milliseconds of faults per year before the digital economy can truly flourish.
While the root causes of many outages are attributed to falling tree branches or heavy storms (as were
the cases in Taiwan and Italy in 1999 and 2003, respectively), the handiwork of Mother Nature is difficult
to avoid. Some of our woes have also been attributed to overly centralized generation and highly
integrated cross-border systems a result of modern-day economics and globalization. Yet, a move
against globalization, as expounded by some thinkers, not only eliminates the supposed source of the
problem, but also obviates the need for greater reliability.
In as much as the move towards de-centralized generation has begun it is still only in a very early
embryonic stage. The think tanks behind localized power generation have taken the notion to the
acute, envisioning systems fuelled by household waste one generating unit per city block or even per
household. The innovation will be a welcome advance. But, with estimates placing such systems many
decades away from practical use, the world will continue to depend on conventional transmission and
distribution systems for some time.

Copyright 2005, CSL Silicones Inc. All rights reserved.

Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of CSL Silicones Inc. in Canada, the USA and/or other countries.

page 2 of 12

Regardless of the unavoidable havocs of nature, overly centralized generation or highly integrated
systems, the critical fault leading to unreliability is the dangerously low margin between capacity
(supply) and demand. Catastrophic blackouts are a result of a diminishing surplus of capacity (see
Figure 1). The unavoidable factors mentioned above are mere catalysts and accelerators towards
massive outages, particularly during peak demand periods when the surplus is driven to near-zero
levels.
In the wake of the blackout in 2003 in London, UK, concerns are being expressed that the UK is on the
verge of winter blackouts as spare capacity in the system has reached an all-time low of only 15 percent.
This places the entire world economy at risk as London is arguably the hub of the global financial
infrastructure.
Date

Locations Affected

Affects & Effects

Duration

09-Nov-65

USA: virtually all of NY, CT, MA and RI

Canada: much of Ontario

30 million customers
20,000 MW of demand

Up to 13 hours

13-Jul-77

USA: New York City

9 million customers
6,000 MW of demand

Up to 26 hours

02-Jul-96

USA: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NB, NV, NM, OR,
SD, parts of TX, UT, WA and WY
Canada: Alberta and British Columbia
Mexico: Baja Norte

2 million customers
11,850 MW of demand

From a few minutes

to several hours

03-Aug-96

Malaysia (peninsular) and Sabah

21 million customers
11,000 MW of demand

Up to 6 hours

10-Aug-96

USA: AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NB, NV, NM, OR,
SD, parts of TX, UT, WA and WY
Canada: Alberta and British Columbia
Mexico: Baja Norte

7.5 million customers

28,000 MW of demand

Up to 9 hours

25-Jun-98

USA: MN, MT, ND, WI

Canada: Ontario, Manitoba and
Saskatchewan

152,000 customers
950 MW of demand

19 hours

30-Jul-99

Taiwan

20 million customers
25,000 MW of demand

Up to 30 hours

02-Jan-01

India: Jammu-Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh,

Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,
Haryana and Delhi

220 million customers

13 hours

14-Aug-02

Northeastern USA and Canada

50 million customers (a third of

Canadas population plus a
seventh of USAs)
> US$6 billion in economic losses

Up to 5 days

28-Aug-03

UK: City of London

3 million customers

40 minutes

23-Sep-03

Denmark and Sweden

5 million customers
3,000 MW (20% of total) of
demand

Up to 30 hours

28-Sep-03

All of Italy except Sardinia and parts of

Switzerland, France and Austria

> 57 million customers

Up to 2 days

Table 1: Selected cases of catastrophic power outages around the world since 1965

Copyright 2005, CSL Silicones Inc. All rights reserved.

Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
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page 3 of 12

Capacity versus Demand in the US

Power Industry
Summer figures
As demand for power outpaces the
addition of capacity, the safety buffer
between supply and demand grows
dangerously thin. A narrow margin of
safety increases the likelihood of
widespread catastrophic power
failures in the event of unforeseen
demand spikes due to weather
conditions. Acts of Nature can also
catalyze the realization of risk
associated with very narrow margins
in capacity.
EVA is Energy Ventures Analysis, Inc.
Their capacity tracking systems and
methodologies can be found at
www.evainc.com

Figure 1: The diminishing surplus of electric power capacity in the USA

2 An Additional Concern in Supply Reliability

In addition to the narrowing surplus in capacity, a major source of frustration leading to the unreliability
of power supply has been contamination on transmission and distribution (T/D) systems. This
contamination arises predominantly from the emissions of industrialization. Another primary source of
contamination is salt-laden fog in coastal areas.
The contaminants come to rest on the surface of the insulator. When these contaminants mix with
environmental moisture, a conductive solution is created. Current from the conductor is thereby given
a path to leak across the surface of the insulator. When leakage current reaches excessive levels, a
flashover can result, leading to a power outage and an interruption of reliable supply.
Numerous solutions have been proposed to combat this root source of reliability interruption. The case
study presented by Energy Northwest of Washington State, USA at the 2005 World Congress of
Insulators, Arresters and Bushings covered in great detail most of the solutions available.
Energy Northwest owns and operates the Columbia Nuclear Generating Station in Richland, WA, USA.
This station has a capacity of 1,150 MW and sells power solely to the US Department of Energy
Bonneville Power Administration. In the early 1990s, this stations 500 kV transformer yard was plagued
with outages induced by contamination from its own cooling towers. Among numerous others,
technologies investigated towards resolving the issue included resistive glaze insulators, creepage
extenders, automatic online washing systems, silicone grease and RTV silicone coatings. Composite
insulators were not investigated as they did not have the mechanical strength needed for the geometry
of large post insulators.
Contamination issues on insulators are not limited to the substation environment. Transmission and
distribution lines, too, face the issue of leakage current. For this type of service the main solution that
has been marketed for roughly 25 years has been a polymer composite insulator of various materials.
The main polymers used in composite insulator construction include silicone and EPDM. Because the
polymer sheds lack the mechanical strength required of their service, a fibre-reinforced rigid rod rests at
the core of the insulator structure. The combination of materials between the core rod and the polymer
shed is what yields the composite terminology.
The initial outlook was very exciting for this technology. The composite insulator concept promised not
only better electrical performance over their ceramic insulator predecessors, but also a smaller form
factor of lower mass. Unfortunately, and to the dismay of many in the industry, the anticipated benefits

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page 4 of 12

of composite insulator technology have not materialized. The greatest factor counting against them is
their unreliability a clearly unacceptable trait in this digital age.
Utilities from Southeast Asia, to the Middle East to the USA have reported gross inconsistencies in
composite insulator performance. Single purchase orders by these utilities have yielded variations in
insulator service life from eight months to eight years where the insulators were installed less than a
kilometer from each other and on the same line.
In April 2003, EPRI issued a technical brief titled Polymer Insulator Survey that extensively described
the failings of this technology. It was found that over 15 percent of utilities that had installed composite
insulators either banned their use or restricted their use only to areas where vandalism posed a
significant threat. While the 2003 report presents data that indicates (amongst those surveyed) the vast
majority of composite insulators were installed between 1978 and 1990, the average service life
remained at under six-and-a-half years. Perhaps most damning is that amongst all reported failures,
more than two-thirds had occurred in under ten years of service.
Although not widely publicized, one of the worlds premiere manufacturers of insulators found that
sales of composite insulators plateaued and had begun to decline as early as the year 2000 in the more
sophisticated economies of North America, Australia and Western Europe. This manufacturer
subsequently divested itself of its composite insulator business unit.
Thus, the issue of leakage current on transmission and distribution lines remains unresolved and a
prevalent issue. The international power industry views the narrowing margin between capacity and
demand separate from issues of insulator contamination. However, as this paper endeavours to
illustrate, the two are intimately linked and the connection is oft-overlooked. A discussion of successful
leakage current suppression technology will help draw the connection more lucidly.

3 A Proven Solution in our Midst

EPRIs 2003 Polymer Insulator Survey also reported the vast majority of composite insulator failures
were a result of poor physical integrity. Yet, the issue of physical integrity under the mechanically and
electrically stressful conditions of transmission and distribution systems had been overcome long ago
by porcelain and toughened glass (ceramic) insulators. Ceramic insulators have demonstrated their
worthiness in duty where high tension, wind loads and the negative effects of moisture are exacerbated
by high voltage phenomena. A key drawback, however, to ceramic insulators that allowed composite
insulators a toehold in the market was their declining electrical characteristics upon extended service,
especially under polluted conditions.
Ceramic insulators have no built-in mechanism to combat the negative effects of contamination.
Composite insulators, it is argued, do have such a mechanism with their hydrophobic surfaces. While
this hydrophobicity is excellent at the time of installation, field reports have demonstrated premature
loss of hydrophobicity, most likely due to inadequate chemical composition of the polymer materials.
To enhance the electrical characteristics of ceramic insulators, the use of RTV silicone coating was
introduced to the market by a US company in the late 1970s and very early 80s. This initial product
solved some of the concerns of insulator contamination, but was dogged by issues of poor adhesion,
depolymerization, cracking, erosion and loss of hydrophobicity. CSL Silicones Inc. of Canada overcame
these issues in the late 1980s with its RTV silicone coating product, CSL-570, since bestowed the
moniker of Si-COAT High Voltage Insulator Coating (HVIC). The original formulation of Si-COAT is still
in use today after more than 18 years of excellent service. The unmatched performance of Si-COAT is
attributed to proprietary polymer technology and a patented formulation, the basis of which is the 13
micron median particle size of ATH. ATH is a hydrate of aluminum and is an essential ingredient
in the Si-COAT formulation. This ingredient is shared by other high quality RTV coatings, but in non-

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page 5 of 12

optimal particle sizes. CSL, through its early research, discovered the merits of the 13 micron median
particle size, which leads to an extended service life. Other products that either cannot employ this
particle size due to patent rights (or that choose to avoid the expense of ATH in their formulation) are
apparently limited in the matter of service life when compared to Si-COAT.
One early drawback to the larger grain size of ATH that posed issues in the Si-COAT HVIC was settling of
the ATH during storage of the material. The ATH was then very difficult to stir back into solution at the
time of application. Unwilling to compromise on the performance afforded by the larger ATH particle,
CSL refined its manufacturing processes to ensure the ATH would not settle out of suspension during
extended storage. Si-COAT HVIC has by-and-large overcome the issue of the settling of solids since the
improvement in manufacturing was introduced in the late 1990s.

4 The Inner Workings of Si-COAT

RTV Silicone HVIC
Si-COAT HVIC functions on the basis of its hydrophobicity
and its rich reserves of low molecular weight silicone
(LMWS) chains. The short chain molecules of LMWS migrate
to the surface of the coating and remain there in a
monolayer. By virtue of its low surface tension, when
contaminant particles come to rest on the monolayer of
LMWS, the LMWS encapsulates the particle within minutes.
The LMWS also has the property of high dielectric strength.
This allows the encapsulated contaminant particle to
remain insulated from environmental moisture. Recall,
when contamination combines with environmental
moisture an electrolytic solution forms on the surface of the
insulator, which leads to leakage current. Because Si-COAT
LMWS insulates the contaminant so effectively from
environmental moisture, the electrolytic solution leading to
leakage current is not allowed to develop. Hence, Si-COAT
suppresses and virtually eliminates leakage current.
Of further note, the hydrophobic surface of Si-COAT HVIC
forces the water that may collect on its surface to form tiny
beads. This further disrupts leakage current by breaking
any possible continuous path for electron flow.
To the surprise of early adopters of Si-COAT HVIC, the
product increased in hydrophobicity over time under many
service environments. The state of elevated hydrophobicity
achieved by Si-COAT has been termed ultrahydrophobicity. This phenomenon was observed on aged
Si-COAT in much the same way elevated hydrophobicity is
observed in nature on lotus leaves (and similar) plants or
even on a ducks back. Water droplets dance off the surface
of contaminated Si-COAT in much the same way as they
dance off a lotus leaf or a ducks back. The reason for this
exists at the microscopic level. The lotus leaf and the
feathers on a ducks back are covered in microstructures or
peaks. In the case of duck feathers, these peaks exist as part
of the structure of the feather. On lotus leaves, these
microstructures are formed by virtue of waxy secretions.

A]

B]

Diagram A:
A coated insulator, after water washing, will regain its
monolayer of LMWS within minutes. A water droplet
resting on the fresh monolayer of LMWS will achieve a
mean angle of hydrophobicity () of 120 on Si-COAT
HVIC.
Diagram B:
Contamination particles that come to rest on the
coated insulator are quickly encapsulated by the very
low surface free energy LMWS. The encapsulated
particles form microstructures on the coatings surface,
upon whose tips a water droplet will sit.
The droplet remains in contact primarily with air and
shows only small hysteresis. Hysteresis is the
difference between the droplets advancing and
receding angles of hydrophobicity. The angle of
hydrophobicity () achieved in this case is greater than
150.
The benefit of the large contact angle and small
hysteresis is that water droplets roll off the insulator
more easily, further reducing the likelihood of leakage
current development.

Figure 2: An illustration of how ultrahydrophobicity is achieved by Si-COAT

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page 6 of 12

The waxy secretions are inherently hydrophobic whereas the microstructures of a feather are made
hydrophobic by the oils the duck secretes. When water droplets come into contact with the
hydrophobic peaks they rest on the tips of the peaks. Thereby, the water droplet remains in contact
mainly with the surrounding air. This allows for a water droplet that is almost spherical and with very
low hysteresis (the macroscopic difference in the angle of contact with the surface between the leading
edge and the lagging edge of a rolling water droplet). The combined effect is a droplet that dances off
the surface; ultra-hydrophobicity.
Ultra-hydrophobicity is achieved by Si-COAT when the contaminants that collect on the coatings
surface themselves form the microstructures as found on a lotus leaf or duck feather. These
microstructures are made hydrophobic by the LMWS secreted from Si-COATs rich reserves.
Thus, field experience over the products 18 year history has led to CSLs suggestion to NOT water wash
the coating. Water washing will unnecessarily deplete the LMWS and destroy the microstructures on
the coatings surface that are contributing to ultra-hydrophobicity.
Interestingly, attempts are being made at the manufacturing stage of composite insulators to introduce
the microstructures necessary for improved hydrophobicity. While the concept is novel, the risk in this
approach to achieving elevated hydrophobicity is two-fold. Firstly, composite insulator technology has
shown itself to lose the necessary low molecular weight silicone oils that offer ongoing hydrophobicity.
Without resolution of this fact, the manufactured microstructures will prove inconsequential. Secondly,
fine contamination particles that collect on these novel composite insulators will gather first in the
valleys between the microstructures, creating a level surface and potentially defeating the point of
manufacturing microstructures in the first place.

5 High Technology Yields High Performance

CSL, in cooperation with Alstom of France (now Areva T&D), applied Si-COAT to a new-construction
transmission system in Qatar in 1996. The system consisted of 220 kV and 132 kV lines. The 300
kilometers of lines ran through IEC Class III and Class IV contamination zones. Contaminants included
salt-fog, blowing desert sand and heavy industrial pollution such as cement dust and refinery emissions.
At the time of writing, the coated insulators had never been washed and were approaching a
maintenance-free service period of ten years. Recent observations in the field indicate performance of
the coating remains excellent and that maintenance is unlikely to be required for some time to come.
Si-COAT HVIC has proven its merit from the laboratory to field studies to real world installations of
greater than 15 years. Two rounds of testing by the IEEE/DEIS Outdoor Service Environment Committee
tested the three leading RTV silicone coatings, one of which was Si-COAT (CSL) RTV silicone HVIC. Both
rounds of testing, which were conducted relatively simultaneously through Sediver of France and Hydro
Quebec of Canada, arrived at the same conclusion; Si-COAT HVIC evolved the least amount of leakage
current by a distinct margin. The Sediver and Hydro Quebec laboratories reported their findings at
roughly the same time on 28-January-91 and 31-January-91, respectively.
Further testing by the laboratories of the US Department of Energy revealed results consistent to those
uncovered by the IEEE. Their extensive test programs concluded that Si-COAT HVIC provided the
greatest reliability through the lowest evolution of leakage current. They attributed this distinction to
CSLs patented formulation. The findings by the US government led to the implementation of Si-COAT
HVIC at the 500 kV substation servicing the Columbia Nuclear Generating Station in Richland, WA, USA.
Si-COAT was found to be the only solution of the 20 alternate technologies studied by the government
body to assure the reliability required of a nuclear facility.

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Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
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page 7 of 12

Other RTV silicone coatings were not considered suitable as a result of negative experience from their
use at other nuclear facilities. One such example was the premature breakdown of the RTV silicone
coating used at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, CT, USA. There, the RTV silicone
coating was removed after approximately six years of service under 345 kV. Analysis by the Electrical
Insulation Research Centre of the University of Connecticut observed charring, cracking, flaking and
depolymerization of the coating. These observations and a thorough analysis were reported by the
Research Centre in December-94.
Laboratory tests by KEMA of the Netherlands, Kinectrics (formerly Ontario Hydro Research) of Canada,
the Chinese government, the University of Queensland in Australia and CESI of Italy, among others, back
up the findings on Si-COAT HVIC reported above.
Field testing has also yielded significant findings in favour of Si-COAT HVICs ability to suppress leakage
current. In Europe, Enel of Italy took great interest in CSLs RTV technology. They engaged in a five year
field study employing their research arm, CESI, headquartered in Milan, Italy. As part of their study, the
Italians took thermographic images via infrared cameras of coated and uncoated post insulators in an
IEC Class III contamination zone.
What was found, as described in Figure 3, is that while uncoated insulators were leaking roughly 18 mA
of current, those coated with Si-COAT HVIC were able to suppress leakage current to a near zero level.
Another field study on the island of Crete, Greece under IEC Class IV contamination conditions, although
unpublished, revealed significant findings in terms of Si-COAT HVICs ability to suppress leakage current.
Over a 30 day period from July-02 to August-02, leakage current measurements were recorded from an
uncoated post insulator and an identical insulator treated with Si-COAT HVIC. Both insulators were
subject to 132 kV of electrical stress. What was observed was the uncoated insulator had leaked 18,000
kJ of energy over the 30 day period while the Si-COAT-coated insulator leaked only 3 kJ of energy.
Calculations reveal a 99.983 percent reduction in energy losses with the use of Si-COAT. As a corollary,
leakage current was reduced through the use of Si-COAT by nearly 100 percent.
Si-COAT HVIC Thermal Imaging
Thermal imaging via infrared cameras measures
the rise in temperature, above ambient, of
various structures. Since leakage current
generates heat, thermal imaging is an ideal and
cost-efficient tool to measure approximate levels
of leakage current.
Thermal imaging by infrared cameras of
insulators coated with Si-COAT and those left
uncoated reveal that uncoated insulators
undergo an appreciable rise in temperature.
Each Celsius degree rise in temperature above
ambient roughly correlates to 2 mA of leakage
current.

Si-COAT HVIC
coated insulator
(at ambient temp.)
Uncoated
(at elevated
temp.)

The approximate 9 Celsius degree temperature

rise of uncoated sections in this photograph
indicates roughly 18 mA of leakage current on
uncoated insulators. Coated insulators show no
rise in temperature, translating to an effective
zero level of leakage current.
image courtesy of Gruppo Enel, Italy

Figure 3: Thermographic image via infrared camera of uncoated insulators versus insulators coated with Si-COAT RTV silicone
HVIC

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page 8 of 12

An ongoing extensive field study is also being carried out by EdF of France at their test station on the
Mediterranean coast in Martigues, 13500 France. Martigues is a short drive west of Marseilles. At the
time of writing, EdFs test had been running for 14 years. The results remain unpublished, but insulators
coated with Si-COAT HVIC still show excellent hydrophobicity, the ability to suppress leakage current
and the mitigation of flashovers. Insulators coated with other RTV silicone coatings have shown
weaknesses.
IEC 61109 Si-COAT
Leakage Current
Measurement; 5,000 Hours
KEMA High Voltage Labs,
the Netherlands
The extremely harsh IEC
61109 salt-fog test on
insulators coated with
Si-COAT HVIC revealed
a very low level of leakage
current over the tests
5,000 hour duration.
Uncoated insulators would
have evolved leakage
current orders of
magnitudes higher.

Figure 4: Testing under the IEC 61109 test standard of Si-COAT HVIC

Field studies were also conducted by the US Department of Energy under IEC Class IV contamination
conditions. They found in their 1993/94 season of severe contamination running from September-93 to
April-94 that broad band maximum leakage current readings from uncoated insulators exceeded 39
mA. On 18-December-93 the leakage current was 50 mA on the uncoated insulator. In April-94 the
maximum broad band leakage current reached 100 mA on the uncoated insulator. However, the
insulator coated with Si-COAT HVIC did not develop leakage current at these times that exceeded 0.25
mA.
The reliability offered by RTV silicone technology through suppression of leakage current leading to
flashover is evident. Remarkably, though, transmission and distribution lines, the greatest potential
benefactors of this feature, have gone largely without benefit.

6 Winning a Level of Comfort over Narrowing

Supply/Demand Margins
When first introduced in the mid-to-late 1970s and for roughly 20 years thereafter, RTV silicone coatings
were mainly regarded as a maintenance product for substations. Where pollution led to unreliable
station performance and where archaic procedures such as water washing or insulator greasing were
deemed too costly, RTV silicone coatings found a home. The technology then slowly propagated
through the industry from substation to substation around the world. Studies in the reduction of
substation maintenance costs and long-term economics afforded by RTV coatings provided some
impetus for broader use of the technology, but even today the practice of water washing and insulator
greasing is common.
At the same time as coating technology was making its mark as an added-value solution for substation
maintenance, the world was steadily marching ahead in its digital revolution. The demands on supply
reliable supply of power were steadily increasing, and without adequate investment in power
infrastructure, the margin between supply and demand was growing ever thinner.

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page 9 of 12

The erosion of our safety margin between supply and demand has gone unabated and is evident in the
increasing frequency and severity of large-scale, catastrophic power outages in industrialized nations
around the globe. Yet, all the while there has been a solution to our dilemma readily available and in
use by the industry. This solution is substantially less expensive than building new generation units to
widen the safety margin over power demand. The cost of additional capacity through augmented
generation is more than just capital cost and is not only economic in nature; impacts to the
environment are also costly and must be accounted for. In this vein, TVO, the Finnish electric power
company, conducted an economic study that determined nuclear power to be the most economic
option for new generating capacity (see Figure 5).
Comparison
of Various
Generating Options
TVO of Finland
Despite a greater
capital cost for
nuclear energy
compared to most
options, this source
of power represents
the most economic
option for new
generating capacity
when including the
costs of fuel,
operation &
maintenance and
emission allowances

Figure 5: The costs associated with different sources of energy

From the strict perspective of the balance sheet, estimates from Westinghouse-Bechtel, GE-Black &
Veatch and the Energy Information Administration place the overnight capital cost for new nuclear
stations today between US$1,400 and US$2,000 per kW of capacity.
Despite nuclear energy being the most economic option, the capital cost associated with new
generation is still massive. This cost to widen the crucial margin of safety can be significantly reduced
and in some cases deferred by broader use of RTV silicone technology. The value of RTV coating
technology extends well beyond its ability to reduce maintenance costs in substations.
Power dissipation in a substation is much less than the dissipation along a transmission or even a
distribution line. Therefore, when leakage current is suppressed in a substation, the appreciably
quantifiable benefit realized amounts to no more than the savings in maintenance expenditure.
However, when the economics of leakage current suppression along a transmission or distribution line
are computed, the numbers not only become more meaningful, they become truly significant. Thus,
the greatest benefit of leakage current suppression is the cushioning of the margin between power
capacity and demand. The secondary and equally attractive benefit is an economic one and is realized
upon the coating of insulators on transmission and distribution lines.
This idea is not an abstraction but a reality. It is a benefit not afforded by composite insulator
technology, which has proven itself questionable in terms of reliability and inconsistent in service life. It
is a benefit realized through RTV silicone technology applied over ceramic insulators. The combined
RTV/ceramic insulator offers both high mechanical and electrical integrity, overcoming the shortfalls of
polymer composite insulators.
Work has already begun in this new field spawned from the mating of two proven workhorses of the
industry. From their field evaluations since the late 1990s, Enel of Italy proceeded in 2002 towards a

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Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
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page 10 of 12

moderate pilot installation of Si-COAT HVIC on a

69 kV transmission line on the island of Sardinia.
The reliability and economics gained from that
experience bolstered the Italians pioneering
initiative.
The year 2005 has seen Enel engage in the wide
scale replacement of tens of thousands of
insulator discs with toughened glass insulators
coated with Si-COAT HVIC. The coating of the
new discs has taken place prior to installation and
installation was done under energized
conditions, a technique mastered by Enels
technical arm, Terna. This years supply of coated
insulators was installed in Sicily. Future work will
extend onto mainland Italy with projected
consumption of approximately 100,000 Si-COATcoated discs per year.
Similar work is taking place in the Middle East.
The success of the initial 300 kilometers of 132 kV
and 220 kV lines constructed with Si-COATcoated toughened glass insulators in 1996
galvanized Qatars initiative with RTV technology.
In 2005, nearly 50 tons of Si-COAT HVIC has been
consumed by the tiny nation in new transmission
line construction projects.
Practically speaking, if Si-COAT HVIC is applied to
insulators over entire transmission and
distribution systems, a sigh of relief can be
breathed in the engine room of the digital
revolution.
Furthermore, the revenue
enhancement from the elimination of leakage
current losses presents an exceptionally
attractive return on investment and payback
period. Given the minimum life expectancy of
the product of 10 years, Si-COAT represents a
phenomenally lucrative investment for a utility.

Cumulative leakage current suppressed

[(

)(

= 2 10 3 10 10 6

)]

Amperes
string

strings
tower

towers
km

1,000 km

= 36 Amperes
Thus, additional power reclaimed

= (36 Amperes ) 230 kV

= 4,800 kW

Hence, additional revenue available

= 4,800 kW $0.03
24 hours
365 days
kWh

= $1.3 million

day

year

per year

In analyses of zones of only moderate

contamination, Si-COAT HVIC has been found
to save approximately 2 mA per coated
insulator in leakage current based on 400 hours
per year of fog exposure, 400 hours per year of
rain exposure and 7960 hours per year under
dry conditions.
The 2 mA leakage current figure on uncoated
insulators is an average figure to be taken 24
hours per day, 365 days per year. This figure is
a weighted average of a variety of leakage
current readings taken under different
meteorological conditions. Leakage current
readings on the uncoated insulators have been
recorded as high as 20 mA over the course of
brief periods.
Insulators coated with Si-COAT HVIC will
evolve an average of less than 10 A of
leakage current. Again, this figure is to be
taken 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
This figure is a weighted average of leakage
current readings taken under the same varying
meteorological conditions experienced by
uncoated insulators.
If power revenue is taken at US$0.03/kWh, the
savings realized on a 1,000 km length of
exposed 230 kV line amounts to US$1.3 million
per year. Rough calculations indicate an
installed cost for Si-COAT HVIC of only US$5
million. Based on its minimum 10 year life,
Si-COAT HVIC offers a high rate of return on
the investment and a short payback period.

Case 1: Revenue potential associated with coating 1,000

exposed kilometers of 230 kV transmission lines under
IEC Class II contamination conditions

The calculations detailed in Case 1 show the order of magnitude gain in power and the associated
revenue enhancement figures with leakage current suppression in a relatively benign contamination
zone. For the case presented, the overnight capital cost of Si-COAT, installed, would be circa US$5
million, or US$1,041 per kW of capacity recovered. For an equal gain in capacity through the
construction of a new nuclear facility, Si-COAT represents a 25 percent to 50 percent savings in
overnight capital costs. A deeper analysis of the benefits of Si-COAT reveals that the economic benefit
is even greater since this solution comes without fuel, operating & maintenance and emission
allowance costs. Furthermore, the case presented is only for the benefit realized in relatively unpolluted
zones. The power recovered and economics realized are even more substantial in IEC Class III and Class
IV zones.

Copyright 2005, CSL Silicones Inc. All rights reserved.

Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of CSL Silicones Inc. in Canada, the USA and/or other countries.

page 11 of 12

7 Concluding Remarks
At the end of the day, while it may be easy to explain away worsening cases and an increasing
frequency of catastrophic power outages through exceptional circumstances and Acts of Nature, there
is no escaping the fact that the present predicament is the result of under-investment in power
infrastructure. The lack of investment in combination with the effects of globalization, balkanization
and privatization has yielded a situation in which the demand for power in industrialized nations is fast
approaching supply. As the margin grows narrower, our ability to rapidly recover from freak incidents
in power supply interruption is weakened to the point that large scale blackouts are becoming
commonplace. This unreliability in power supply, if left unattended, threatens to stymie the worlds
advancement through the digital age.
The knee-jerk reaction to resolving the dilemma is to build additional generating capacity and the
associated infrastructure required. But this alternative comes at a massive cost both in economic and
environmental terms. Curiously, the cost-efficient solution to this conundrum has been in use in
isolated pockets of the power industry for about 20 years. The ability of RTV silicone high voltage
insulator coating technology to effectively suppress leakage current has afforded reduced maintenance
expenditure in electrical substations for decades. The solution to our woes lies in breaking through the
limits of our thinking and to extending the use of this technology to transmission and distribution lines.
Here, the power dissipation is great enough that suppression of leakage current recovers vast quantities
of power at a fraction of the cost of building new generating capacity.
CSL Silicones Inc. of Canada is at the forefront of this movement. With its patented Si-COAT RTV silicone
coating technology, CSL has demonstrated in adverse conditions around the world that this is more
than just a pipe dream; it is a reality. Early partners in this field characterized by innovative thinking
include Enel of Italy and utilities in the Middle East. Their initiative in coating tens upon tens of
thousands of transmission line insulators with Si-COAT RTV silicone HVIC secures the positions of their
power industries in the digital revolution.

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Copyright 2005, CSL Silicones Inc. All rights reserved.

Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of CSL Silicones Inc. in Canada, the USA and/or other countries.

page 12 of 12

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Copyright 2005, CSL Silicones Inc. All rights reserved.

Si-COAT, Technology that Sticks and the Si-COAT logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of CSL Silicones Inc. in Canada, the USA and/or other countries.