Boosting Network Reliability with NOJA Power’s OSM Recloser: Two Key Innovations

In today's increasingly electrified world, power reliability is more than a convenience—it's a necessity. Utilities around the globe are under pressure to deliver consistent, high-quality electricity, even as networks grow more complex and demand continues to rise. Fortunately, many utilities already have a powerful tool at their fingertips: the NOJA Power OSM Recloser.

This advanced piece of switchgear is more than just a circuit breaker. It's a smart, self-contained solution that improves network reliability in two critical ways—through automatic reclosing and integrated power quality monitoring. Best of all, these features are standard in existing OSM Recloser installations, meaning utilities can unlock greater reliability without any additional capital investment.

1. Automatic Reclosing: Keeping the Lights On

One of the most immediate ways the OSM Recloser enhances reliability is through its automatic reclosing functionality. In overhead distribution networks, many faults—such as those caused by lightning strikes, tree branches, or wildlife—are transient. These faults clear themselves within seconds, but without reclosing, they would still result in prolonged outages.

The OSM Recloser detects these faults and automatically attempts to reclose the circuit after a brief delay. If the fault has cleared, power is restored almost instantly, often without customers even noticing an interruption. This dramatically reduces the duration and frequency of outages, improving key reliability metrics such as SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) and SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index).

2. Power Quality Monitoring: Preventing Problems Before They Occur

While reclosing addresses faults reactively, the OSM Recloser also plays a proactive role in reliability through its built-in power quality monitoring capabilities. Poor power quality—manifested as voltage sags, swells, harmonics, or flicker—can damage equipment, disrupt industrial processes, and lead to customer complaints.

The OSM Recloser continuously captures detailed power quality data, enabling utilities to identify and address issues before they escalate into outages. This form of preventative maintenance is crucial for modern grids, where even minor disturbances can have major consequences. By analysing trends in power quality, utilities can pinpoint deteriorating assets, overloaded circuits, or problematic customer connections. This allows for targeted maintenance and smarter investment decisions—again, without needing to install additional monitoring equipment.

“A reliable field proven recloser from NOJA Power will give you an 80% reliability gain curing transient faults on feeders that don’t enjoy the benefits of a recloser today,”says NOJA Power Group Managing Director Neil O'Sullivan.

A Smarter Grid, Without the Extra Cost

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the OSM Recloser's reliability features is that they're already included in standard installations. Utilities that have deployed these devices can immediately begin leveraging their full capabilities—no upgrades, no retrofits, no extra spend.

In a time when budgets are tight and expectations are high, the NOJA Power OSM Recloser offers a rare win-win: improved reliability and operational efficiency, all from infrastructure that's already in place.