How ABB’s Hi-Tech Valiant™ Current Limiting Fuse for Fire Mitigation Impacts Safety & Reliability, Protecting the Environment & Critical Infrastructure

March 12, 2025

By Blake Marchand

Discussing the Hi-Tech Valiant™ Fuse for Fire Mitigation with ABB’s Dominique Tardif

There has been increased awareness on the impact of forest fires in recent years, as wildfire seasons have intensified in North America. We recently saw devastating fires in California, and in Canada, statistics show that each year wildfire seasons are getting longer and more disastrous. 

The 2023 wildfire season in Canada was the worst on record and the most destructive by a large margin. According to Natural Resources Canada, the 2023 wildfire season had 6,000 fires across 15 million hectares of land. That is twice the size of the previous record year, 1989. For context, the average land coverage of a wildfire season in Canada is 2.5 million hectares. 2023 was also marked by the intensity of fires, there were 29 ‘mega-fires’ that each exceeded 100,000 hectares. As well as being widespread across the country, with fires from the West Coast to Atlantic provinces, with fires in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. The West Coast was the hardest hit.

“The word ‘unprecedented’ doesn’t do justice to the severity of the wildfires in Canada this year (2023),” noted forest ecology research scientist Yan Boulanger as part of Natural Resources Canada’s press release on 2023 wildfire season. “From a scientific perspective, the doubling of the previous burned area record is shocking.”

Dominique Tardif, Product Line Manager with ABB, noted that Electricity Canada has identified the installation of non-expulsion fuses as best practices for utilities to wildfires.

The conversation around their fire-mitigation fuse is often driven by utility executives, Tardif noted, because of the impact on safety, as well as protecting grid infrastructure. The product was initially developed for a client in the U.S. and ABB is currently refining it for a Canadian utility and tailoring it for the broader Canadian market.

The initial design was for a 15 kV system, and they are now working on a version at for the Canadian market at 25-27 kV, “It sounds like a simple jump,” he said, “but that is quite a bit more energy traveling in the same size conductors.”

“The launch plan is centers of course on the customer that wanted it initially, and , we’re giving preference to, we’re making sure we’re supporting them very closely. Doing the fit form and function with them, we’re on our third iteration of the said fuse design.”

Tardif said they are in the process of finalizing the product for a Canadian utility, “as you can imagine in any product development, we’re always refining, making it a little bit better, a little bit more efficient… And then of course, as the 2025 year goes on, we’ll be able to launch this across the country.”

The Hi-Tech Valiant full-range current-limiting fuse functions like the traditional kickout fuse, Tardif explained, “The traditional fuses, when they detect that there’s going to be a high voltage condition or a high energy condition – basically, the contents inside burn out and are ejected from the inside of the fuse into the environment. The high-tech fire mitigation fuse uses a technology that has encapsulated this ejecta.”

“When the overload happens, the tube is large enough to be able to contain the energy, contain the molten material.” he said, “none of the ejecta goes into the environment, everything stays within the fuse.”

When the cut out opens, the energy is let off the system, “preventing any potential for the ignition of forest fires or any ignition of any material that’s at the base of the pole,” so, you are providing additional protection for critical infrastructure.

The fuse includes soldered/welded electrical connections and features high fault interrupting capability up to 50 kA symmetrical. Current limiting fuses minimize the risk of eventful distribution equipment failure by limiting the peak current let through during a fault. Expulsion fuses and breakers can take several cycles to interrupt and don’t limit the energy let through during a fault.

Beyond the increased focus on wild-fire mitigation, the Hi-Tech Valiant Full-range Current-limiting Fuse has a general safety- focused application, as well – to help. When you look at protecting critical infrastructure, as well as residential areas.

Going underground has become a key strategy for creating resilient infrastructure, although, “We have to admit, not every downtown core or not every suburban core is underground yet – because as the grid resiliency has been improved, one of the solutions is to start burying the cables and starting to go into underground systems – there are some older neighborhoods where going underground is going to be prohibitive or just an extreme hassle. factor, right?”

Remote, heavily forested areas where fire mitigation is a key focus was the driver to develop the technology, but the application is broader from a safety, fire mitigation, and resiliency perspective.

In discussions with potential clients, Tardif said, “They’re starting to see that it’s not just fire mitigation to prevent forest fires, it’s fire mitigation.” And with the continued approach to safety in the energy sector, he added, “this is something that we feel can really bring some significant benefit to the utilities.”

Features of the Hi-Tech Valiant™ Fuse for Fire Mitigation:

• Hi-Tech damage sensor included as standard — helps protect against undetected damage to the fuse that could compromise equipment protection
• Unique, patent-pending engagement pin for easy vertical and rotational alignment during installation
• Actuating pin remains external to the fuse after operation — eliminating the possibility of reclosure
• Multi-seal design seal to prevent water intrusion
• Provides robust electrical contact
• Uses a mechanical spring for operation — contains no black powder or other explosive material