The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released a report highlighting the rising trend of insulator failures across India’s transmission network.
The report highlighted that around 60 to 80 per cent of failures occur during the monsoon season. Failures have been reported across voltage levels, including 220 kV, 400 kV and 765 kV systems, and across utilities. Key failure modes include brittle fracture, flashover, tracking and erosion. The report attributed these failures to environmental stress, improper design, material defects, and gaps in installation and maintenance practices. It also highlighted non-uniform practices and lack of standardised benchmarks. Improvements in technical standards, quality assurance, monitoring and reporting have been recommended.