With the passing of North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s CIP-014 standard, transmission station and substation owners are installing new and more secure ballistic barriers to protect their bulk power systems including control centers and electrical grids.
Directly from NERC, this standard has been put into place to identify and protect Transmission stations and Transmission substations, and their associated primary control centers, that if rendered inoperable or damaged as a result of a physical attack could result in widespread instability, uncontrolled separation, or Cascading within an Interconnection.
But how exactly do these barriers protect their critical assets from attacks?
Ballistic attacks are the most common form of intrusion on power systems, as it’s become quite normal for it to happen all around the world. That is why the Ideal ballistic barrier is up to UL 752 Level 3,4,7, 8 and 10, which will protect the critical facilities from several forms of ballistic attacks including .44 Magnum Lead Semiwadcutter Gas Checked and 7.62mm Rifle Lead Core Full Metal Copper Jacket Military Ball (.308 caliber).
On top of protection from ballistic attacks, Ideal’s barriers are also resistant to fire attacks, climbing intruders and ramming.
If you’re an owner of a medium impact transmission facility (CIP-022-5.1) or are a transmission station or substation operator looking to get your facility up to right standards, contact us today for more information and a quote.
Ideal Utility Services are not only protective and resistant to ballistic attacks but they’re also custom made. Choose from five different finishes and request custom heights and lengths to make sure the ballistic barrier fits your needs and style.