Introducing ValuGard
The substation protection solution for municipalities
Overview: The Substation Protection Solution for Municipalities
For decades, TransGard has provided its Premium Fence system to the power generation and distribution industry. Now, we’re offering the same level of protection to local governments and municipalities, designed with their budgets in mind.
The ValuGard fence is designed to safeguard essential substation infrastructure from animal incursions. TransGard’s innovative fencing solution is perfect for municipalities committed to maintaining uninterrupted service and reducing costs. The ValuGard fence uses the same proven technology as our Premium Fence scaled down to fit the financial and equipment needs of a municipality while maintaining the protection that IEEE calls the most effective barrier against animal incursions.
TransGard offers the ValuGard fence in three different-sized kits, and comes with everything required to protect a municipality’s substation from climbing animals.
Standard ValuGard panel size options include10’ X 3’, 6’6” X 3’, and 3’4” X 3’. The standard kit also includes a control center and stand, energizer, Fault Finder/ High Voltage Meter, swing entry gate, and required hardware.
Each kit also includes installation by a certified TransGard installer and comes with a 10 Year warranty that includes 100% of the replacement cost of any fence and/or control center component.
For more information, contact your TransGard representative at 717.900.6140.
At a Glance: A unique solution to substation outages
TransGard’s specially engineered substation fencing system offers significant advantages to substation operators:
Easy installation
A crew of three can complete a 300-foot TransGard enclosure in just four hours with basic tools—no special training, no heavy equipment, and no power interruption required during installation.
Freestanding protection
TransGard fencing installs on the ground, requiring no postholes, foundation or concrete. TransGard requires far less material, expense and time than a perimeter fence.
Modular design
Construction using a series of panels enables a modular design–any section can be used as hinged gateway, providing quick maintenance access. Substations can easily reuse panels, reconfigure a fence, or add new panels to expand a system.
Engineered entryway
The system offers substation access through a non-electrified entry system, designed with a smooth finish and tight clearances to prevent animal intruders.
Prevent incursion from a wide range of species
Squirrels, raccoons, opossums, cats, iguanas, frogs, and other climbing animals–none can breach the TransGard fence.
Durable materials
Built with stainless steel, aluminum, and PVC that conforms to the UL94 V-0 flammability standard for plastics protect your assets by minimizing the spread of fire and reduce maintenance.
Galvanized steel bases
Specially designed circular stand bases create a strong, level fencing system.
Components of a TransGard Fence
Primary Entryways
Primary Entryways house the Control Center and is offered in a Full-Door and Step-Plate version. The Primary Step-Plate Entryway is an excellent solution for sites that experience annual snowfall. The Primary Full-Door Entryway will suit all other environments and conditions. The Control Center houses the system’s electronic components, including the digital voltmeter, energizer, alert beacon system, SCADA module and more.
STANDARD Fence Panels
Standard Fence Panels are designed to prevent incursion from squirrels, raccoons, opossums, iguanas, frogs, and other climbing animals.
Secondary Entryways
Secondary Entryways provide additional means of egress to your fence. The Secondary Step-Plate Entryway is an excellent solution for sites that experience annual snowfall. The Secondary Full-Door Entryways suit all other environments and conditions.
Emergency Exit Panels
Emergency Exit Panels add additional points of exit from the fence enclosure for personnel safety. Equipped with 14 GAW zinc coated wire mesh, providing 48” of vertical protection from climbing animals.
Wind Anchor
Wind Anchor System (Patent Pending) improves the fence’s performance in areas that experience high sustained winds, or in areas that cannot easily accommodate the recommended zig-zag installation pattern. Using this option secures the fence panels, Primary and Secondary Entryways in a variety of surfaces from sand to asphalt to withstand a pull-out force up to 14,000 lbs.
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Premium Snake Fence
TransGard’s patented modular Premium Snake Fence comes equipped with ¼” perforated 3003 H13 aluminum installed on the lower two sections of each panel. This adds a level of protection against snakes, and other crawling animals, as small as ¼” in diameter.
Laser Bird Defense
For decades, bird incursions at substations have resulted in headaches, outages and expensive cleanups due to corrosive bird droppings.
FAQs: Answers to Common Questions
Yes. Next to weather-related damage, animal intrusions are the most common causes of substation outages. Animal incursions—from squirrels, raccoons, snakes, domestic cats and other climbing animals—cause substation outages in urban, suburban and remote locations from Maine to California. Outages can lead to thousands of frustrated customers, damage to a power provider’s reputation, and unplanned expenses. In fact, a single outage can involve tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, man-hours and other repair costs—and with more substations employing sophisticated automation equipment, those costs are on the rise.
TransGard was created exclusively to solve the growing problem of animal incursions at substations. Developed by a team of engineers and scientists with 60 years of background in animal containment and exclusion, the TransGard fence has undergone extensive research and field-testing. These fences have a 20-year track record of keeping climbing animals away from more than 3,000 locations at dozens of utilities in North America.
TransGard fences prevents incursion from a wide range of species of climbing animals including squirrels, raccoons, opossums, cats, iguanas, frogs, and others. The fence improves overall substation security—including repelling potential copper thieves.
No. A crew of three can complete a 300-foot TransGard enclosure in just four hours with basic tools—no special training, no heavy equipment, and no power interruption required. TransGard requires no postholes, foundation or concrete to anchor the fencing components—each fence panel is secured via a specially designed circular galvanized stand base.
No. The system’s basic building block, the 4′ x 10′ panel, creates a modular design—it can be as large or as small as your substation requires. Substations can easily reconfigure a fence, or add new panels to expand a system, and any section can be used as a hinged gateway, providing quick maintenance access. The system also offers substation access through a non-electrified entry system, designed with a smooth finish and tight clearances to prevent animal intruders.
No. TransGard fences deliver a mild, electric shock to anything that comes in contact with fence panels. This safe, humane approach instructs animals to keep away, protecting wildlife from electrocution within a substation. According to an IEEE survey, this form of substation protection provides the most effective barrier against animal incursion.
The durable PVC and steel fence materials are designed to be resistant to high winds, cold and bad weather. Most notably, the zig-zag pattern of panel installation adds overall fence stability and resistance to wind.
No. TransGard recommends an annual maintenance check that takes about 30 minutes to perform. That maintenance includes things like keeping the fence area clear from vegetation overgrowth or downed branches. Maintenance teams are also instructed to make sure no gaps appear between fence panels or between the fence and the ground.
At a Glance: Ease of Installation
As we’ve noted above, one of the biggest assets of a TransGard fence is how quickly it can be installed. A team of just 2-3 people can place a fence around a substation in less than a day, without the need for specialized equipment, and without having to power down the substation.
To see just how easy this installation is, click on the short video below.
Animal Outages
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