---
title: "Replacement parts take years"
url: https://mru.space/use-cases/remote-energy/
description: "Large transformers take up to 4 years to replace, and sites are far from crews. Mru Field keeps the computers that watch them working as parts fail."
---

[Mru](https://mru.space/) / [Mru Field](https://mru.space/field/) / [Use cases](https://mru.space/use-cases/) / Remote energy and grid equipment

Energy · Grid Exploring

# Remote energy and grid equipment

Replacement parts take years. Sites are far from crews.

![Glen Canyon high-voltage substation on a sandstone cliff, Arizona](https://mru.space/_astro/pl06-glen-canyon-substation.VGe-o0fZ_ZfrTws.jpg)

Glen Canyon high-voltage substation on a sandstone cliff, Arizona Christian David · CC BY-SA 4.0

4years

Up to this long to get a large power transformer. Lead times almost doubled since 2021.

IEA, 2025

Remote substations, solar sites and microgrids run on equipment that is slow to replace and far from crews. The computers that watch them should outlast the wait.

Mru Field runs on the processors already in the equipment. When one fails and nobody can come, it continues on the ones left and delivers only results it can check. Status: decision core at TRL 3; first field pilot planned for 2027.

01

## Computers fail one by one

Radiation, heat and age take out processors and memory. Nothing is replaced until the next visit.

02

## No one to ask

When two computers disagree, there is no operator to say which one is right.

03

## The link is thin

Bytes per message, or nothing until the next window. Problems have to be solved on site.

## Three computers. Then two. Then one, still working.

Most redundant systems stop when they lose their majority. Mru Field steps down instead, and says which mode it is in.

3 alive · vote

A B C

Three computers vote. One bad result is outvoted.

2 alive · compare

A B C

Two compare. A known-answer test finds the faulty one.

1 alive · self-check

A B C

The last one checks its own work and keeps watching the site, at half speed.

Power

On site

Link

Cellular, radio or satellite

Visits

Weeks to months

Service life

Decades

## Questions

Does Mru Field need new hardware?

No. It is software for the processors you already deploy. It runs beside your control code and decides which computer to trust as parts fail.

Does it touch protection relays?

No. It runs on monitoring and control computers, not on certified protection.

How do we start?

Use the form below. We first model your hardware and show what each redundancy design returns over its whole life. Then we plan a pilot on your own equipment.

## Related settings

[All use cases](https://mru.space/use-cases/)

[

Energy · Offshore

### Offshore wind

](https://mru.space/use-cases/offshore-wind/)[

Infrastructure · Telecom

### Remote telecom sites

](https://mru.space/use-cases/remote-telecom/)[

Infrastructure · Pipelines

### Pipelines

](https://mru.space/use-cases/pipelines/)