System for monitoring temperature of electrical conductor

The present application provides systems for monitoring temperature of an electrical conductor enclosed in at least a (semi)conductive layer, for example, an electrical conductor of an electrical power cable in a high voltage power distribution system. One exemplary system for monitoring a temperature of an electrical conductor enclosed in at least a first (semi)conductive layer is disclosed. The system includes a passive inductive unit, and a transceiver unit and a control unit. The system optionally further includes a control unit. The passive inductive unit includes at least one temperature sensitive component and is configured to have a resonance frequency and/or Q value that varies with temperature of the electrical conductor. The temperature sensitive component has a characteristic parameter that varies with temperature and adapted to be in thermal contact with the electrical conductor. The transceiver unit is configured to be electromagnetically coupled to the passive inductive unit and to send out a signal representing the resonance frequency and/or Q value of the passive inductive unit. The transceiver unit is further configured to communicate with the control unit which ascertains the signal representing one or both of the resonance frequency and Q value, and which determines a value of the temperature of the electrical conductor based on the ascertained signal representing one or both of the resonance frequency and Q value. The control unit is configured to communicate with the transceiver unit to ascertain the signal representing the resonance frequency and/or Q value, and to determine a value of the temperature of the electrical conductor based on the ascertained signal representing the resonance frequency and/or Q value.