Electrical installation with a cooling element and method for operating said installation

The installation contains a current conductor producing Joulean heat in the operating state, a cooling element and a monitoring device. The cooling element has a condensable working medium and an evaporator, which can be heated by the current conductor of the installation, and a condenser which has been withdrawn from the heating effect of the current conductor. The monitoring device comprises at least one sensor for detecting a parameter of the cooling element and an evaluation unit, which receives output signals from the sensor. In the evaluation unit, the output signals of the sensors are evaluated and a signal describing the state and/or the functionality of the cooling element is formed there. This installation is characterized by high operational reliability with a high current-carrying capacity and dimensions which are kept small.