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RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 06, 2017
Marketing contact:
Martin Van Der Linde
Tel : +61 7 3907 8777
Fax : +61 7 3399 6777
[email protected]
www.nojapower.com.au
How to save Capex on
Substation Upgrades
Building the Smart Rural Zone Substation
6 April 2017 – In modern society, the reliable and abundant supply of
electricity for mass consumers is often taken for granted. The industry in
charge of supplying the end consumers is often under significant scrutiny for
expenses, particularly in government owned enterprises. The issue with
minimising capital expenditure (Capex) is often exacerbated by the sporadic
understanding of electricity distribution by the end customer. When budget is
given such intense scrutiny, critical reliability projects such as substation
constructions and upgrades are often postponed or delayed purely to avoid
the economic heartache of expensive substation grade breakers. Fortunately,
with the evolution of distribution level switchgear, there is a growing class
alternative to the traditional substation breaker which is providing an
optimum solution to the issue.
Regardless of the location in our world, the idea of a substation build or
upgrade carries a significant associated price tag. The costs are associated
with the scale of the equipment required, but also with the separation of
primary and secondary systems within the substation. Primary equipment
refers to the actual switchgear, circuit breakers, switches and other high
voltage equipment, whilst the secondary systems refers to the control,
protection and automation devices in a substation. Both of these classes of
capital equipment are mandatory, and both require a substantial investment.
It is a reasonable assumption to make that on average, there is a
corresponding secondary system for almost every primary device in the
substation. It is quite easy to note how this price can all add up very quickly.
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Figure 1 – NOJA Power OSM Recloser Substation Mounting Arrangement,
Eugene Oregon USA.
However, there is a class of switchgear already in use around the world which
consolidates the primary and secondary side of equipment into a single
integrated solution. This class of switchgear often carries current interruption
capabilities far beyond true expectations out on distribution lines. The
solution is the distribution network staple: the Automatic Circuit Recloser
(ACR).
ACRs are already deployed around the world with protection, control and
automation in mind. In fact, oftentimes the only difference between ACRs
and substation class circuit breakers is the fault interrupting capacity.
Provided that substation fault currents are below 16kA with average load
current below 800A, then there is no reason a substation could not utilise
ACRs as incoming and outgoing circuit breakers in lieu of traditional,
expensive substation class equipment.
By using ACRs in the substation environment, the utility is able to introduce
an integrated solution to address the full requirements of their substation.
Since the solution is integrated, commissioning and testing of new secondary
systems is far simplified as a single vendor is chosen for the particular
infrastructure. Modern ACR control systems such as NOJA Power’s RC10
controller is preloaded with all
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Figure 2 – The “NOJA Power Farm” – Substation array in NT Australia
the anticipated standard substation protection capabilities, along with
advanced capabilities such as IEC61850, Neutral Voltage Displacement and
ANSI25 Synchrocheck. Utilities can stand to save a fortune on secondary
systems as all the usual “options” are simply supplied as standard with
modern ACRs.
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Figure 3 – NOJA Power OSM Reclosers used in an Argentinian Substation
Obviously, given the maximum fault ratings of ACRs being around 16kA with
constant load currents at 800A, there is a reasonable limit as to where this
economic solution can be deployed. However, it is still well within reason that
the majority of rural substations can be run using ACRs operating under these
limits. NOJA Power has witnessed multiple installations around the world
where utilities have deployed ACRs in a substation environment, even as
incoming and outgoing breakers. This application is commonplace throughout
the world, where for example the 38kV incomer is fed through a NOJA Power
OSM38 Auto-Recloser, into a 38kV/15kV transformer and out through
multiple 15kV Feeders each protected by a NOJA Power OSM15 AutoRecloser.
This development of capability has become so popular that NOJA Power has
developed a suite of substation standard functionality and products designed
to assist in solving substation challenges with traditional pole top ACRs. NOJA
Power’s substation mounting bracket, remote HMI panel, Ground Mount
Recloser Kiosk and IEC61850 are just a few of the developments which have
been created to solve the challenges unique to this environment.
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“Smart substations can be very economical to build today because of the
NOJA Power OSM recloser that comes complete with fully integrated
protection, automation, data logging, and remote control in a single package
solution,” reports NOJA Power Group Managing Director Neil O’Sullivan.
“IEC61850 Smart substations don’t actually need multi-million dollar
integrated control rooms, it can be achieved today in an outdoor pole mount
environment using reclosers as the entire protection system for the zone
substation.”
Figure 4 – NOJA Power OSM Recloser used in a New Zealand Substation with
Remote HMI Panel
There is no need for utility network engineers to dread the expenditure in
maintaining or augmenting a distribution network. There are significant costs
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which can be avoided and saved by deploying ACRs in place of traditional
substation circuit breaker. The key factor in deploying ACRs in substation
environments is the fault break capacity. Provided the design of the
substation does not call for fault interruption greater than 16kA, why would a
utility use anything else? For further information or to learn about some of
the rural substation builds using NOJA Power’s OSM Series reclosers.
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