Containerized High-Voltage Substation the Smart Solution

Containerized Substation the Smart Solution

Utilities all over the globe work to ensure reliable power supplies for their customers. At the same time, the growing demand for energy in urban areas is compelling them to expand their supply networks. Higher levels of demand for power must be met at short notice and the physical space available used to an optimum. Increasing use is being made in such cases of gas-insulated high-voltage switchgear housed in buildings. Such installations require only around 1/5 of the area that air-insulated substations would take up. Their compact design also allows them to be used in very confined spaces.

There are, however, also cases in which the construction of a permanent, solid building for gas-insulated high-voltage substation is too costly or indeed impossible. For example, if:

time is short and it is essential that energy be provided as quickly as possible there is so little space available that it is impossible to erect a conventional building an extension of smaller switchgear sections is required for which a permanent building would be too expensive an interium solution is required the subsation is to be relocated.

The solution for all of these cases is: containerized, gas-insulated high-voltage substation. These substations bring their own home with them. This does away with costly construction work which can also restrict operation. And if necessary, the substation can move location in its container, together with its foundations.

High voltage in a very confined space the functional unit of a gas-insulated duplicate busbar system for 245 kV.

Siemens SF6 Technology Benefits Right Across the Board

Siemens gas-insulated high-voltage switchgear is packed with the latest technology. 25 years of experience help to keep the continuing development of state-of-the-art equipment rolling. Siemens SF6-insulated switchgear is maintenancefree for more than 25 years, safe-to-touch and resistant to environmental effects. Its compact design also allows it to be used in very confined spaces and that with a switching capacity for which one used to have to build substations the size of a football field. Gasinsulated substation is nowadays being put to use

all over the world in the basements of high-rise buildings, in department stores and in industrial plants. Proven sealing system limits gas leakage to less than 1% per gas compartment per year. Its modular design makes for ease of expansion. Electromagnetic compatibility assures reliable protection for operating personnel and the environment, and an extremely low operating noise reduces the overall noise level to an absolute minimum.

Containerized Substation SF6 Technology Put to Optimum Use

Due to its compact design and flexible modular construction, Siemens gasinsulated high-voltage switchgear is ideally suited to installation in containers. It can be used to implement any switchgear and structural variant required, from a simple incoming feeder up to a complete substation, in the form of a containerized substation .
Linking containers together makes multi-bay substations possible in very confined spaces.

The ability to link together containers makes it possible to set up multi-bay configurations in very confined spaces. All the common connection components can be used, such as outdoor bushings, cable termination boxes and SF6 pipe couplings. They can be attached to the container in various ways, be this to the front panels, to the sides or at variable angles on the roof. This allows use to the full of the prevailing spatial conditions.

If necessary, it is possible to accommodate all the equipment for control, protection and the power supply for the station auxiliaries. This allows the switchgear to operate practically self-sufficiently on site. The photographs on this page show a number of design variants of 145 kV containerized substations.

Three-bay container substation with cable feeders at the rear and outgoing tubular conductors to outdoor bushings at the sides.

123 kV incoming feeder for a factory in a container with direct transformer connection and overhead line. termination at the side.

Economical and Rapidly Available

A preassembled module being lowered into a container.

Container substations offer users clear cost advantages with regard to planning, erection and installation. Civil works planning is confined solely to the foundations for the container. Already in the factory the high-voltage switchgear is preassembled, installed in the container ready to run and tested. All that has to be done on site is to erect the container, mount external switchgear components, and the commissioning of the substation.

A container substation can be ready for operation within the commissioning space of 2 weeks. Factory preassembly of the switchgear ensures a high level of quality and reliability. The Siemens container concept also includes a leasing option. Please dont hesitate to contact us for more information.

Connecting the gas-insulated arresters while installing the switchgear in the container.

The Substations Mobile Home: the Container

Containerized SF6-insulated high-voltage substations are either installed in a sheetsteel container or in a prefabricated enclosure made of concrete they bring their own home with them. As a rule, standard containers that comply with the relevant ISO specifications can be used. The dimensions are appropriately adapted to match the structure of the system. Container substations are easy to transport thanks to their low weight and their compact size. If required, the containers can also be equipped with thermal insulation, heating, lighting, socket outlets and combined filters and ventilators. Access can also be provided for operating personnel on all sides of the substation.

The container is erected on an uncomplicated foundation and if there is any requirement at all for permission from the local building authorities, this is simple to obtain. If the substation is relocated, even the foundations and the reinforced frames of the containers can be moved and reused.

Top References

Siemens container substations are in use all over the world to solve the most varied of problems. The following examples illustrate this.

Example 1 Mobile Container Substation in Westmecklenburg

Example 2 Mini-Substation for a Small-Size Geothermal Power Station

Example 3 Switchgear Extension in a Very Confined Space

In the context of large-scale modernization of the power utility Westmecklenburgische Energieversorgungs AG (WEMAG), a large number of substations are to be upgraded and, in part, completely renewed over a period of 15 years. This enterprise demanded that reliable interim solutions be found, in order to assure power supplies while the rebuilding work is in progress. As an initial solution to the problem, Siemens provided a threebay, 110 kV container-type station back in October 1994. This station meets all the demands made on a supply bypass used to allow renewal of the actual substation itself: minimal space requirement, in order to leave as much of the available plot as possible free for a new station implementation at short notice and quick availability upholding of power supplies throughout the entire construction period availability of the two existing 110/20 kV transformers direct connection to the existing 110 kV overhead lines. The container substation supplied contains all the necessary protective equipment and is intended to be used as a mobile station to be erected at six different locations. Cost analyses have shown that this system results in savings of 20 % compared with a conventional outdoor substation.

A 50 MVA geothermal power station in California, USA makes use of the hot springs of the Imperial Valley. The requirements specified for connection of the small-size power station to the 92 kV supply system via a substation equipped with generator transformer included not only a high degree of efficiency, but the following demands, too: a modular design for quick installation and start-up 20 years of maintenance-free running resistance to extreme climatic conditions, with a salt-laden atmosphere and sandstorms.

In Belgium, the network node for power supplies to the capital, Brussels, consists of a conventional 420/170 kV outdoor substation. Siemens was commissioned by a Belgian utility to extend the 170 kV section of the station by adding two bus tie units and one bus coupler unit. The task set was to find a solution which took up as little space as possible and which did not entail the substation having to be shut down for installation or for high-voltage testing. The container substation delivered by Siemens in the summer of 1991 solved this problem in a very economical manner. Each of the three bus coupler bays, housed in its own respective container, comprises the following: two bus disconnectors one circuit-breaker with integral current transformers two works-in-progress earthing switches two make-proof busbar earthing switches, and one local control cubicle with switchgear interlock unit.

The mini-substation supplied by Siemens is the optimum solution for these requirements. The compact size of the gasinsulated switchgear meant that standard containers could be used. The containers, equipped with complete thermal insulation, lighting, air conditioning and ventilation system, contain all the active components circuitbreakers, earthing switches and disconnectors and the local control cubicle. They are also accessible to the operating personnel. The switchgear and high-voltage transformer are connected to each other by means of SF6insulated tubular conductors. Enclosed lightning arresters are mounted on the roofs of the containers, and, with the exception of the overhead line termination, there are no live highvoltage components exposed to the extreme climate. The substation was ready for operation only two weeks after the start of on-site erection. No maintenance work will have to be done until 20 years have passed.

Throughout the entire four weeks of installation and commissioning work, the existing substation continued to operate without any disruptions.

Container Substations and More: Let Siemens Be Your Single-Source Vendor

Wherever versatile, quickly implementable, compact and climate-proof solutions are required, Siemens containerized high-voltage substations are a highly economical option. We put our experience and competence in gasinsulated switchgear technology at your disposal, in order to offer you inexpensive and customized solutions to your problems. Siemens AG Power Transmission and Distribution Group High Voltage Division Tel.: ++49 91 31/7-3 46 60 Fax: ++49 91 31/7-3 46 62 e-mail: evhgis@erls04.siemens.de
Name/Company Street Postal code/City/Country Telephone/Fax

Moreover, Siemens designs, develops, manufactures and markets products and systems for high-voltage switchgear, HVDC transmission, medium-voltage switchgear, energy meters, telecontrol, power systems control, substations control and protection, power transformers, distribution transformers and power cables, along with the associated software and services required.

Do you want to find out more? Can we help you find a solution to a specific problem? Then call us or fax this last page to us. Well be glad to give you the advice you need.

Complete substation in the form of a mobile trailer.

8DN9 high-voltage switchgear

8DA mediumvoltage switchgear Transformer

Station auxiliaries

Bereich Energiebertragung und -verteilung Geschftsgebiet Hochspannung P.O. Box 32 20 D-91050 Erlangen http://www.ev.siemens.de

Power to the
Subject to change without prior notice Order No. E50001-U113-A129-X-7600 Printed in Germany Dispo-Stelle 30000 61U2092 Ra/W 100934 PA 12983.

Siemens Aktiengesellschaft