17

b)

3.2

LVAC Supplies an auxiliary AC supply and distribution system which supports

the operation of the substation by providing power for cooling fan motors, tap
change motors, circuit breaker mechanism charging systems and disconnector
drives in addition to the normal heating, lighting and domestic loads.

SUBSTATION TYPE
Substations are classified as two types of substation, i.e. Air Insulated Switchgear (AIS) open
terminal substation and Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) metalclad substation.
Open terminal arrangements, as the name suggests, utilises primary equipment whose
terminals are in air. Consequently large clearances are required between these terminals and
earth and between terminals of different phases. As a result open terminal substations occupy
relatively large areas of land.
Metalclad equipment utilises either solid or gaseous (SF6) insulation to allow phase to earth and
phase to phase clearance to be drastically reduced.
The space saving advantages of metalclad equipment can be significant particularly for high
voltage substations in large cities where space is difficult to obtain and land is very expensive.
Metalclad equipment may also be attractive for other reasons, notably visual impact in
environmentally sensitive areas and operation in heavily polluted environments.
Air insulated substations generally cost less than an equivalent gas insulated substation.
Almost all GIS substations are built indoor. GIS can be easily built underground to avoid any
environmental concern. The internal GIS insulation is independent of atmospheric pressure.

3.3

SUBSTATION EQUIPMENT

3.3.1

Circuit Breakers
A circuit breaker is a mechanical switching device, capable of making, carrying and breaking
currents under normal circuit conditions and also making, carrying for a specified time and
breaking currents under specified abnormal circuit conditions such as those of short circuit.
As systems have increased in size and complexity, the circuit breaker has been called upon to
have better short circuit interrupting performance, to operate faster and to tolerate higher and
higher system voltages.
Initially as fault currents increased circuit breakers become more and more complex to achieve
the required performance, particularly when 400kV systems with fault currents of up to 63kA
were designed.
Thankfully the introduction of sulphur hexafluoride interrupters led to a reduction in the number
of interrupters required in series for a particular voltage to the point where modern designs of
SF6 circuit breaker can meet system requirements with a single interrupter up to 245kV 50kA
and up to 420kV 63kA with two interrupters in series.
Under special circumstances, such as when switching capacitor banks for power factor
correction or arc furnace switching, where circuit breakers may operate many times a day,
replacement may be necessary after a shorter period, or point on wave switching (POW) is
needed.