Hotline of power engineering specialists:
Belgorod power engineers completed the first stage of creating a digital Distribution Zone on the basis of the Valuysky Distribution Zone of “Rosseti Centre Belgorodenergo”. On power lines feeding 22 settlements, a system for remote control of the grid with the capability to continuously monitor the parameters of electricity, the functions of self-diagnosis and monitoring the quality of power supply to consumers has been implemented.
The power engineers have modernized 10 kV power lines, providing power supply to the Urazovsky, Kazinsky, Mandrovsky rural settlements with a population of over five thousand people.
According to the chief of the Valuysky Distribution Zone Alexey Lysenko, these are energy intensive sections of the grid that feed dozens of socially significant facilities: schools, hospitals, kindergartens, enterprises, boiler houses, communication centres and water intakes. Practically all of them have a large length, and therefore, in the event of an emergency, crews spent quite a lot of time locating fault and eliminating its consequences.
As part of the creation of smart grid, eight reclosers, nine disconnectors with motor drives and 11 short-circuit indicators are installed on the power lines, which, in the event of fault in an automatic mode, without involvement of operating staff, will be able to locate and isolate the required grid section, while maintaining power supply to most consumers.
“If earlier it took about two hours to locate fault on such a long line as the 10 kV overhead line from the “Kazinka” substation, then after installing smart reclosers, all switching with the isolation of the faulty section will occur instantly. Residents will not even notice the very moment of their transfer to another line,” explained Alexey Lysenko. “Thus, for most consumers, the fault will go unnoticed, and for the smaller one receiving electricity from the overhead line that has been put out for repair, the outage time will be halved. In some cases, as a result of automatic switching, you can restart 100% of consumers, and then no one will practically feel the lack of power supply.”
In addition to the implementation of distributed automation elements, the installation of an integrated energy monitoring system with telemetry devices that provide voltage control at 0.4 kV outgoing feeders and access control equipment in transformer substations is continuing in the Valuysky Distribution Zone.
At the beginning of 2020, technical metering devices covered 292 of 625 package transformer substations. This made it possible to identify sources of losses and quickly proceed to eliminate them. The effect of these measures has already amounted to 600 thousand kWh. Work in this direction continues. For the current year, it is planned to equip 100% of the substations of the Valuysky Distribution Zone with technical metering devices.
In addition to the technical ones, by the end of the year, it is planned to install over three thousand smart commercial electricity meters integrated in the branch’s automated electricity metering system of the district. The effect of these measures is expected in the amount of about 2.9 million kWh.
“The Valuysky Distribution Zone is one of five “pilot” sites on the basis of which “Rosseti Centre Belgorodenergo” creates digital Distribution Zones,” stressed Sergey Demidov, Deputy General Director - Director of Belgorodenergo, a branch of IDGC of Centre. “The project has integrated measures for 100 percent equipping the fleet with the GLONASS system, installing high-voltage points for commercial metering, switching to digital radio communications, and upgrading outdoor lighting. The digital transformation of the electric grid complex of the Valuysky Distribution Zone will significantly reduce the level of electricity losses in grids, improve the quality and reliability of power supply to consumers, make it possible to quickly respond to any emergency situations, avoiding long-term restrictions on electricity supply to residents of the district.”