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As part of the activities implemented in the branch under the «Target reliability improvement program» in 2012 the work was performed at 47 substations (SS), through which the most important social and industrial facilities in Smolensk and the Smolensk region are fed.
Particularly 19 substations were equipped with high-speed arc protection of 10kV switchgear bays, using optical arc sensors (352 sets), 8 substations were equipped with local backup of transformer protection using modern terminal protection (16 sets). 15 devices of fault location with short-circuit on 110 kV conductors and fault recorders at the substation «Demidov» were put into operation. Oil 10 kV circuit breakers were replaced for 10 kV vacuum circuit breakers with a set of modern MPD protection (80 sets) and units of an isolating switch — short-circuiting switch were replaced with 35 kV gas-insulated circuit breakers with a set of modern MPD protection (3 sets). In total 544 modern relay protection and automation devices were commissioned.
«Equipping with the high-speed arc protection allows to avoid serious consequences of damage of the SS equipment as a result of arc fault in 10kV switchgear bays, existing arc protection devices because of their low sensitivity, low reliability and long response time do not allow to quickly locate the damaged connection that leads to its significant damage and possible damage to nearby equipment. This upgrade will improve the reliability of power supply, and the use of the new equipment meets modern requirements to increase the reliability of the power system,»- stressed the chief of relay protection, automation, measurement and metrology service of the branch Alexey Merkulovich.
Installation of local backup of transformer protection reduces the risk of costly damage to the main substation equipment at a possible failure of the main transformer protection. The installed protection devices have independent auxiliary power supply in case the substation is fully de-energized. The reconstruction will allow to prevent the possibility of significant energy not supplied caused by damage of power transformers and to improve reliability of power supply to consumers.
According to experts the commissioning of the modern devices of fault location and fault recorders will greatly accelerate the fault location process on 110 kV conductors and as a consequence will reduce troubleshooting time, which will also decrease energy not supplied in the network and reduce the interruption duration of power supply of consumers.
The replacement of obsolete and worn-out oil circuit breakers for modern vacuum and gas-insulated, which practically require little maintenance during their lifetime, will allow to focus on other important aspects of the production, as well as to increase the security of the main substation equipment in case of damage to adjacent sections of the network and subsequently improve power supply reliability and lower operating costs.
The modernization of the relay protection and automation devices with modern terminals of leading companies allows to reduce time of outages in the network, and also allows to install high-speed circuits to restore power supply to consumers. Their advanced functionality allows to locate and isolate a damaged section of the network without interrupting the entire power system.
In 2012, investments in the repair of equipment in IDGC of Centre — Smolenskenergo division amounted to 64 million rubles. In the period from 2013 to 2015 it is planned to spend 324 million rubles on modernization, which will allow to re-equip most of the main substations in the service area of Smolenskenergo.