Implementation Techniques of Inter-substation Line

Transfer Function Increasing Reliability in MEA’s

Distribution System
Pichit Jintagosonwit
Power System Maintenance Department
Metropolitan Electricity Authority
Bangkok, Thailand
pichit.j@mea.or.th

Abstract—Transmission lines play an important role in power

II. MEA’S DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
system as far as reliability is concerned. The transmission line
must have a good maintenance and switching plan to get the most Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) is a power
of its reliability. However, no matter how good the system, the distribution utility in Thailand responsible for distribution of
failure rate of the transmission line cannot be suppressed to zero electric power to the customers in Bangkok and two
and when it does fail, it causes a wide-area outage which impacts neighboring provinces (Nonthaburi and Samutprakarn). MEA
various customers. In MEA’s distribution system, 2 transmission
receives power from Electricity Generating Authority of
lines are provided to link a substation to 2 different terminal
sources. However, in a downtown area, routing of the
Thailand (EGAT) at 230 kV, 115 kV, and 69 kV buses of 17
transmission line is very difficult and costly to provide two terminal stations. The voltages are reduced to 24 kV or 12 kV
terminal-station transmission lines to each substation. Thus some at distribution substations called simply substations and
substations have to receive electric power from a nearby distributed to medium-voltage customers and distribution
substation instead. Significantly, all of the nearby substations transformers. The low-voltage customers receive power from
called inline substations have only one source due to have to pass distribution transformers at 416/240 V. In 2012, the electric
through electric power to other substations. Their reliability is energy of 49,997.46 GWh was supplied by 150 distribution
low, since they cannot perform substation line transfer functions substations through 1,674.62 circuit-kilometers high-voltage
(CTO/LTO).
sub-transmission lines called simply transmission lines or only
This paper presents the implementation techniques of inter-
substation line transfer function (ILTF) using SCADA, IEC61850
“lines” and 17,218.08 circuit-kilometers medium-voltage
GOOSE and PLCs which resulted in a huge outage time feeders.
reduction. A. Substation Line Transfer Function
Index Terms-- Inline Substation, CTO, LTO, ILTF, SCADA, For increasing reliability of each substation, generally
IEC61850 GOOSE, PLCs, Reliability substation line transfer functions are implemented as
followings.
I. INTRODUCTION 1) Bus-coupler throw-over: A substation which have HV
double busbars with a bus coupler is normally implemented a
In several countries, electric utilities have to measure their
line transfer function of bus-coupler throw-over (CTO) for
performance of power system by reliability indices according
reducing an outage duration as shown in Fig. 1.
to the government policies. Moreover, a free trade policy also
makes electric utilities have to increase their performances and
services for increasing competitiveness with other electric
utilities including foreign competitors. So reliability is a key
factor which is needed by the utilities for enhancing their
power systems.
There are many ways to increase reliability of the power
system such as renovating substation equipments, improving
the power network, enhancing maintenance plans. However,
the utilities still have to consider the return of investment and
their financial conditions. One of the most reasonable
solutions for increasing reliability is to improve the power
system without changing primary equipments. So, existing
line transfer functions have been reconsidered.

Figure 1. An operation of the CTO

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 An operation of the CTO uses undervoltage relays (21)
which monitors voltages of transmission lines whether are
normal. In case of the monitored voltage belowing setting
values, the CTO will open a CB (Circuit Breakers) of the
faulty line then close a bus-coupler CB to recieve electric
power from another transmission line within 0.3 seconds
including operating time of CBs called a transfer step resulting
in a short outage of 0.2 seconds approximately. After that if
an automatic recloser of the faulty line at the terminal station
performs successfully then the voltages come back to normal
making the undervoltage relay resets. The CTO will make sure
by delaying 60 seconds before closing the opened line-coming
circuit breaker then opening the bus-coupler CB called
retransfer step. The CTO shall perform a transfer or retransfer
step when the CTO is in the auto mode only. Thus, during
maintaining or changing a switching scheme such as from
double-busbar to single-busbar scheme, the CTO have to be in
the manual mode for safty purposes.
2) Line throw-over: A substation which has a H-bus
scheme or uses a single-busbar arrangement will run a
function of line throw-over (LTO) for backing up a preferred
transmission line with an emergency transmission line as
shown in Fig. 2.
Figure 2. An operation of the LTO
Typically, the LTO allows a substaion receive electric
power from a selected transmission line as a preferred line. So,
another transmission line is prepared as an emergency line. An
operation of the LTO also uses undervoltage relays which
detect abnormal voltages of transmission lines. In case of an
abnormal voltage happens on the prefered line, the LTO will
open a preferred line-incoming CB then close another line-
incoming CB to recieve electricity from the emergency
transmission line within 0.3 seconds called a transfer resulting
about an outage of 0.2 seconds. After that if an automatic
recloser of the preferred line at a terminal station do
successfully then the voltage will be normal making the
undervoltage relay resets. Afterward, the LTO will delay of 60
seconds before closing the preferred line-incoming CB then
opening the emergency line-incoming CB called a retransfer
step. Same as the CTO, the LTO will perform transfer or
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retransfer only when the LTO is in the auto mode. So
changing switching scheme, the LTO also have to be in
manual mode.
B. Inline and Open-loop Switching Scheme among
Substations
In a downtown area, routing of the transmission line is
very difficult and costly to provide two terminal-station
transmission lines to each substation creating a switching
scheme of inline and open-loop substations as simply shown
in Fig. 3.
Figure 3. Inline and open-loop switching schemes
A substation which receives electric power from a terminal
station or a nearby substation and sends the electric power to
another nearby substation is called an inline substation. The
inline substation has only one power source resulting in the
inline substation cannot perform the substation line transfer
functions (CTO/LTO). Thus the inline substation has
untypical reliability. On the other type of substation, an open-
loop substation is a substation that has two power sources
which one receives electric power from a nearby substation
and one receives a electric power directly from a terminal
station. So the open-loop substation is able to use the
CTO/LTO as usual. This paper focuses on the methods to
increase reliability of the inline substation to the typical level.
III. IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUES OF THE ILTF
An inter-substation line transfer function (ILTF) is one of
automatic line transfer function which is designed for
increasing reliability of the inline substations. The ILTF
works with data from several concerned substations, so a data
communication system is needed for implementing.
A. System Configurations of the ILTF
Practically, there are 3 available system configurations of 3
solutions for implementing the ILTF that are following:
1) ILTF by SCADA: SCADA (Supervisory Control and
Data Acquisition) is wide-area control system which can
monitor and control equipments inside most of substations.
The SCADA can be utilized to create the ILTF by a built-in
logic programming. The advantage of implementing by
 SCADA is no any requirement of additional hardwares.
However, the SCADA has a response-time constraint due to
the SCADA requsting (Polling & Control) is bases on a
resolution of seconds especially for SBO (Select Before
Operate) will take more time duration for a transaction [1].
So, the response time of the ILTF by SCADA is in range of 1-
30 seconds depending on types of data communication
(TCP/IP, Serial Communication), types of control (SBO,
Direct Control) and how fast of requesting. Thus,the ILTF by
SCADA is suitable to be an interrim ILTF.
Figure 4. Configuration of the ILTF by SCADA
2) ILTF by IEC61850 SA: Substation automation using
IEC61850 (IEC61850 SA) now is more widely implemented
in many power utilities around the world. Currently,
communication architecture of IEC61850 SA is based on
ethernet and TCP/IP technologies. Thus, the IEC61850 SA
can communicate with other substation for performing the
ILTF function. Due to the ILTF requires the fast reponse time,
a GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented Sub) messaging is
needed. The GOOSE messaging works on a data-link level so
it needs to make a big ethernet network among several
substations for supporting the GOOSE messaging [2].
However, the big ethernet network has weak points from
several network effects such as a traffic flooding and security
issues, so a network administrator has to configure managed
switches to reduce the effects as less as possible.
Furthermore,the ILTF by IEC61850 SA also needs an IED
that has a big logic-gate capacity,so existing IED may be not
able to support the ILTF. Thus,the ILTF by IEC61850 can be
only an option and have to designed carefully.
Figure 5. Configuration of the ILTF by IEC61850
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3) ILTF by PLCs: A PLC (Programmable Logic
Controller) are a device that can perform the ILTF logics with
an independent aspect from existing systems. The ILTF needs
one PLC for each substions and all PLCs have to
communicate with each other. The ILTF implementation by
PLC requires a new investment of wiring, buying PLCs and
thier peripherals,but it is very independent and guarunteed
about the response time. The ILTF by PLC is also able to have
redundant communication medias (TCP/IP and RS232)
making it has high avaiability [3]. This paper by itself prefers
the ILTF by PLC for implementing.
Figure 6. Configuration of the ILTF by PLCs
B. Operation of the ILTF
The main objectives of the ILTF are to keep energized load
as much as possible and also to reduce outage duration as less
as possible. Firstly, switching schemes of concerned
substations have to conform with the ILTF requirement for
making the ILTF can be in the auto mode. A simple concept is
that inline substations have to close all HV CBs for passing
through electric power to another side and an open-loop
substation is in ready for transferring as CTO (Both line CBs
are closed and a bus coupler CB is opened)/LTO (a line CB
connecting a nearby substation is closed and an emergency-
line CB connecting to a terminal station is opened).
There are several transfer and retransfer steps of the ILTF
as followings:
1) Normal transfer steps: Normal transfer steps will
perform when there is a fault occuring on a transmission line
from a terminal station. The transfer steps will perform
diffently depending on a type of busbar configuration of an
open-loop substation (Single Busbar or Double Busbar) and
what faulty line is (Terminal Station 1 or Terminal Station 2).
a) Open-loop substation using a single busbar and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1: When an
undervoltage relay detects undervoltages occuring on the
terminal-substation line of the inline substation for 0.2
seconds and no pickup of any distance relay ensuring that
there is a fault between the terminal station 1 and the inline
substation. After that the ILTF will open the faulty incoming-
line CB that receives electric power from the terminal station
1 then the ILTF will close a the emergency incoming-line CB
of the open-loop substation for delivering electric power from
 the terminal station 2 to the inline substation . These steps are
shown as Fig. 7.
Figure 7. Transfer step for open-loop substation using a single busbar and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1
b) Open-loop substation using double busbars and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1: Once an
undervoltage relay detects undervoltages occuring on the
terminal-substation of the inline substation for 0.2 seconds and
no pickup of any distance relay. Afterward the ILTF will open
the faulty incoming-line CB that connect to the terminal
station 1 then the ILTF will close the bus-coupler CB of the
open-loop substation for delivering electricity from the
terminal station 2 to the inline substation. These steps are
shown as Fig. 8.
Figure 8. Transfer step for open-loop substation using double busbars and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1
c) Open-loop substation using double busbars and
faulty line from the terminal station 2: When an undervoltage
relay detects undervoltage occuring on the line 2 of the open-
loop substation for 0.2 seconds and no any pickup of any
distance relay making sure there is a fault between the
terminal station 2 and the open-loop substation. After that the
ILTF will open the faulty incoming-line CB that receives
electric power from the terminal station 2 then the ILTF will
close a the bus-coupler CB of the open-loop substation for
delivering a electric power from the terminal station 1 to the
another side of the open-loop substation. These steps are
shown as Fig. 9.
.
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Figure 9. Transfer step for open-loop substation using double busbars and
faulty line coming from the terminal station 2
2) Transfer steps by zone-1 tripping: Transfer steps by
zone-1 tripping will perform when there is a fault occuring on
a transmission between two substations. The transfer steps by
a zone-1 tripping will also perform diffently depending on a
type of busbar configuration of an open-loop substation
(Single Bus or Double Bus). The transfer steps by zone-1
tripping have no any retransfer step because the duration of
having two opened CB exceeding a time of a functional
intrigrity. So the ILTF will change to the manual mode
automatically.
a) Open-loop substation using a single busbar: When
an undervoltage relay of a receiving substation measures that
voltages are below setting values and there is a zone-1 tripping
of a line at a supplying substation that supplys electricity to
the nearby receiving substation.These shows that a fault surely
happens on a line between the two substations. So the ILTF
will open two end CBs of the faulty line. After that the ILTF
will close a the emergency incoming-line CB of the open-loop
substation for delivering electric power from the terminal
station 2 to an outaged area. These steps are shown as Fig.10.
Figure 10. Transfer step by zone-1 tripping for open-loop substation using a
single busbar
b) Open-loop substation using double busbars: Once an
undervoltage relay of a receiving substation found that
voltages are abnormal and there is a zone-1 tripping of a line
at a supplying substation. So the ILTF will open two end CBs
of the faulty line then the ILTF will close the bus-coupler CB
of the open-loop substation for delivering electric power from
the terminal station 2 to outaged load. These steps are shown
as Fig. 11.
 Figure 11. Transfer step by zone-1 tripping for open-loop substation using
double busbars
3) Retransfer steps: Retransfer steps will perform when a
transfer step has done and the fault has been cleared including
the ILTF is still in the auto mode. The retransfer steps will
make the switching scheme is ready for a next line
transferring. So the availability of these substation will recover
to normal. The retransfer steps also will perform diffently
depending on a type of busbar configuration of an open-loop
substation (Single Bus or Double Bus) and what faulty line is
(Terminal Station 1 or Terminal Station 2).
a) Open-loop substation using a single busbar and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1: Typically,the
terminal station 1 has an automatic recloser that recloses only
1 shot after 4 seconds. Thus,if a fault is temporary then the
tripped CB of the terminal station will be able to energize to
an inline substation again. So the undervoltage relay of the
inline substation will found that the voltages come back to
normal. After that the ILTF still wait for 60 seconds to ensure
no flicker again, then the ILTF will close the tripped
incoming-line CB which connect to the terminal station 1 then
open the emergency-line CB of the open-loop substation.
These steps are shown as Fig. 12.
Figure 12. Retransfer step for open-loop substation using a single busbar and
a faulty line coming from the terminal station 1
b) Open-loop substation using double busbars and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1: A terminal
station normally has automatic reclosures. Consequecely,if the
fault is temporary then the tripped CB of the terminal station
1 could energize the power again to the inline substation. So
the undervoltage relay of the tripped line will detect that the
voltages is normal. However, the ILTF still wait for 60
seconds for sure. After that the ILTF will close the tripped CB
of an inline substation that connects to the terminal station 1
then open the bus-coupler CB of the open-loop substation.
These steps are shown as Fig. 13.
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Figure 13. Retransfer step for open-loop substation using double busbars and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 1
c) Open-loop substation using double busbars and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 2: If the fault is
temporaly then the tripped CB of the terminal station 2 will
be able to reenergize electric power to the open-loop
substation by an automatic reclosure. So the undervoltage
relay of the tripped line will found that the voltages is normal.
However, the ILTF still wait for 60 seconds for sure. After
that the ILTF will close the tripped CB of the open-loop
substation that connects to the terminal station 2 then open the
bus-coupler CB of the open-loop substation. These steps are
shown as Fig. 14.
Figure 14. Retransfer step for open-loop substation using double busbars and a
faulty line coming from the terminal station 2
IV. CONCLUSION
The proposed techniques and applications of the ILTF can
increase reliability of power distribution system and ultimately
prevent a big outage. The ILTF also can get rid of a weak
point of the inline substations. This paper presents the
solutions (SCADA, IEC61850 and PLCs) to increase
reliability of the inline substations. The ILTF is able to
decrease wide-area outages of load of whole in-line substation
from 5-10 minutes to 0.2-0.3 seconds
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[2] Communication Delivery Time Performance Requirements for Electric
Power Substation Automation, Std. 1646-2004,IEEE Power Eng. Soc.
(Power Eng. Soc.),Feb.2005,IEEE Std.,NY,USA
[3] IEC, IEC TC-57. Power System Control and Associated
Communications—Data and Communication Security, Geneva,
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