Grid Connectivity Standards,

Grid standards

alka
NPTI, PSTI
Bangalore

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CEA’s Standards for
Grid Connectvity

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 1.Transmission system Planning & Design

i. The transmission licensee shall plan and design the

inter state/ intra state transmission system based on the
following
a. CEA “Manual on Transmission Planning Criteria: 1994”
b. CEA “Report of the Committee for Updating the Best Practices
in Transmission System for the Country: 2002”.
c. Latest Issue of CBIP Manuals on: Layout of Substations,
Transmission Towers
d. Grid code
e. State Grid code

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 1.Transmission system Planning & Design
ii. The integrity of the regional grid is not affected under various
operating conditions including stipulated system contingencies
a. all elements of the transmission system shall be designed
taking into account the specified factors of safety in regard to
electrical, mechanical and civil aspects in the respective
standards
b. optimal system to be chosen after performing load flow, short
circuit, stability studies of the various transmission alternative

 The system designed shall not impinge on the rating of the

substation equipment in any other sub station in the vicinity.

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 2. Overhead Transmission Lines
i. The transmission line proposed to be connected shall be
comply with the following
a. Tower design shall be based on the technical standards for the
construction of electrical lines specified by the authority under
section 73(b) of the Act
b. Foundation design for the tower to be developed by the
transmission licensee for various soil categories.
c. Use of multi circuit and narrow based towers wherever ROW
constraints exist
d. Each type of tower to be type tested for mechanical strength

ii. Clearance from PTCC shall be obtained

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 3. EHV/HV Underground Cables
i. Cables proposed to be connected to the system, shall comply with the
following
a. Shall be of XLPE type corresponding to IS 7098
b. Cable conductor to be of adequate size considering continuous current,
short circuit current, voltage drop etc, & shall correspond to IS-8130
c. Cables to be provided with proper sheathing, armoring & screening
d. Prior permission from appropriate authority to be obtained for digging
trenches, precautions to be taken
e. Route maps to be kept at Substation & markers shall be fixed to trace the
cables
f. Road crossing to be carried out by providing Hume pipes or GI pipes
g. Jointing & termination to be carried out as per relevant standards

ii. Clearance from PTCC shall be obtained

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 4. Substations
Planning and design of substations to be based on the following
 Security of supply, extendibilty, maintainabilty and
operational flexibility
 Statutory safety requirements
 Protection from direct lightening stroke
 Switching scheme:-
765 kV Substation: Double bus double breaker
400 kV Substation: One and half breaker scheme/ double main
and transfer bus bar scheme
220 kV Substation: Double main and transfer scheme/ double
main with breaker by-pass scheme
132kV Substation: Main and transfer scheme
below 132 kV Substation: as decided by licensee
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 4. Substations
Planning and design of substations to be based on the following
v. All EHV circuit breakers to be of SF6 type
vi. Isolators to be pneumatic or motor operated
vii. ICTs to be provided with OLTCs
viii. Surge arrestors to be of metal oxide type (as per IEC 60099)
ix. Control room to be extensible
x. All substation structures to be of lattice steel. Structures to
conform to IEC 865, IS-875, IS-802, IS-800
xi. Electrical, mechanical and civil designs to be standardised to
the extent possible

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 4. Substations
Planning and design of substations to be based on the following
xii. Power Supply to the sub station auxillaries
a. AC Supply;
2 HT supplies shall be arranged from independent sources. In
addition, a DG set of suitable capacity to be provided
b. DC Supply:
2 sets of 220 V batteries each equipped with own charger for
substations of 220 kV & above. 2 sets of 50 V batteries for
PLCC system.
for substations of 132 kV & below, 1 set of battery each to be
provided
xii. For high current, XLPE cables to be employed. For LV/MV
systems, PVC cables corresponding to IS-1554, can be
employed 9
 4. Substations
Planning and design of substations to be based on the following
xiv. Reliable communication link shall be provided on all EHT
lines for voice, Fax, protection, telemetry & SCADA
xv. Substation grounding shall be done in accordance with IEEE-
80
xvi. Size and no. of ICTs to be selected such that outage of one
shouldn’t overload the remaining ICTs or the underlying
system
xvii. The stuck breaker condition in the substation shall not cause
disruption of more than 4 feeders in 132 or 220 kV system,
more than 2 feeders in 400 kV system and more than one
feeder in 765 kV system
xviii. In substations of 220 kV and above, control room, PLCC
room, Relay testing room and electronic laboratory shall be air
conditioned
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 5. Earth Fault Factor
In the event of a point in the EHT system of a transmission licensee
being earthed, the Earth fault Factor shall be less than 1.4

6. Electromagnetic Compatibility
A line or equipment in the transmission system shall not generate
excessive electromagnetic field and the RIV (radio
interference voltage) shall be within permissible limits as per
relevant standards

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 7. Insulation coordination
i. For new connections, the CTU/ STU/ transmission licensee,
shall inform the transmission users seeking connectivity, the
BIL and important parameters of the equipment and ratings of
the surge arresters in its system adjacent to the connection
point.
ii. The transmission users and licensees seeking connectivity
shall furnish to the CTU/ STU, the BIL of the proposed
system/ important items of the equipment and the rating of the
surge arresters adjacent to the connection point
iii. The CTU/ STU/ transmission licensee shall determine the
ratings of the surge arresters to be installed at the connection
point
iv. Requisite insulation coordination to be done by the CTU/
STU/ transmission licensee.
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 8. Grid standards
The transmission utility, transmission licensee and the load dispatch
center shall comply with the CEA’s Grid standards

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Grid Standards

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1. Short title and commencement and application

These are CEA (Grid standards) Regulations, 2010

These regulations came into force on their publication in
official gazette i.e.June 26, 2010
These shall apply to the entities, appropriate LDCs, and RPCs.

2. Definitions
•Bulk consumer – means a consumer who avails supply at
voltages of 33 kV or above
•Entity - means a Generating company or a transmission licensee
or a distribution licensee or a bulk consumer
•Voltage Unbalance – Ratio of the maximum voltage deviation of
the phase voltage from the average phase voltage to the average
phase voltage 15
 3. Standards for operation and
maintenance of transmission lines

 All entities
 LDCs
 RPCs
a) Frequency Control
Operating Range : 49.5 to 50.2 Hz or as per grid
code, except during the transient period
following tripping.

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 b) Operating Voltage Limits
S.No. Normal system Maximum (kV Minimum (kV
Voltage (kV rms) rms)
rms)
1 765 800 728

2 400 420 380

3 220 245 198

4 132 145 122

5 110 121 99

6 66 72 60

7 33 36 30
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c) Temporary over voltage range d) voltage unbalance limits

S.No. Nominal System Temporary over voltage Voltage

Voltage (kV rms) Phase to Neutral (kV peak) unbalance (%)
1 765 914 1.5

2 400 514 1.5

3 220 283 2
4 132 170 3
5 33 Decided by the state 3
commission in the respective
State grid code

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 e) Max fault clearance time

S.No. Normal system Voltage Maximum time

(kV rms) in milliseconds
1 765 and 400 100

2 220 and 132 160

Time delay for Back up breaker operation 200 ms.

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 f) Grid shall with stand one of the following
contingencies without loss of stability

 Outage of one single largest generating unit

 Outage of a 132 kV double circuit line
 Outage of a 220 kV double circuit line
 Outage of a 400 kV single circuit line
 Outage of a 400 kV single circuit line with series
compensation
 Outage of a 765 kV single circuit line without series
compensation
 Outage of one pole of HVDC Bipolar line
 Outage of one interconnecting transformer

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g) N-1 criteria for system stability- system shall
be stable for one of the following contingencies
 Tripping of single largest generating unit
 Transient SLG fault of a 765 kV line close to bus
 A SLG Fault on 400 kV line and isolation of the line
 A fault on one circuit of a 400 kV double circuit line in
operation
 A transient SLG fault in one of the 400 kV double circuit
line when the second circuit is already under outage
 A 3 ph fault in 220 kV or 132 kV line
 A fault in one pole of HVDC bipolar in a HVDC
Converter station

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 h) Limits for harmonic distortion in
Transmission systems
S.No. System Voltage (kV rms) Total harmonic Individual
distortion (%) Harmonic of any
particular
frequency (%)
1 765 1.5 1.0

2 400 2.0 1.5

3 220 2.5 2.0

4 33 to 132 5.0 3.0

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 4. Operations planning
 Regional Power Committee shall periodically review the
performance of the grid for the past period
 RPC shall plan stable operation of the grid for future,
considering various parameters and occurrences such as
 frequency profile,
 voltage profile,
 line loading,
 grid incident,
 grid disturbance,
 performance of protection schemes and
 protection coordination

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 5. Maintenance planning
 The RPC shall prepare annual maintenance plan for
Generating stations, ISTS
 Coordinate the annual maintenance plan for inter
regional transmission system
 Organise monthly operating committee meetings in the
region to review and revise the coordinated generation and
transmission system plan
 The SLDC shall do the above for intra-state constituents
in consultation with the concerned transmission licensees
 The generating company/ transmission licensee shall
obtain approval of the appropriate LDC before actual shut
down

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 6. Coordination in operations

 No entity shall introduce or take out the element of the

grid without the concurrence of the appropriate LDC
except in case of risk of safety of plant and personnel in
which case it must intimate the appropriate LDC.

 The appropriate LDC shall inform all affected parties of

the outage

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 7. Operating instructions
 Every generating company and transmission licensee shall
provide written operating instructions for each equipment
and operating procedure for sequence of operations of power
system equipment in their control room

 These instructions to be consistent with the manufacturers’

instructions

 Instructions and procedures to be reviewed and revised by

generating company/ licensee.

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 8. RLDCs and SLDCs Instructions’ to be
recorded

• All operating instructions given by RLDC and SLDC

through phone, fax, email shall be given a unique
operating code number and recorded . Voice
recorder to be maintained for recording and
reproduction of conversation with time stamp/ tag.

• Above records shall be preserved for six months.

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 9. Under frequency relay settings
 All entities shall set their UF relays and DF/DT relays in
accordance with RPC plan to provide adequate load relief for
grid security and ensure the operation of these relays at the set
frequencies.

 All entities shall include the Fr relay details in their daily

report to the RLDCs and RPCs. RPC shall carry our inspection
of the relays as and when required.

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 10. Islanding schemes

• The RPC shall prepare islanding schemes for

separation of systems with a view to save
healthy system from total collapse in case of
grid disturbance.

• All entities shall ensure proper

implementation of the islanding schemes.

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 11. Categorization of Grid incident and
Grid disturbance based on severity

 “Grid Incident” means tripping of one or more

power system elements of the grid, which requires
rescheduling of load/ generator, without total
loss of supply at the substation or loss of
integrity of the grid at 220 kV and above (132
kV in case of NE region)

 “Grid Disturbance” means tripping of one or

more power system elements of the grid, resulting
in total failure of supply at the substation or
loss of integrity of the transmission system at
220 kV and above (132 kV in case of NE region)
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 11. Categorization of Grid incident and Grid
disturbance based on severity (contd…)
 Severity of grid incidents
– GI 1: Tripping of one or more power system elements which requires
rescheduling of generator/ load, without loss of supply at a substation or
loss of integrity of grid at 220 kV level(132 kV in NE region)
– GI 2: Tripping of one or more power system elements which requires
rescheduling of generator/ load, without loss of supply at a substation or
loss of integrity of grid at 400 kV level and above (220 kV in NER).
 Severity of Grid disturbance
– GD 1: When Generation or Load loss in a region < 10%
– GD 2: When Generation or Load loss in a region is between 10% to 20%
– GD 3: When Generation or Load loss in a region is between 20% to 30%
– GD 4: When Generation or Load loss in a region is between 30% to 40%
– GD 5: When Generation or Load loss in a region is between 40% to 50%

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 12. Reporting of events affecting grid operation

 Any tripping of generating station or transmission element

shall be promptly reported by the respective entity to the
appropriate LDC in the prescribed format.

 The appropriate LDC shall intimate the event to the SLDC

and RLDC of the affected regions for further dissemination to
all concerned.

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 13. Reporting of grid disturbance
• The RLDC shall inform occurrence of the grid
disturbance to the constituents and RPC at the
earliest

• The disturbance resulting in failure of power supply

to large areas in a state shall also be reported by
RLDC to Authority within 24 hours of the
occurrence of the grid disturbance.

• The RLDC shall also post on its web site a brief

grid disturbance report indicating the affected
area or the system, extent of outage and the likely
cause of initiation.
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 14. Restoration of grid following incidence or
disturbance
 The RLDC in consultation with RPC shall develop procedures for
enabling restoration and normalization of the grid for inter-state
system at the earliest.

 The SLDC shall also develop restoration procedures for intra-state

system.

 The restoration procedures shall be reviewed following addition of

generating station or transmission line or at least once in two years
and revised if considered necessary.

 The above procedures shall be made available to, and be followed

by all concerned (entities, RLDCs and SLDCs).
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15. Operational data during normal and grid
disturbance conditions
 All real time data as required by the appropriate LDC shall be
furnished by the entities.
 All data required by RPC, in discharge of the responsibilities to
it, shall be furnished by RLDC.
 All operational data, including disturbance recorder and event
logger reports, for analysing grid incident / disturbance shall
be furnished by all entities within 24 hrs to RLDC and RPC.
 All equipments such as disturbance recorders and event loggers
shall be kept in healthy conditions.
 The RPC shall recommend remedial measures to be taken on
the disturbance report of RLDC to prevent recurrence of GI and
GD.
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 16. Operational data records
 Operational data (including equipment and system parameters)
logged manually and electronically shall be preserved for at
least three years.
 Logbooks to be maintained by every by every manned
switchyard and substation. The unmanned sub-station data shall
be maintained by the concerned control centre.
 All observations shall be in chronological order.
 The observations made during inspection including important
parameters and deviation of parameters outside permissible
tolerances also be recorded in the log book.
 The RPC shall keep the record of grid incidences and grid
disturbances for each financial year. It shall include sequence of
tripping, the cause, and the sequence of restoration, remedial
measures taken to avert such incidents and disturbances.
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 17. Communication Facilities

 The communication facilities installed by the transmission

licensee shall be in accordance with CEA(Technical
Standards for Connectivity to the Grid) Regulations, 2007 and
shall be maintained in good operating condition.

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 18. Safety procedure
 The entity shall prepare contingency
procedures for use of operators at each
sub-station and switchyards and these shall be
regularly updated.

 All operating personnel shall be trained in

contingency procedures at regular
intervals and they shall follow the procedures.

 The fire fighting equipment shall be made

available at all sub-stations, switchyards, etc
and shall be checked periodically for its upkeep
and mock exercises in fire fighting shall be
carried out at least once in a year.

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 19. Maintenance of tools and equipment

 The maintenance staff shall be made aware of the list of

tools, devices and equipment for various maintenance and
rectification works on Transmission lines, Substations,
Switchyards and Converter stations and the tools shall be made
readily available and certified for usage.

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 20. Maintenance procedures

The entity shall prepare maintenance

procedures for each equipment in line with
the manufacturer’s recommendations and
prudent utility practices.

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 21. Hot line methods

• The hot line techniques for maintenance of

critical transmission lines and sub-stations
shall be adopted where ever possible.

• Only trained staff shall be used for the hot

line techniques and the tools employed shall
have necessary certification from a national or
international laboratory before use.

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 22. Emergency Restoration System
 Each transmission licensee shall have an arrangement for
restoration of transmission lines of 400 kV and above and
strategic 220 kV lines through the use of emergency restoration
system in order to minimise the outage of the Transmission
Lines in case of tower failures.

( “Emergency Restoration System” means a system comprising

of transmission towers or structures of modular construction,
complete with associated components such as insulators, hardware
fittings, accessories, foundation plate, guys, anchors or installation
tools and the like to facilitate quick restoration of damaged or
failed transmission line towers or sections)

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 23. Inspection and patrolling
• All essential parameters which indicate the
healthiness of the equipment in a sub station,
shall be inspected by the shift engineer once
in each shift and periodically by the officer in
charge.

• Overhead lines shall be patrolled at

periodicity decided by the transmission
licensee and different patrolling schedules shall
be implemented by the transmission licensee for
normal terrain, vulnerable terrain and most
vulnerable terrain .

• The important lines shall be inspected by

senior engineers after patrolling by junior staff
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 24. Maintenance schedules
• Entities shall identify critical equipment and as far as
possible, practice condition based maintenance for such
equipment in place of time based maintenance.

• In case of time based maintenance, the periodicity of

maintenance of lines and substations located in polluted
area or coastal area shall be more frequent.

• The maintenance of lines passing through and sub-stations

located in such areas should be completed before onset
of winter so as to minimise tripping under conditions of
fog or due to salt deposit on insulator discs in coastal areas
and once before onset of summer.

• The maintenance work on various items of equipment may

be advanced depending on the condition of the equipment.
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 25. Use of diagnostic Techniques for
Condition monitoring of equipment

• The diagnostic methods of maintenance shall be

preferred over traditional time based
maintenance.

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 26. Thermo-vision scanning

The thermo-vision scanning for hot spots on

all overhead lines and sub station
equipment at voltage level of 220 kV and
above shall be carried out at least once in a
year and necessary remedial measures shall
be taken where hot spots are detected.

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 27. Failure Analysis
 All failures of the equipment and tower collapse shall be
analyzed by the entity to avoid recurrence and a copy of the
report shall be submitted to the RPC and Authority
 The authority may appoint a group of experts for investigation
and analysis and the representatives of the manufacturers may
be invited to participate in such analysis.
 All relevant data which may help the group of experts in
analysing the failures shall be furnished by the respective
Entities.
 The recommendations of the group of experts shall be
submitted to the authority and the recommendations accepted
by the authority shall be implemented and circulated to all
within the organisation and to other organisations to prevent
recurrence of such failures. 47
 28. Inventory Control and Spare Parts
Management

 The required spare parts shall be kept in stock, to ensure

speedy maintenance of the equipment.

 Computerised materials management system shall be

developed by the entities to optimise inventory.

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 29. Maintenance Audit

• An internal audit committee may be

established by the entities to verify whether
actual maintenance works are carried out at
site in compliance of the procedures and the
policy of the transmission company.

• The observations of the committee shall be

put up to the management of the entity for
perusal and taking corrective action, if any.

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 30. Residual Life Assessment

 The RLA shall be carried out for all major equipment

including transformers, reactors, breakers, etc as envisaged by
relevant standards specified by the Bureau of Indian standards,
manufacturers’ instruction or industry best practices and
suitable remedial action for breach of the same shall be taken
by the management of the entity.

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 31. Disaster Management

• The maintenance staff shall be trained in disaster

management and a detailed procedure for the same shall be
developed by the entity and displayed prominently.

• The detailed procedure shall be reviewed periodically and

also based on mock exercises carried out by the entity.

• The equipment including vehicles, diesel generating sets

and fire fighting equipment, etc shall be kept at sub-station
or at appropriate location for disaster management.

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 32. Maintenance records

 The records of all maintenance carried out for each equipment

shall be kept in the table and formats in electronic form and
hard copy and the next due date for maintenance of each
item of work shall be clearly marked in such tables and
formats.

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 33. Training
• Every person involved in O&M of transmission lines shall be
trained at the induction level and at least once in a year.

• The shift staff shall be trained to make them thorough in carrying

out operations at each substation and every person concerned with
real time operation shall be trained.

• Every grid operator shall undergo training in real time digital

simulator and a refresher course at least once in two years.

• The maintenance personnel of every entity shall also be trained

in preventive and breakdown maintenance of various equipment
and the personnel shall be trained in detailed maintenance
procedures.
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Thank you

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