SUBSTATION

Mr. D. Suresh Babu

Assistant Professor,
SVEC, Tirupati
 SUBSTATION

What is a substation?
What does it do?
How does it work?
 What is a substation?

An electrical substation takes electricity from a

very high voltage and lowers it to the voltage use
in our homes & businesses
 What does a substation do?
Electricity is made at a very high, powerful
voltage.
A substation safely changes the electricity from
very high voltage to lower voltage we can use.

How does a substation work?

Transformers ‘step down’ the electricity from the
high voltage needed to economically transmit the
electricity.
 How does a substation work?
There are also complex circuit breakers, switches,
relays, and capacitors.

Substations have power poles to bring in the high

voltage electricity. These would be more than 200
feet tall on the West Side
How substation works
 Type of Substation

• Classification based on voltage levels, e.g. : A.C.

Substation : EHV, HV, MV, LV; HVDC Substation.
• Classification based on Outdoor or Indoor : Outdoor
substation is under open sky. Indoor substation is inside a
building.
• Classification based on configuration, e.g. :
– Conventional air insulated outdoor substation or
– SF6 Gas Insulated Substation (GIS)
– Composite substations having combination of the above
two
 Classification based on application

 Step Up Substation : Associated with generating station as the

generating voltage is low.
 Primary Grid Substation : Created at suitable load centre along
Primary transmission lines.
 Secondary Substation : Along Secondary Transmission Line.
 Distribution Substation : Created where the transmission line
voltage is Step Down to supply voltage.
 Bulk supply and industrial substation : Similar to distribution
sub-station but created separately for each consumer.
 Mining Substation precaution for safety needed in the operation
of electric supply.
 Mobile Substation: Temporary requirement
Primary/Secondary/Distribution Substation

– Primary Substations receive power from EHV lines

at 400KV, 220KV, 132KV and transform the voltage
to 66KV, 33KV or 22KV (22KV is uncommon) to suit
the local requirements in respect of both load and
distance of ultimate consumers. These are also referred
to ‘EHV’ Substations.
– Secondary Substations receive power at 66/33KV
which is stepped down usually to 11KV.
– Distribution Substations receive power at 11KV, 6.6
KV and step down to a volt suitable for LV distribution
purposes, normally at 415 volts
 Substation Parts and Equipment

• Outdoor Switchyard
– Incoming Lines
– Outgoing Lines
– Bus bar
– Transformers
– Bus post insulator & string insulators
– Substation Equipment such as Circuit-beakers,
Isolators, Earthing Switches, Surge Arresters,
CTs, VTs, Neutral Grounding equipment.
 Contd…

– Station Earthing system comprising ground mat, risers, auxiliary

mat, earthing strips, earthing spikes & earth electrodes.
– Overhead earth wire shielding against lightening strokes.
– Galvanised steel structures for towers, gantries, equipment
supports.
– PLCC equipment including line trap, tuning unit, coupling
capacitor, etc.
– Power cables
– Control cables for protection and control
– Roads, Railway track, cable trenches
– Station illumination system
Single Line Diagram
Typical Components of a Power Plant Substation
(Switchyard)

• CONNECT •A - Busbar

• CONNECT & DIS-CONNECT •B - Disconnector

•C - Circuit Breaker
• CONNECT, DIS-CONNECT & DETECT
•D - Current Transformer
• DETECT & TRANSFORM
•E - Voltage Transformer
• DETECT & TRANSFORM
•F - Earthing Switch
• PROTECT & SAFETY
•G - Surge Arrestor
• PROTECT
 Location of Substation

 Near to the Load Center

 Its Selection must be provision for proper voltage
regulation which can be obtainable without taking
extensive measures
 Its selection must be provision for proper access for
incoming sub-transmission lines and outgoing primary
feeders
 It should provide enough space for the future sub-station
expansion
 It should help to minimize the number of customers
affected by any service outage
 BUS-BAR ARRANGEMENTS IN SUB-STATIONS

The choice of a particular arrangement depends upon various factors

such as system voltage, position of sub-station, degree of reliability, cost etc.
The following are the important bus-bar arrangements used in sub-stations :

Single bus-bar system

Single bus-bar system with sectionalisation

Duplicate bus-bar system

Double bus-bar system(Single and double breakers)

Main and transfer bus

Ring bus

Breaker and half

 SINGLE BUS-BAR SYSTEM

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

low initial cost, If repair is to be done on the bus-bar or a fault occurs
 less maintenance on the bus, there is complete interruption of the supply.
 simple operation. This arrangement is not used for voltages exceeding
33kV.
The indoor 11kV sub-stations often use single bus-
bar arrangement.
 SINGLE BUS-BAR SYSTEM WITH SECTIONALISATION

ADVANTAGES
If a fault occurs on any section of the bus, that section can be isolated without
affecting the supply from other sections.
Repairs and maintenance of any section of the bus-bar can be carried out by de-
energising that section only, eliminating the possibility of complete shut down.
This arrangement is used for voltages upto 33 kV.
 DUPLICATE BUS-BAR SYSTEM

This system consists of two bus-bars, a

Main bus-bar
Spare bus-bar.
Ordinarily, the incoming and outgoing lines remain connected to the main bus-bar.
ADVANTAGES
In case of repair of main bus-bar or fault occurring on it, the continuity of supply to
the circuit can be maintained by transferring it to the spare bus-bar.
 For voltages exceeding 33kV, duplicate bus-bar system is frequently used.
Key Diagram of 66/11 kV Sub-Station
Key Diagram of 11 kV/400 V Indoor Sub-Station