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The Electrical Power Systems Division The Switchyards (outdoor substations) section Number: 1

Introduction:

A substation is a high-voltage electric system facility. It is used to switch generators, equipment, and circuits or lines in and out of a system. It also is used to change AC voltages from one level to another, and/or change alternating current to direct current or direct current to alternating current. Some substations are small with little more than a transformer and associated switches. Others are very large with several transformers and dozens of switches and other equipment. An electrical substation is a subsidiary station of an electricity generation, transmission and distribution system where voltage is transformed from high to low or the reverse using transformers. Electric power may flow through several substations between generating plant and consumer, and may be changed in voltage in several steps. A substation that has a step-up transformer increases the voltage while decreasing the current, while a step-down transformer decreases the voltage while increasing the current for domestic and commercial distribution. The word substation comes from the days before the distribution system became a grid. Substations are designed to accomplish the following functions, although not all substations have all these functions: 1) Change voltage from one level to another 2) Regulate voltage to compensate for system voltage changes 3) Switch transmission and distribution circuits into and out of the grid system 4) Measure electric power quantities flowing in the circuits 5) Connect communication signals to the circuits

6) Eliminate lightning and other electrical surges from the system 7)Connect electric generation plants to the system 8) Make interconnections between the electric systems of more than one utility 9) Control reactive kilovolt-amperes supplied to and the flow of reactive kilovolt-amperes in the circuits Substations generally have switching, monitoring, protection and control equipment and one or more transformers. In a large substation, circuit breakers are used to interrupt any short-circuits or overload currents that may occur on the network. Smaller distribution stations may use recloser circuit breakers or fuses for protection of distribution circuits. Substations do not usually have generators, although a power plant may have a substation nearby. Other devices such as power factor correction capacitors and voltage regulators may also be located at a substation. Substations may be on the surface in fenced enclosures, underground, or located in special-purpose buildings. High-rise buildings may have several indoor substations. Indoor substations are usually found in urban areas to reduce the noise from the transformers, for reasons of appearance, or to protect switchgear from extreme climate or pollution conditions. Where a substation has a metallic fence, it must be properly grounded (UK: earthed) to the ground mat underneath the substation to protect people from high voltages that may occur during a fault in the network. Earth faults at a substation can cause a ground potential rise (GPR). Currents flowing in the earth's surface during a fault can cause metal objects to have a significantly different voltage than the ground under a person's feet; this touch potential presents a hazard of electrocution as the current passes through the body resistance (through the heart). Transmission substations: A transmission substation connects two or more transmission lines. The simplest case is where all transmission lines have the same voltage. In such cases, the substation contains high-voltage switches (and or circuit breakers) that allow lines to be connected or isolated for fault clearance or maintenance. A transmission station may have transformers to convert between two transmission voltages, voltage control devices such as capacitors, reactors or Static VARs and equipment such as phase shifting transformers to control power flow between two adjacent power systems. Terminal substations: A terminal substation is a facility that forms a strategic node point in an interconnected electricity transmission system. A terminal substation fulfils either or both roles: 1) It provides a connection point where transmission lines of the same voltage may be joined to enable an electricity supply to be established to a new demand centre or centres (for example, the transmission line voltage is 230 KV and the transformer station has

the 230 KV disconnect switch plus the transformer rated 230/27.6 KV, where 27.6 KV can be the sub-transmission voltage level or the distribution level), or to achieve a greater degree of interconnection within the existing system (in which it comes closer to a non-transformation transmission substation). It is a bulk supply point in the electrical grid, where it may serve a significant area within the metropolitan area and/or some country areas. 2) It is a transformation point where lower voltages are produced to supply the metropolitan transmission system. Transformer substations: A transformer substation is a point where the transmission voltage level is stepped down to the sub-transmission voltage level. The latter voltage is then either used to feed a distribution substation to further reduce the voltage level to the distribution level or itself used as an input to distribution transformers (eg. 27.6 KV/ 600 V or 208 V) i.e. power is tapped from the sub-transmission line for use in an industrial facility along the way, otherwise, the power goes to a distribution substation. . Thus the major components in such a station will be: one or two high voltage disconnect switches, one or two power transformers, one or two medium voltage switchgear lineups with their breakers, instrument transformers, relays, communication and control networks. Distribution Substation: Distribution substations are located near to the end-users. Distribution substation transformers change the transmission or subtransmission voltage to lower levels. Typical distribution voltage is 4,160Y/2400 volts. From here the power is distributed to industrial, commercial, and residential customers through distribution transformers, pad mounted, overhead pole mounted, vault installed, the secondary of which is 600/347 V or 120/208 V. Unit substations: A unit substation would typically consist of a load break switch with a set of power or current limiting fuses, in series with it ,connected to the high voltage winding of a distribution (or a power transformer), the low voltage winding of the transformer would be connected to the main circuit breaker plus the feeder circuit breakers, motor contactors plus disconnect switch and fuses, or load break switches in the switchgear lineup. Within the lineup, there would be the utility metering compartment with the current and voltage transformers approved for utility meter application as well as the user instrument transformers, meters, protection and control. Collector substation: In distributed generation projects such as a wind farm, a collector substation may be required. It somewhat resembles a distribution substation although power flow is in the opposite direction, from many wind turbines up into the transmission grid. Usually for economy of construction the collector system operates around 35 kV, and the collector substation steps up voltage to a transmission voltage for the grid.

Double-ended unit substation

Typical dimensions and weights for an indoor unit substation

Transmission line substation

Terminal substation

Single line transformer substation, sectionalized (H-type) bus

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