BURLADINGEN, GERMANY - According to Siemens Energy, the new high-voltage substation in Burladingen, southern Germany, will be the world’s first that is eco-efficient, operated without SF6, and digitalized with new equipment connectivity and intelligence.

According to Siemens Energy, distribution system operators are being impacted by the major trends of our times. For one, increasingly volatile power generation is presenting a challenge to transmission as well as distribution networks. Handling growing electromobility is also a major challenge, particularly for local grids. And finally, operators now see digitalization as a major opportunity for improving their systems: Automated processes based on comprehensive data transparency are the key to bringing eco- and economic efficiency as well as supply security to a new level.

Siemens Energy is building a new, eco-friendly, and digitized substation for Netze BW GmbH. “We’ll be using this substation to more closely and reliably connect Burladingen and the surrounding region with the supra-regional power grid. At the same time, we’re getting ready to handle the growing use of renewable energy sources and spread of electromobility,” explains Netze BW project manager Torge Andersen. Construction of the project began in late 2020, and commissioning is planned for 2022.

“The new substation in Burladingen is the world’s first facility that combines eco-efficiency and digitization on this scale,” explains Marcel Engel, Netze BW expert for grid development. Specifically, the new high-voltage system will, for one, completely dispense with the insulating gas sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) and thus be especially eco-friendly and greenhouse gas-free. “Secondly, we’re relying on vacuum circuit breakers that we’ve been using for two years as the first customer worldwide, and innovative space-saving low power instrument transformers,” continues Engel. “And thirdly, all signals and measured values from the substation will be transmitted fully digitized from a process bus to the protection and control systems via fiber optic cables, which reduces the use of resources like copper. This combination is our way to the substation of the future.”

As general contractor for the project, Siemens Energy is responsible for the planning, supply, turnkey construction, and commissioning of the substation. The company is providing all products used in the substation and fully integrating innovative technologies into the project’s concept.

Instead of using SF6, the alternative products rely on technically processed and purified air (“clean air”) in a compressed form. The industry has been working with clean air in the high-voltage sector since 2018. For the new Netze BW substation Nördlingen, Siemens Energy has delivered and installed its new outdoor circuit-breakers with vacuum switching technology as well as a combined voltage and current transformer insulated with clean air - for the first time worldwide in a 110-kV high-voltage grid.

Engel concludes: “From our point of view, all this will make Burladingen one of the most innovative substations in the world. The substation of the future is a bold step for us, that requires trust. We already have many systems from today’s Siemens Energy in operation. For decades. We appreciate the partnership."

Source: Siemens Energy