BURLADINGEN, GERMANY — "The innovation level in this project is very high. The substation of the future is a bold step for us, that requires trust," said Marcel Engel, Netze BW expert for grid development.

Siemens Energy have recently announced a special pilot project in Burladingen, southern Germany, where a new, highly-modern, eco-friendly, and digitized substation will be built for Netze BW GmbH, a large German distribution system operator. The new substation node will have an installed capacity of 80 megavolt amperes (MVA) and 110 kilovolts (kV). Construction of the project already began in late 2020, and commissioning is scheduled for 2022.

“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.

According to the company, projects like these are key to a healthy future of power grids and distribution systems that are being strongly impacted by the major trends of our times, such as increasingly volatile power generation and the growing electromobility. The strong movement of digitalisation is said to be perceived by operators as a major opportunity for improving their systems. Automated processes based on comprehensive data transparency are said to be the linchpin to bringing eco- and economic efficiency as well as supply security to a new level.

“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 sulphur 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,” continued 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 fibre 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 will be providing all products used in the substation and fully integrating innovative technologies into the project’s concept.

“Such technologically highly integrative projects can be successfully executed only through close cooperation with the customer,” said Mathias Reumann, the Siemens Energy project manager responsible for the turnkey substation. “We’ve nurtured a strong partnership with Netze BW for this purpose, and the gain in information for both sides is enormous.”

In addition to supplying the substation’s complete medium-voltage system, Siemens Energy will deliver five 8VN1 switchgear bays designed for 110 kV with low power instrument transformers and merging units, two 40-megavolt ampere power transformers, 14 surge arresters, and three arc suppression coils.

The substation will be equipped with various products from the company’s so-called Blue Portfolio which completely dispense with SF₆ gas. Instead, the system will be relying on technically processed and purified air (“clean air”) in a compressed form.

“We’ve already had very good experience with the combination of purified air and vacuum switching technology in Nördlingen, Germany. We’re now taking this one step further at the substation in Burladingen and are happy to be working with our experienced partner Siemens Energy again,” said Engel.  “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," Engel concluded.
 

Source: Siemens Energy