STRATEGY FOR UPGRADI NG THE

TRANSFORMER SUBSTATI ONS TAKI NG I NTO

VOLTAGE NETWORK
ACCOUNT THE STRUCTURE OF THE MEDI UM-
MV over head l i nes
MV cabl es
TSS bui l di ngs
Swi t chgear
L. Bochanky. F. Ot t o, D. Si egmund
Ener gi ever sor gung Sachsen
Ost AG, Ger many
67 43 38
27 16 13
33 28 18
22 13 7
I NTRODUCTI ON
The changeover t o a mar ket economy i s
posi ng a number of pr obl ems f or t he
f or mer ener gy combi nes i n East er n
Ger many, I n t he t r ansi t i on f r om a
power di st r i but i on under t aki ng t o a
pr ovi der of ener gy ser vi ces,
Ener gi ever sor gung Sachsen Ost AG
( ESAG) of Dr esden i s abl e t o r el y on
suppor t f r om Ener gi ever sor gung
Schwaben AG ( EVS) and Hambur gi sche
El ect r i ci t at s- Wer ke AG ( HEW) . I n
addi t i on t o or gani zat i onal con-
sequences, consi der abl e i nvest ment
wi l l be necessar y t o upgr ade and
ext end t he net wor ks. Thi s pr ocess i s
hamper ed by st r uct ur al uncer t ai nt i es
i n connect i on wi t h t he muni ci pal
ut i l i t y di scussi ons and cont i nui ng
f al l - of f i n ener gy demand, as
i l l ust r at ed f or ESAG i n Fi gs. 1 and
n
L .
I NI TI AL SI TUATI ON
ESAG suppl i es power t o t he east er n
par t of Saxony bet ween
Ri esa and Zi t t au, an ar ea of about
6800 kmz wi t h al most 1 mi l l i on t ar i f f
cust omer s and sever al t housand
speci al - cont r act cust omer s; cer t ai n
muni ci pal i t i es ar e al so pr ovi ded wi t h
di st r i ct heat i ng. I nf eed i nt o t he 110
kV net wor k comes mai nl y f r om t he
hi gher - or der 380 and 220 kV net wor ks
of t he Ver ei ni gt e Ener gi ewer ke AG
( VEAG) and f r om ESAG- owned t her mal
power pl ant s. Wher e medi umvol t age i s
concer ned, t he l evel s 10 kV and 20 kV
domi nat e. The medi um- vol t age net wor k
of about 8300 km i n l engt h i s 70 X
cabl ed and f eeds about 6600
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons. Of t he
r oughl y 14, 000 km of l i nes i n t he
l ow- vol t age net wor k, 35 X ar e cabl ed.
The chr oni c shor t age of mat er i al s and
er ect i on ser vi ces pr event ed t he
net wor k concept s - whi ch even i n t he
past wer e ambi t i ous - f r ombei ng put
i nt o pr act i ce. The consequent l y l ow
upgr adi ng r at e of about 0. 5 X i s
r ef l ect ed i n t he above- aver age age
st r uct ur e of t he net wor ks ( Tabl e 1).
4 . 3 . 1
The above- aver age age and t he
consequent l y i nadequat e di mensi oni ng
l eads i n l ow- vol t age net wor ks t o a
si t uat i on i n whi ch not al l cust omer s
can be suppl i ed wi t h power of pr oper
qual i t y. The f al l - of f i n demand i s,
wher e l ow- vol t age cust omer s ar e
concer ned, onl y sl i ght ( Fi g. 1) and
har dl y pr ovi des r el i ef . I n t he
medi um- vol t age net wor ks t he suppl y
secur i t y i s l i mi t ed. Onl y by vi r t ue
of upgr adi ng r at es subst ant i al l y i n
excess of t hose r esul t i ng f r om t he
cust omar y mean maxi mum ser vi ce l i f e
of t he equi pment can over agi ng of t he
net wor ks be over come.
The cust omer r equi r ement s ar e
pr i mar i l y f or an adequat e suppl y
( i . e. meet i ng qual i t y demands) ; t hey
cent er t her ef or e on keepi ng wi t hi n
t he per mi ssi bl e vol t age band and on
suf f i ci ent suppl y secur i t y.
Appeal s t o have t hese demands met ar e
pr oceedi ng wi t h some f or ce,
par t i cul ar l y i n vi ew of t he
unavoi dabl e t hr eef ol d i ncr ease i n t he
pr i ce of power i n 1991, f ol l owi ng t he
abol i t i on of subsi di es. The r esul t ant
demands cent er ar ound t he f ol l owi ng:
- Upgr adi ng of ext ensi ve sect i ons of
t he l ow- vol t age net wor k
( r epl acement of some of t he l ocal
over head l i ne net wor ks by l ar ge
cr oss- sect i on cabl e net wor ks,
par t i cul ar l y i n densel y bui l t - up
ar eas)
- Ext ensi on of t he medi um- vol t age
net wor k t o f or m r i ng st r uct ur es,
i ncl udi ng r emoval of " bot t l eneck"
si t uat i ons r egar di ng swi t chgear ,
i n conj unct i on wi t h sui t abl e
suppor t by way of t el emet r y and
t el econt r ol component s
- I ncr easi ng t he number of coupl i ng
poi nt s bet ween t he medi um and t he
l ow- vol t age net wor k ( t r ansf or mer
subst at i ons) or upgr adi ng t he
exi st i ng i nf eed poi nt s.
The met hod pr act i sed so f ar of maki ng
up f or exi st i ng t echni cal
def i ci enci es by means of oper at i on
management measur es i s, wi t h r egar d
t o economi cal power suppl i es, no
l onger pr act i cabl e, owi ng t o t he
compl et el y changed expendi t ur e
st r uct ur e ( e. g. wage cost s) . An
upgr adi ng st r at egy must t ake i nt o
account t hat t he enor mous backl og of
necessar y measur es cannot be
compl et el y cl ear ed i n a shor t t i me. A
power suppl y ut i l i t y at t empt i ng t o
keep pr i ces wi t hi n r easonabl e l i mi t s
woul d have t oo much asked of i t .
Pr i or i t i es must t her ef or e be
est abl i shed.
The f ol l owi ng shows, usi ng t he
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons as exampl es,
how st at i st i cal met hods can be of
si gni f i cant assi st ance i n t he
devi si ng of an upgr adi ng st r at egy.
UPGRADI NG OF THE TRANSFORMER
SUBSTATI ONS
Anal ysi s of t he i ni t i al si t uat i on
The t r ansf or mer subst at i ons set up i n
t he days of t he GDR wer e not desi gned
by syst em manuf act ur er s. I nst ead,
obsol et e concept s and t echnol ogy wer e
empl oyed, t he ef f ect s of ar c f aul t s
wer e not handl ed and poor - gr ade or
unsui t abl e mat er i al s such as r oof i ng
f el t and non- gal vani zed st eel
sect i ons wer e used. The use of copper
was pr ohi bi t ed. The concr et e
f r amewor k and sl ab const r uct i on
met hod, ot her wi se used f or apar t ment
bl ocks, pr oved hi ghl y unsui t abl e f or
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons. Ther e wer e
l eaki ng j oi nt s i n t he r oof and wal l s,
exposed r ei nf or cement et c. The medi um
and l ow- vol t age swi t chgear showed
si mi l ar def i ci enci es. No manuf act ur er
coul d pr ovi de evi dence t hat pr oduct s
had been PEHLA- t est ed. As f r om t he
mi d- l 96Os, t her e wer e no f ur t her
devel opment s i n medi um- vol t age
swi t chgear cubi cl es or devi ces. I n
consequence of t he emphasi s ( as f r om
1970) on housi ng const r uct i on, t her e
wer e chr oni c shor t ages of bui l di ng
mat er i al s and ser vi ces when t he
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons needed
r epai r .
To est abl i sh t he concr et e i ni t i al
si t uat i on, we devi sed i n our company
a speci al f or m, i n whi ch t he st at e of
exi st i ng modul ar assembl i es and
4.3.2
el ement s coul d be ent er ed as
bel ongi ng t o t he cat egor y " i n or der "
(i o). " i n need of r epai r " ( r ep) or
" i n need of r enewal " ( r en) . Oper at i on
management per sonnel i n t he of f i ces
used t he f or ms f or a r epr esent at i ve
r andom sampl e cover i ng about 300
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons. Tr ansf or mer
subst at i ons l ess t han 10 year s ol d
wer e not t aken i nt o account . The
i nf or mat i on f r omt he f or ms was st or ed
i n a PC dat abase, al l owi ng subsequent
eval uat i on accor di ng t o var i ous
cr i t er i a.
St at e cl ass
1
i nt o gr oups i nvol vi ng var i ous r epai r
cost s. Cost est i mat es and pr i ce l i st s
al l owed t he col l at i on of over vi ews of
t he const r uct i on cost s i nvol ved i n
r epai r wor k. Fr omt hese over vi ews and
f r om t he def i ci enci es l i st ed i n t he
f or ms. a r ough est i mat e of
const r uct i on cost s was obt ai ned.
Cost - i nt ensi ve and i mpor t ant i t ems of
t he t r ansf or mer subst at i ons, such as
medi um- vol t age swi t chgear or r oof s,
wer e cl assi f i ed as mai n assembl i es.
Cr i t er i a t o be met
Appr ai sal Mai n Ot her
assembl i es assembl i es
ver y good " i o" " i o"
Accor di ng t o t he appr ai sal cr i t er i a
i n Tabl e 2, t he t r ansf or mer
So t hat an over vi ew of t he gener al subst at i ons wer e pl aced i n st at e
st at e of t he t r ansf or mer subst at i ons cl asses 1 t o 6 .
coul d be obt ai ned, t he t r ansf or mer
subst at i ons wer e i ni t i al l y di vi ded
I 3 I sat i sf act or y I " i o" and " r ep" 1 none
4 I moder at e " r ep" I none
I I
I
5 1 bad I " r ep" and "r en' I none
I
I 6 I ver y bad I " r en" I none I
Tabl e 2: St at e cl asses of t he t r ansf or mer subst at i ons
Wi t h t he ai d of t he cost s and pr i ces
wor ked out f or r epai r or
r econst r uct i on, i t i s possi bl e t o
make a deci si on bet ween t hese var i ous
f or ms of upgr adi ng. Thi s i s
r est r i ct ed t o st at e cl asses 4 and 5.
For t r ansf or mer subst at i ons i n st at e
cl asses 2 and 3 , r epai r i s mor e cost -
ef f ect i ve; t r ansf or mer subst at i ons i n
st at e cl ass 6 ar e bet t er r ebui l t .
Fi g. 3 shows t he per cent age
al l ocat i on t o t he st at e cl asses of
t he t r ansf or mer subst at i ons anal yzed.
Onl y 20 X of t he t r ansf or mer
subst at i ons ar e i n good or ver y good
st at e, wher eas 37 I necessi t at e ( f or
t he upgr adi ng r equi r ed) a deci si on
bet ween r epai r and r econst r uct i on.
Fi gs. 4 and 5 show st at e appr ai sal of
t he t r ansf or mer subst at i ons wi t h
r egar d t o bui l di ngs and el ect r i cal
equi pment . The subst ant i al l y wor se
st at e of t he bui l di ngs i n compar i son
wi t h t he swi t chgear i s cl ear l y
not i ceabl e. Wher ess about 60 X of t he
swi t chgear , even i n t r ansf or mer
subst at i ons mor e t han 40 year s ol d,
shows no def i ci enci es, onl y one i n
t hr ee t r ansf or mer subst at i ons of t hi s
age gr oup has bui l di ngs i n good
condi t i on. The bui l di ngs det er i or at e
i n pr opor t i on t o age.
4 . 3 . 3
UPGRADI NG STRATEGY
The appr ai sal r esul t s obt ai ned show
( r egar di ng a t i me scal e f or ESAG' s
upgr adi ng of t he t r ansf or mer
subst at i ons by way of r epl acement or
r epai r by t he year 2 0 0 5 ) t he
f ol l owi ng expendi t ur e pat t er n: ( t ot al
- 100%)
- Repl acement f or r easons of
Age 22 X t o 33 X
Vol t age changeover 7 X
Obsol et e const r uct i on 7 X
Condi t i on of bui l di ngs 2 X
- Repai r of bui l di ngs
Wal l s 15 X
Roof s 45 %
Door s 40 X
- Repai r of el ect r i cal equi pment i n
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons
Medi um- vol t age swi t chgear 12%
Low- vol t age swi t chgear 13 X
Af t er t he appr ai sal r esul t s obt ai ned
have pr ovi ded a good basi s f or
quant i f yi ng t he necessar y expen-
di t ur e, i t i s necessar y t o det er mi ne
an appr opr i at e hi er ar chy, t aki ng i nt o
account f ur t her r equi r ement s such as
obl i gat i on t o connect , suppl y
qual i t y, suppl y secur i t y, syst em
saf et y et c.
The modi f i cat i on and ext ensi on of t he
i nf eedi ng medi um- vol t age net wor ks
f or m open- oper at i on r i ng net wor ks
wi t hout cr oss- connect i ons. Compact
t hr ee- panel medi um- vol t age swi t chgear
can consequent l y be i nst al l ed; i n
compar i son wi t h f our - panel swi t chgear
t hi s met hod i s about 20 X mor e
economi cal . I f dur i ng ext ensi on of
t he net wor k a t r ansf or mer subst at i on
has t o be connect ed i n a spur l i ne,
t he t hr ee- panel swi t chgear i s
r epl aced and i nst al l ed i n anot her
t r ansf or mer subst at i on. The bui l di ngs
of t he compact subst at i ons al l ow t he
i nst al l at i on of f our - panel medi um-
vol t age swi t chgear .
The eval uat i on of t hese i nf l uent i al
f act or s ( i ncl udi ng gi ven mut ual
dependences) l ed t o t he f ol l owi ng
deci si ons f or i mpl ement at i on of
upgr adi ng measur es:
1.
2 .
3.
4 .
5 .
6.
7.
I n t he new const r uct i on of
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons, onl y
PEHLA- t est ed i nst al l at i ons ar e t o
be used.
Tr ansf or mer subst at i ons wi t h
sheet - met al or pl ast i c cover i ng
ar e t o be r epl aced by new
bui l di ngs.
I n t he necessar y new const r uct i on
of t r ansf or mer subst at i ons,
compact subst at i ons wi t h gas-
i nsul at ed medi um- vol t age
swi t chgear ar e t o be pr ef er r ed.
Compact subst at i ons r equi r e l ess
gr ound ar ea and ar e uncompl i cat ed
wher e l egal r egul at i ons ar e
concer ned. Cost compar i sons
bet ween ai r and gas- i nsul at ed
swi t chgear f avour gas i nsul at i on
The " I sopont " sol i d- i nsul at i on
hi gh- vol t age di st r i but i on equi p-
ment cur r ent l y i n use i s t o be
gr adual l y r epl aced by gas-
i nsul at ed medi um- vol t age
swi t chgear .
The f aul t - suscept i bl e swi t ch-
- di sconnect er s of t ype LHTCI ar e
t o be r epl aced by moder n devi ces.
The l ow- vol t age swi t chgear i s t o
be upgr aded by way of r epl ace-
ment .
Taki ng i nt o account t he cost
l i mi t s f or necessar y i nvest ment
or mai nt enance expendi t ur e
( especi al l y i n st at e cl asses 4
and 5 ) . r enovat i on of t he
const r uct i onal el ement s of t he
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons i s t o
pr oceed pr i mar i l y by way of
- Repl acement of assembl i es
- Renovat i on of sel ect ed el ement s
- Mi nor r enovat i on of t he
( door s and bl i nds)
bui l di ngs.
STRUCTURE OF THE TRANSI TI ONAL PERI OD
For t he r equi r ed t r ansi t i onal per i od,
whi ch must r eal i st i cal l y be set at a
mi ni mum of 10 year s, t he i ncr eased
oper at i onal management expendi t ur e
4 . 3 . 4
and t he r educed avai l abi l i t y of t he
el ement s concer ned wi l l i n par t i cul ar
have a negat i ve ef f ect on t he suppl y
si t uat i on. So as t o mi ni mi ze t he
ef f ect s on t he cust omer , t wo
par t i cul ar met hods wi l l be adopt ed
over t he t r ansi t i onal per i od:
1. I n t he cont ext of st at e- r el at ed
r epai r , di agnost i c pr ocesses ar e
speci f i cal l y appl i ed i n or der t o
pr event ( wher e possi bl e)
equi pment f ai l ur e: r esour ces
r equi r ed wi l l be used
speci f i cal l y and ef f ect i vel y f or
r epai r , e. g. by way of
- Temper at ur e measur ement
( Pyr ovar t echnol ogy) f or
assessment of t he l ow- vol t age
sect i on i n sel ect ed t r ansf or mer
subst at i ons
- Par t i al di schar ge measur ement s
on t he " I sopont " sol i d-
i nsul at i on hi gh- vol t age
di st r i but i on equi pment .
2. I n or der t o al l ow, i n t he event
of a f aul t , qui ck r est or i ng of
suppl i es t o af f ect ed cust omer s
and, i n t he modi f i cat i on phase,
t o sat i sf act or i l y assur e
suppl i es t o cust omer s
concer ned, sui t abl e emer gency
gener at i ng set s must be
pr epar ed.
Dependi ng on t he est i mat ed
per i od of use and on t he
expendi t ur e r equi r ed f or
t r anspor t and oper at i on, a
deci si on i s t o be made bet ween
di esel set s and t r anspor t abl e
t r ansf or mer subst at i ons.
SUMMARY
So as t o meet demands f or adequat e,
r el i abl e and envi r onment al l y
accept abl e power suppl i es, massi ve
expendi t ur e wi l l be r equi r ed over t he
comi ng year s f or upgr adi ng and
ext ensi on of t he net wor ks.
Thi s ar t i cl e shows, usi ng t he exampl e
of t r ansf or mer subst at i ons, how t he
t ot al amount of necessar y upgr adi ng
expendi t ur e f or sel ect ed equi pment
can be quant i f i ed. The i ni t i al
si t uat i on i s anal yzed by means of a
r epr esent at i ve r andom sampl e. Taki ng
i nt o account f ur t her i nf l uent i al
f act or s, a hi er ar chy f or cl ear i ng t he
enor mous amount of wor k t o be done
can be deduced f r om t he upgr adi ng
st r at egy.
The r esul t s obt ai ned al l ow f act or s t o
be det er mi ned whi ch ar e of i mpor t ance
i n t he cont ext of upgr adi ng
expendi t ur e. Ext ensi on and modi -
f i cat i on of t he medi um- vol t age
net wor k t o f or m open- oper at i on r i ng
syst ems al l ow pr i mar i l y t he use of
t hr ee- panel gas- i nsul at ed medi um-
vol t age swi t chgear i n bot h r enovat i on
and r econst r uct i on of t r ansf or mer
Sel ect ed f aul t - subst at i ons.
suscept i bl e equi pment , such as t he
sol i d- i nsul at i on hi gh- vol t age
di st r i but i on boar ds, wi l l be
r epl aced.
Wi t h t he r esul t s obt ai ned, t he
pr ocedur e i s a usef ul t ool f or t he
pr epar at i on of busi ness- st r at egi c
deci si ons.
The char act er i st i c f eat ur e of t he
st at e of t he exi st i ng ESAG suppl y
net wor ks i s an above- aver age age
st r uct ur e, caused by t he economi c
r est r i ct i ons of past year s.
4.3.5
8000
GWh
6000
4000
2000
0
Fig. 1
100%
1989 1990 1991 1992
I I
Consumers with special contracts
Industrylagriculture
Households
Emergency power demand according to groups of customers from January
to September
I
J an Marz Mai J uli Sept Nov J an Man Mai J uli Sept Nov J an Man Mai J uli Sept Nov
50"'" I " " I ' ' I ' ' I ' ' I
1990 1991 1992
Monday to Friday
--- Saturday to Sunday
Fig. 2 Development of monthly maximum load (1989 = 100 %)
4.3.6
40
O/O
T
30
20
10
0
Fig. 3
100
90
80
70
%
60
50
40
30
20
10
Transformer substations according to state classes
<20 20-40 >40
years (age) 3
100
90
80
70
%
60
50
40
30
20
10
Fig. 4 State of buildings Fig. 5 State of switchgear
4 . 3 . 7