765/400kV Substation @ Unnao

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n line with setting benchmarks in the engineering and construction industry, L&T has been involved in the setting up of the countrys first ever substation for evacuating power at two voltage levels of 765 kV and 400 kV in the state sector. Uttar Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation Limited (UPPTCL) sought implementation of the construction of 765kV transmission system between ANPARA generating station and Unnao Sub-station. Crompton Greaves Limited (CGL) was awarded the job as the main bidder which was subcontracted to L&T. L&T was entrusted with complete engineering, certain supplies and complete installation of 765kV / 400kV transmission substation at Unnao in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
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Scope of work
The scope of work included design, procurement and installation, testing and commissioning of 765kV switchyard and 400kV bay extension to be completed within a period of 18 months. The project was awarded on 29th of January 2010, and after forest clearance, the land was handed over by the client on 7th May 2010. The substation has the unique feature for evacuating power at two voltage levels, such as, 765kV and 400kV using 2x1000 MVA interconnecting transformers. The existing 765kV transmission line, presently operating at 400kV, has been diverted and reconnected to the new 765kV substations at Unnao and at

Anpara-C. A second 765kV circuit will interconnect Unnao to Anpara-D. 400kV supply from transformer downstream shall interconnect to the existing 400kV substation. Major scope of work civil Construction of three control buildings, two store shed buildings, DG and fire fighting buildings, and mulsifier tank three oil collection pits, three underground and one overhead tank, 4177 m of concrete road, 5282 m cable trench, 494 equipment foundations, 36 tower foundation, 135000 sq.m of yard development, 32121 cu.m stone fill, 1703 m switchyard fencing and 8.5 km of drain for storm water disposal.

Concreting Reinforcement steel Structural steel Formwork

: 21391 cu.m : 1016 t : 329 t : 42744 sq.m

plant communication, CCTV & Access Control Equipment (ACE), substation automation system and complete testing and commissioning.

Major scope of work electrical Installation of 7 nos. of 1ph 333.3MVA 765kV transformer, 7 nos. of 110 MVAR line reactor, 4 nos. of 63 MVAR bus reactor, 850 t of tower and equipment structure (36 nos. of tower and 433 nos. of lattice and pipe structure for equipment), 494 nos. of substation equipment, 220 km power (including 66kV voltage grade) and control cable, 30 km of stringing, 54 km of main earth mat, 2 km of aluminium tubing (6, 4 & 3 tubular bus), control relay panels, associated LT panel, UPS and battery charger (In all three control buildings), fibre optic communication system and telecommunication equipment,

Design complexity legacy

The design team of the client side were keen to take additional efforts to standardize and establish systems, since the 765kV Unnao was the first of its kind substation. The geographical distance of consultant M/s SNC Lavalin (core team in Canada) coupled with a very small team of two persons (each from electrical and civil design) from UPPTCL responsible for inspection as well as design approvals was a challenge. Most of the equipment from various vendors were designed and put into operation for the first time at 765kV voltage level, hence a lot of interfacing and coordination was

needed. Equipment such as clamps and connectors from Klemmen, Hardware from ITTPL, Transformers from CGL, Isolators from S&S, Circuit breaker from CGL, TP Y class of CTs from Koncar etc. . Owing to this, the client was doubly conscious of quality and for performance related issues thereby making approvals a tedious process. Since a majority of equipment had to be supplied by the client all inputs were required for finalizing equipment foundations, structures, cabling, earthing and protection schemes. In-ordinate delays in providing these inputs put considerable pressure on L&Ts design team and it also had a cascading effect on the execution team. Regarding cable trench design, client insisted that all equipment drawings was to be frozen first and also restricted the maximum size of cable to 10 core

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resulting in substantial delays in approval of critical cable trench execution activities which needed considerable gestation period for completion. Other unexpected issues included introduction of swing calculation for conductors (not a standard practice in switchyard), revoking of approved sag tension calculation, clients insistence on un-cracked section for foundation design, etc.

execution for entire transformer, line and bus reactors bays (8 nos. of 765kV Bays and 2 nos. of 400kV bays) leading to massive engineering, execution and commissioning works that had to be completed in a very short time. Delays from client side on areas such as approval of soil investigation, forest clearance and location for dumping surplus earth further increased the pressure on timely completion. Unnao also faced unprecedented rainfall during the execution phase which completely inundated the low lying areas of switchyard, thereby halting the work for almost a months time. Massive efforts of digging trenches through the entire switchyard area and dewatering helped resume work.

L&T sought and got the approval for design mix resulting in savings in cement, however, this also meant that all concreting works had to be carried out using mini batching plants where the mix of raw materials can be controlled. This mandated mobilization of contractors with such equipment at site. Client provided a two day shutdown for erection of 3 bays of 400kV area including removal and replacement of existing conductors. A detailed Work Breakdown Structure was made and adequate resources were mobilized to complete the challenge. L&T identified the requirement of online NAS (National Aerospace Standards) filter and online NAS counter which came as a new

Challenges faced
Unnao was the first project in the country to have come up in the state sector with stringent deadlines for completion in 18 months as against a normal 24 - 28 month schedule for similar such projects. However, unlike other projects, L&T had to do simultaneous engineering and

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requirement for oil filtration in 765kV Transformers and Reactors. The project team identified able associates to carry out the same for the first time in India. To support the stringent requirement of TBEA regarding total gas content special syringes were used for sending samples to the lab. Since execution of 765kV substation was a first of its kind experience to L&T, the existing safety methods were reviewed and found inadequate. L&T implemented several new safety techniques which emerged out of several brain storming sessions resulting in a Zero Accident accomplishment and achieving 3 million lost time injury free manhours! In order to avoid the cumbersome, expensive and painstaking process of sending frequent samples to lab, L&T set up a quality lab at site which was acknowledged by the client due to apparent advantages. The controller for controlled switching in the Circuit Breakers (which was earlier situated in field) was decided to be shifted to control room. This resulted in

overhauling of cable schedule and termination details and called for additional panels to fit in these controllers. Further, since DC voltage was pegged by client at 110 V (as against a standard 230 V) it was observed during commissioning that breakers were not tripping satisfactorily due to high voltage drop. A shutdown programme for cable laying, termination and breaker replacement was made and completed ahead of client expectation leading to minimal delays.

Milestone achievement
Since the land area was low lying, the clients decision on raising the level created an inordinate delay. This delay put tremendous pressure on execution team as the tower drawings were on hold. Similarly issues like buoyant effect due to submergence and clients insistence on designing the foundation as un-cracked section also put the tower work on hold. There was a cumulative delay of two months due to these delays. However, with fast tracking and parallel construction activities these delays were mitigated and speedier processing at the subsequent lattice structure erection works which was on critical path ensured faster completion. There was considerable delay in approval of foundation for transformer and reactors, at the same time, there was pressure to have the structure ready by the time the equipment were scheduled for arrival. With barely fifty days to complete nine foundations (3 for transformers, 3 for line reactors and 3 for bus reactors) L&T team planned a detailed and micro

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level sequence and engaged three agencies simultaneously to achieve the milestone. In a similar situation, the control building too, was scheduled to be completed before the arrival of interface control, relay and switch gear panel. Design and approval of cable philosophy and trench sizing delayed the construction process substantially. With detailed planning and close monitoring of respective work packages the assignment was completed in time after working in multiple shifts. Another important milestone to achieve was the completion of 495 numbers of equipment foundations, 5.2 km outdoor cable trench of various sections and simultaneous construction of internal roads and drainage systems. All these activity
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fronts were opened simultaneously which made the work site cramped for space. Addition of resources like men, material and machinery to carry out the work round the clock eased the situation considerably. The project also faced an early monsoon with record rainfall leading to flood like situation. With no natural access for selfdewatering, L&T designed and made temporary drains and sump pits along with dewatering pumps to drain the water out of the catchment area. This was very crucial as L&T could continue critical activities like outdoor cable trench, support installation, cable laying, equipment erection, installation of entire fire fighting system (Fire hydrant, pump House, HVW Spray for transformer & reactor and fire alarm system) in the monsoon period itself which

was later found to be an effort that made all the difference for an ontime performance. As the client has a contract with LANCO incorporating reimbursement for losses due to deemed generation there was considerable pressure on project completion and commissioning. However, since the existing line was used for power evacuation at 400 kV, the client were reluctant to provide 765 kV supply for testing and commissioning. L&T project team readied the switchyard bay-wise which opened an opportunity for parallel testing and commissioning so that mechanical completion was achieved by September 2011. These activities were divided into four modules due to which L&T could back charge 400 kV equipment and associated

line on 4th of November 2011 and subsequently commissioned successfully, the countrys first 765 kV transmission substation on 5th of December 2011.

Construction methodology
L&T had identified in the very beginning itself that the only way to complete the project in the scheduled time frame despite all odds was to implement complete mechanization of both Civil and Electrical activities. The scope of cable trench was 5282 m and the period of execution was only 90 days. Since the target achievement per day was high, aluminium formwork method to execute cable trench work was implemented and executed to a great success. There were 14 firewalls which had to be completed before transformer and reactor erection since there were little clearances available between firewall and radiators. Through indigenous efforts, L&T was able to design a suitable formwork to complete the firewall in a short duration of 12 days. For completion of footpath, 3.5 lakh interlocking tiles were required. L&T planned and initiated onsite fabrication of the same to ensure timely availability and superior quality. Understanding the importance of design approvals and the limitation of client, a localised setup of design team helped minimise delays and the drawings were made available for the execution team on time for action. L&T identified early-on that fire-fighting activities were running on critical path, therefore imported thread cutting machines were deployed and blanket waiver was arranged from client for material inspection to ensure that the work was completed in totality in a record time of 3 months even during peak monsoon period.

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To facilitate execution, various features were built-in during the design stage itself, such as replacement of massive trapezoidal drains with hume pipes, shaping over-head water tank as square which saved massive construction time while reducing costs.

Plant and Machinery

Quality lab equipped with testing equipment / apparatus and Concrete cube testing Machine Welding Rectifier / Generator Auto Level instruments Digital Theodolite Tractor with trolley Hydra Crane 125 kV DG : 21 nos : 2 nos : 1 no : 2 nos : 2 nos : 2 nos : 3 nos

was not only able to deliver these critical equipment in time but also at a reasonable cost as well. To avoid permit issues and long lead periods, L&T developed local vendors who could supply smaller items in a shorter period and at a lesser cost.

Vendor sourcing and supply chain management

Realising the importance of timely availability of major client supplied equipment L&T maintained seamless interface with clients and other vendors on a regular basis. For instance, the 765 kV transformer and capacitive voltage transformer was a critical component of supply. Most organisations manufacturing 765kV transformers in India had
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Resources
During peak period the project employed around 20 staff and 900 workmen

Awards
Received British Safety Council International Safety Awards 2012 in Distinction grade Ramchandra Yadav Project Manager Mr Y.S. Chauhan Project Co-ordinator

a high sales backlog buoyed by demand and hence were unable to deliver within the time frame and the prices were also very high. Considering this, L&T introduced an overseas vendor named Koncar (Croatia) who