State transco Madhya Pradesh Power Transmission Company Ltd (MPPTCL) has taken an important step towards remote monitoring of its extra-high voltage AIS substations.
In a release, Madhya Pradesh Energy Minister, Pradyuman Singh Tomar, said that the 132kV AIS (air-insulated switchgear) substation at Madhotal will be remotely controlled and operated from the nearby 220kV Jabalpur substation.
The Madhotal substation is the first old AIS substation in Madhya Pradesh that will be controlled and remotely operated, the release observed. (See featured photograph)
MPPTCL Managing Director Sunil Tiwari honoured Additional Chief Engineer S.V. Vaze, who was retiring this month, and gave him the honour of doing the first click of remote operation from the 220kV Jabalpur substation.
Pradyuman Singh Tomar and Additional Chief Secretary Neeraj Mandloi congratulated MPPTCL on this success, the release noted.
More substations to follow
On an experimental basis, MPPTCL is planning to operate three old substations remotely. As part of the plan, remote operations of the first 132kV Madhothal substation has been achieved as discussed ealier.
In the next phase, the 132kV substations at Ayodhya Nagar (Bhopal) and Satyasi (Indore) are being taken up for remote unmanned operations.
Remote operations are being undertaken under what is known as SAS (substation automation system) that has been built using modern technology. As a consequence of this state-of-the-art technology developed in-house by MPPTCL, fault analysis can be done much faster leading to reduction in restoration time.
For remote operation, MPPTCL’s OPGW (optical ground wire) system is being used. This fiber optic network system has been developed in-house by MPPTCL. With the help of HMI (Human Machine Interface) technology, remote operation of substations has been made possible.
MPPTCL’s Chief Engineer Praveen Kumar Gargava and Superintending Engineer Manish Khare made important contributions in designing and implementing this in-house innovation, the release noted.