OREANDA-NEWS. CJSC Profotech and LYSIS LLC, two Russian companies specializing in equipment design for digital substations, presented a unique integrated solution at the CIGRE 2014 international exhibition in France.

The solution, intended for construction of 35-1150 kV digital substations, includes optical transformers for current and voltage measurement designed by Profotech, and a hardware-software package by LYSIS, which can be used on universal server platforms and provides all substation protection and management functions. This approach offers savings of up to 60-70% on construction costs and 70% on operating costs for customers. Potential annual savings from use of the solution throughout the Russian electricity grid system are up to 30 billion rubles.

At present the Russian grid is highly depreciated and uses out-of-date equipment: more than 50% of installations are older than their statutory lifetime (25 years) and fail to meet modern standards of measurement accuracy, convenience and reliability.

Outdated infrastructure means that the network cannot meet today's technology requirements in terms of reliability and safety. At the same time grids are becoming more complex, with exponential growth in the volumes of information needed for management of transmission facilities, monitoring of their technical condition, quality control and accounting. This entails increasing recourse to expensive electronic devices, which often use different data transmission standards, creating problems of compatibility.

The new solution from LYSIS and Profotech, developed entirely by Russian specialists, significantly reduces the amount of measurement and conversion equipment and cables that are needed, reducing the size of premises and achieving maximal levels of standardization and automation. Remote control capabilities make the system easy to use, and there are major gains in the reliability and quality of electricity supply to customers.

Digital optical measurement transformers represent an alternative to conventional measurement transformers, offering high accuracy in gauging of current, voltage and phase. The measured quantities are presented via a digital interface for use in secondary equipment (commercial meters, and devices for telemetry, quality control, relay protection and automation). Profotech transformers provide fully digital measurements, reducing error to the greatest extent possible. Integrated into the structure of a substation, the transformers optimize the architecture of power measurement, protection, management and quality control.

The iSAS software and equipment complex, developed by LYSIS, provides a full life cycle for substation protection and management systems, including design, testing, commissioning, maintenance and operation. iSAS is an automation system for electricity substations using a technology platform, which unifies all the functions of substation protection, management, measurement and quality control on the basis of software modules. The solution is easily transferable to any Linux hardware platform.

Smart grid is a key tool for improving the efficiency of power generation, transmission and distribution. Forecast worldwide public and private investments in smart grid technology up to 2020 are USD 400 billion, led by China, the United States, Japan, South Korea and Spain.

The solution from Profotech and LYSIS offers major savings throughout Russia's power industry and gives opportunity of competing on domestic and international markets with the most advanced technologies from industry leaders.