New Delhi, Aug 6 (KNN) Uttarakhand joins the elite club of States that have adopted technologically advanced Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) in their electrical transmission network.

The 220/33 kV GIS Substation- constructed by Kanohar Electricals Ltd in technical collaboration of Taiwanese giant Chung-Hsin Electric & Machinery Mfg. Corp (CHEM), is commissioned at IIP Harrawala, Dehradun for Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (PTCUL).

Electrical substations are critical part of a transmission system used to step down high voltage power to low voltage for distribution of electricity or stepping up power from generation house to transmit long distances. Usually seen outside cities, conventional sub-stations require a lot of space as they house a range of equipment like circuit breakers, protection and control equipment, voltage and current transformers, relays etc.

In a GIS system, all the live components are enclosed in a grounded metal enclosure, then the whole system housed in a chamber full of gas, usually Sulphur Hexafluoride, as the primary insulator.

According to Vivek Singhal, an alumni of IIT (Mumbai) and Director of Kanohar Electricals Ltd, the GIS occupies very less space (1/10th) compared to conventional substations and are increasingly preferred in cities or places having space constraints.

“But space is not the only advantage that GIS offers, it is a highly reliable technologically advanced system and could be installed almost anywhere in or out of doors, even underground; near the sea, in mountainous areas, in regions with heavy snowfall,  has long life, very low maintenance cost and being insulated from the environment offers unparalleled  safety to personnel and wild life”, he added.

Announcing successful commissioning of 220 kV GIS substation, President of the company Ajay Kohli congratulated PTCUL on adopting state-of-the-art GIS technology in the State.

This is PTCUL’s first GIS substation, involving five bays of 220 kV GIS, and 13 bays of 33 kV GIS, with transformation capacity of 100MVA (2 Nos. 50MVA power transformers). The substation was constructed in plot area of barely 5000 square meters, which is roughly 15% percent of area required for conventional sub-station of same capacity.  The substation will improve the efficiency and reliability of power supply in South East part of Dehradun, especially areas in the vicinity of Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun. It will receive power from LILO of existing 220kV Khodri-Rishikesh line.

“We are proud to contribute to “Make in India” campaign of Govt of India by establishing world class GIS local manufacturing facility (the only such facility in North India) under technical collaboration with a leading global manufacturer based in Taiwan. We also wish to thank our various partners, vendors, sub-contractors without whom this milestone was not possible”, added Kohli.

Kanohar Electricals Ltd is a leading manufacturer of High Voltage Power Transformers and has extended to manufacture Gas Insulated Switchgear in India and EPC contractor of Air Insulated and Gas Insulated Substations, with facilities in Meerut, UP.

Chung-Hsin Electric & Machinery Mfg. Corp (CHEM) is leading global manufacturer of Gas Insulated Substations upto 550kV and GCB upto 765kV, with facilities in Taiwan and China. (KNN Bureau)