Siemens at CIGRE 2018: Unlock the potential of digitalization

Digital technology really excels when it comes to the automation, monitoring, and protection of a substation. That's why Siemens digital substations offer considerable added value: they come with the future built in. Thanks to comprehensive IoT connectivity, the heart of the power supply also becomes the heart of energy data communication. Siemens digital substations enable greater business agility and increased operational efficiency. At the same time, they contribute to better grid availability and reliability as well as an optimized management of investments throughout the entire life cycle from planning to operation and maintenance.

A bird's eye view of the Bherama HVDC Back-to-Back Link, connecting India and Bangladesh's power grids.

A bird's eye view of the converter station of the HVDC BiPole III.

With its SVC Plus Frequency Stabilizer (FS), Siemens is the world's first supplier to combine reactive power compensation capability with the use of so-called supercapacitors. The SVC Plus FS can feed the reactive power needed for stable grid operation in less than 50 milliseconds. At the same time, the up to 200 megawatts of electric power stored in the supercapacitors can be transferred to the grid at full load. As a result, the voltage and frequency, and thus also the grid, remain stable.

Siemens introduces a new power line carrier system with data transmission rates of up to one megabit per second for digitalized high-voltage substations.

Siemens has received an order from the distribution grid operator Netze BW GmbH to modernize and expand its 110-kV transformer substation in Noerdlingen. Siemens will install its new 3AV1 outdoor circuit breaker with vacuum-interruption technology and a combined voltage and current converter, including clean-air insulation, in a 110-kV high-voltage grid for the first time. The switchgear thus requires no SF₆ insulating gas. The order also includes retrofitting and expanding the existing air-insulated switchgear, including protection and control systems and work on cables and overhead lines. The new equipment is expected to be commissioned by the middle of 2018.