Powergrid commissioned the first 400kV Digital Substation

Malerkotla: POWERGRID commissioned India’s first 400kV Digital Substation based on IEC 61850 Process Bus at Malerkotla, Punjab on 16th December 2020. With this POWERGRID becomes one of the very few utilities in the world to retrofit a complete substation with full digital technology.

POWERGRID, under its new Technology adoption initiative, implemented the state-of-the-art IEC 61850 Process Bus based Protection Automation and Control system in retrofitting of conventional control and protection system of a substation commissioned in 1992. Extensive studies and testing carried out at POWERGRID’s Protection, Automation and Control (PAC) and Real-Time Simulation (RTS) Labs facilitating improved Network Design and Architecture & Multi-vendor IED Interoperability which were recognized for standardization of various processes in IEC & CIGRE.

This technology, in an EHV/UHV Substation, provides flexibility in engineering, paves the way for faster commissioning, reduced downtime, enhanced diagnostics, and ease in troubleshooting during asset management. Also, this helps in reducing environmental footprint with a reduction in requirement of Copper cables and Civil Works.