News

Schneider Electric supplies 33kV Protection and Control Panels for BlueScope Steel's Project No.2 Blower substation in Port Kembla, NSW

Schneider Electric is working with BlueScope Steel to upgrade the 33kV network protection systems at the Project No.2 Blower substation at Port Kembla in New South Wales.

The decision to upgrade the existing network came after a power supply failure. Factors leading to the decision to upgrade included the advanced age of the existing equipment, the large variety of equipment and types of protection between the substations.

The upgrade project began in 2006 with Areva T&D, five years before Areva D became part of the Schneider Electric business. The initial project saw the upgrade of 33kV Protection and Control Panels for the Oxygen Plant substation, while similar projects at the Blower B substation and the HSM Outdoor Yard have also been completed. The Project No.2 Blower substation is the latest project to be undertaken in the upgrade.

The solution

Schneider Electric received an order from BlueScope Steel to supply 17 off 33kV protection and control panels for the Project No. 2 Blower Substation (165). The 17 panels comprise of one incomer panel, three tie feeder panels, eight transformer panels, one bus coupler panel, one ‘X’ scheme buszone panel, one ‘Y’ scheme buszone panel, one dual transformer feeder panel and one generator transformer feeder panel.
 
The relays contained in the six different types of panels are:

• Incomer Panel: MiCOM P742, P541, P123, & GE L90
• Tie Feeder Panel: MiCOM P742, P541, P123, & MHOR04
• Bus Coupler Panel: MiCOM P742, P123
• Transformer Panel: MiCOM P631, P742, P123
• ‘Y’ Buszone Panel: MFAC34, MVTP31
• ‘X’ Buszone Panel: MiCOM P741
• Dual Transformer Feeders Panel: MiCOM P633, P742, P123
• Generator Transformer Feeder Panel: P742, P123.

The MiCOM P740 numerical low impedance busbar scheme provides complete protection for all types of voltage busbar configurations. It introduces a unique combination of security, speed and sensitivity, including a typical operating time of 15ms, making it one of the fastest in its class.

MiCOM P740 benefits

The No. 2 Blower Station 33kV (I65) substation is a double bus system. One Peripheral Unit (PU) is assigned to each feeder and two PU’s are assigned to the bus coupler. When the bus coupler is closed, the topology algorithm creates a virtual zone that surrounds the circuit breaker with bus coupler current transformers as its limits. If a fault were to occur in the virtual zone, the P740 scheme would initiate a simultaneous trip of both main zones, including the bus coupler breaker.

Other important features of the P740 busbar scheme include circuitry fault detection to provide the blocking of busbar protection, manual circuit breaker closing input to prevent a false tripping during a switch onto fault (SOTF) situation, check zone scheme to prevent false tripping during discrepancy in the plant status, and dead zone protection for the blind spot between the circuit breaker and associated current transformer, circuit breaker failure protection.

Support and training

When the initial Oxygen Plant Substation was commissioned in 2007, in-depth training on all relays was provided for the customer. Subsequently, over a period of approximately two months, site assistance such as relay testing, scheme checks, and wiring checks were provided, assisting the customer to carry out the pre-commissioning of the panels until they were ready be put into service.

Conclusion

With three successful projects under their belts, Schneider Electric is looking forward to the successful completion of the No. 2 Blower Station project.

This ongoing project represents an effective collaboration with the customer, with design and pre-commissioning performed successfully and to the satisfaction of the customer. The project also demonstrated a close working relationship between Schneider Electric business units. This collaboration enabled Schneider Electric to quickly ramp up the project team delivery capability as and when required.