The China Southern Power Grid Co. Ltd. ordered a new D-VAR system, which regulates and stabilizes voltage, improves efficiency, relieves grid congestions and prevents blackouts. The system will be used at the 220 kilovolt Yuanmo substation in the Yunnan Province.

China Southern is one of two state-owned companies that operate all of China’s power grids. The new D-VAR system will be installed by Xiamen Red Phase Instruments Inc.

The latest order is Red Phase’s second from AMSC. AMSC said it expects to deliver the system to Red Phase by the end of July.

Construction of the first-phase project of Taishan nuclear power plant started on the morning of December 21, indicating the beginning of the Taishan nuclear power plant’s all-round construction after 20 years of planning. After the construction of all projects is completed, the Taishan nuclear power plant is expected to be one of the world’s largest nuclear power projects.

The largest single-unit installed capacity in the world

The electricity generated from the two units of the first phase project to the power grid is capable of meeting the demand of a medium-sized city.

The Taishan nuclear power plant is located at Chixi Town, Taishan, Guangdong province. On December 21, Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Ltd, which is responsible for fund raising, construction, operation and management of the first phase project, announced its establishment.

Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Ltd was established by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corporation (CGNPC) and the Electricite de France. CGNPC holds a 70-percent stake and Electricite de France 30 percent. The total investment in the first phase project stood at 50.2 billion yuan and the registered capital reached 16.74 billion yuan. The joint venture is the largest Sino-French clean energy enterprise and is also the Chinese-foreign joint venture with the highest amount of investment in the current Chinese electricity field.

Currently, the all-around civil engineering construction of the nuclear island, conventional island and supporting facilities of the first phase project has started. Construction of the other projects is also progressing smoothly. The project has 11.85 million cubic meters of earth and stone. If trucks loaded with earth and stone for the project were lined up from Taishan, they would extend all the way to Beijing.

Four pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power units are scheduled to be built for the project and it is planned to have a total of six electricity generating units in the future. Currently, the government has approved building two units in the first phase project. The two power generating units have the world’s largest single-unit installed capacity of 1.75 million kW.

The project adopts the advanced third-generation European pressurized water reactor (EPR) technology, which was jointly designed and developed by France’s Areva Group and Germany’s Siemens Company. Double-layer safety shells and four security design programs are adopted to ensure a higher security level after taking severe accident prevention and mitigation measures into full consideration.

According to the project plans, the No. 1 unit will be put into operation and generate electricity to the power grid in December 2013 and the No. 2 unit is scheduled to be put into operation in October 2014. After the two units are built, they will generate about 26 billion kW/h of electricity to the power grid annually, which is capable of meeting the electricity demand of a medium-sized city and will yield an output of more than 12 billion yuan.

No carbon dioxide emissions

10.5 million tons of electric coal will be saved per year and therefore, 22.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced.

Nuclear power is a kind of internationally recognized clean energy. It enjoys quite a number of advantages including relatively stable cost, sufficient fuel and more predictable fuel prices compared to fossil fuels.

Taishan nuclear power station introduced that a 1-million-kW coal-fired power plant consumes about three million tons of coal per year and produces about 6.75 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. A nuclear power plant with the same capacity needs only about 30 tons of nuclear fuel per year and does not produce carbon dioxide emissions at the stage of nuclear power generation.

Nuclear power stations are usually located in regions with high power demands, so the length of transmission lines linking nuclear power stations and the power grid centers are relatively short and nuclear power transmission is in turn less exposed to transmission line faults.

After the two 1.75 million kW units in the first phase project are put into operation, they can reduce electric coal consumption by about 1,050 tons and greenhouse gas emissions by about 22.7 million tons. After the six units are put into service under the long-term plan of the Taishan nuclear power station project, the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 68.4 million tons.

Is it safe to build the power station near urban clusters?

The probability of nuclear accidents for the third generation of EPR nuclear technology is one in 10 million

The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is about 44 kilometers away from urban areas of Taishan, about 79 kilometers away from urban areas of Jiangmen, about 74 kilometers away from urban areas of Zhuhai and about 68 kilometers away from the Macau Special Administrative Region.

What about the safety of the nuclear power plant since it is so near the urban cluster in the Pearl River Delta region?

Experts from the Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Company said that the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant applies the world’s most advanced third generation EPR nuclear technology. Radioactive substances will be processed through special facilities and “three waste treatment” methods, which lowers the probability of nuclear accidents, enhances the safety and reliability of nuclear power plant operations and reduces the level of its radioactive waste discharge below the national standard.

“The probability of nuclear accidents for the second generation EPR nuclear technology is one in a million, and the figure for the third generation EPR nuclear technology is as low as one in 10 million,” say experts.

Taking the lead in becoming a major nuclear power generation province

One-fifth of Guangdong province’s power generation will come from nuclear energy in 15 years, above the world’s average level.

In Guangdong’s arch-shaped coastal areas ranging from Dayawan, Ling’ao to Taishan and Yangjiang, the Dayawan Nuclear Power Plant and the first phase project of the Ling’ao Nuclear Power Plant have been put into operation, the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant is under construction and the comprehensive construction of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant has started. These four major nuclear power plants will lay the foundation for Guangdong’s “special nuclear power zone.”

According to Guangdong’s nuclear power development plan, the entire province will have a total installed nuclear power generation capacity of 30,000 MW in 2020, of which 20,000 MW has been put into operation and 10,000 MW is under construction. One-fifth of Guangdong province’s power generation will come from nuclear energy in 15 years, above the world’s average level. Guangdong province will take the lead in becoming a major nuclear power generation province.

“According to the plan, once the nuclear power stations under construction are put into operation by 2020, coal consumption will be reduced by 60 million tons per year,” said Huang Longyun, deputy governor of Guangdong province and leader of the Guangdong Nuclear Power Development Leading Group.

November 24, 2009 (FinancialWire) — American Electric Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AETI) the premium global provider of custom-designed power infrastructure solutions for the traditional and renewable energy industries, announced the appointment of two new executives focused on increasing the company’s prevalence in the Gulf Coast industrial services markets.

Marcelo Garcia joins AETI as manager of the High Voltage Services group in Houston. He will be responsible for increasing the company’s Houston industrial services business including both field services and in-shop services. Prior to AETI, Garcia was the Houston division sales and operations manager for Electrical Power Systems . During his career, he also served as the Phoenix division operations manager for Hampton Tedder Technical Services in Tempe, Ariz., and has worked for Dashiell Corp., Calpine Corp. and Powell Industries.

AETI also announced that Dean Swift has been hired to serve as manager for the company’s Beaumont Services. In his new role, he will be responsible for working with the industrial, refinery, marine and power generation segments in the Golden Triangle and west Louisiana markets. Swift joins the company from Coastal Switchgear, a company that sells and repairs new, used, reconditioned and obsolete medium- and low-voltage electrical circuit breakers, motor controls and switchgear, where he was a field service operations manager. Prior to Coastal Switchgear, he was a senior field testing technician, and has held important roles at companies including Shermco Industries, ECP Tech Services, Testronics and BES. Swift holds an associate’s degree in power distribution from Texas State Technical Institute.

FinancialWire(tm) is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service. FinancialWire(tm) is not a press release service, and receives no compensation for its news, opinions or distributions. Further disclosure is at the FinancialWire(tm) web site (http://www.financialwire.net/disclosures.php). Contact FinancialWire(tm) directly via inquiries@financialwire.net.

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. German development bank KfW as the sponsor has opened a credit line for a project of 330 KV electric transmission line to run from Imishli to Azerbaijan Thermal Power Station (AzTES). The project is realized jointly with the customer – Azerenerji OJSC (Azerbaijan State Electric Company).

Governmental sources say that China’s Shenzhen Energy Engineering Corporation (SEEC) was chosen the project general contractor.

“KfW has even made an advance payment for beginning of works. The contractor is expected to start work soon,” a source indicates.

The construction start was scheduled for 2008.

Project technical consultant is Decon Consult/Fichner. The consultant renders services in holding a tender procedure for choice of the project general contractor. It will also supervise the course of project realization.

Under the KfW-Azerbaijani government credit agreement, a KfW loan for the project will be given under EuroBOR+0%. The loan should be repaid for 12 years with two-year grace period.

The project includes construction of a 330 KV substation in Geranboy and its connection with Imishli substation by a power line. KfW disburses a EUR30 million loan for laying a 195 km electric line that makes 85% of the project cost. At the same time it is planned to reconstruct the Imishli substation and lay a 330 KV distribution point “Geranboy”. Capacity of the electric line will increase from 200 MWt up to 700 MWt.

The Indian electrical switchgear industry, which includes some large high profile companies such as TELLHOW, Land others, has for the first time in five years seen a marginal fall in revenue in the third quarter of the current fiscal, mainly due to contraction in investment by industrial companies that make consumer-related products.
The revenue in the October-December period fell 1.7% compared to a growth of 7% seen in the previous quarter, led by a fall in demand for small motors, switchgear products and capacitors which are used by the consumer durable sectors and the food industry, underscoring a slowdown in the economy.
“What it essentially means is that people are now not talking about renovation, expansion and modernisation,” says VV Paranjpe, president of the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association, a representative body of the sector that is traditionally seen as an indicator of the economy. “Industrial demand is low and we need to wait and see how the government’s various measures to boost the economy will shape up,” he added.
Sale of motors, both high and low voltage, shows how the demand patterns in various sectors are faring. Demand for cables is down 2.4%, while that of switchgears has fallen 1.9%. Rotating machines has plunged by about 11.7%, capacitors by 16.5% and energy meters fell the maximum by about 21%. Growth came from transformers which grew by 8.7%.
Industry executives however said it is still too early to conclude on the trend, PriceWaterhouseCoopers in its report released on Friday said that the projected spending in electricity is about $167 billion, the highest compared to other sectors such as railways, roads, ports and airports.
While this investment includes the investment in power projects, it would also expand capacity to make smaller products such as motors and switchgears. High voltage products, however, are showing growth as state-run companies such as NTPC, BHEL and others have maintained their investment plans.
 
The Indian electrical switchgear industry, which includes some large high profile companies such as TELLHOW, Land others, has for the
 
first time in five years seen a marginal fall in revenue in the third quarter of the current fiscal, mainly due to contraction in investment by industrial companies that make consumer-related products.

The revenue in the October-December period fell 1.7% compared to a growth of 7% seen in the previous quarter, led by a fall in demand for small motors, switchgear products and capacitors which are used by the consumer durable sectors and the food industry, underscoring a slowdown in the economy.

“What it essentially means is that people are now not talking about renovation, expansion and modernisation,” says VV Paranjpe, president of the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association, a representative body of the sector that is traditionally seen as an indicator of the economy. “Industrial demand is low and we need to wait and see how the government’s various measures to boost the economy will shape up,” he added.

Sale of motors, both high and low voltage, shows how the demand patterns in various sectors are faring. Demand for cables is down 2.4%, while that of switchgears has fallen 1.9%. Rotating machines has plunged by about 11.7%, capacitors by 16.5% and energy meters fell the maximum by about 21%. Growth came from transformers which grew by 8.7%.

Industry executives however said it is still too early to conclude on the trend, PriceWaterhouseCoopers in its report released on Friday said that the projected spending in electricity is about $167 billion, the highest compared to other sectors such as railways, roads, ports and airports. While this investment includes the investment in power projects, it would also expand capacity to make smaller products such as motors and switchgears. High voltage products, however, are showing growth as state-run companies such as NTPC, BHEL and others have maintained their investment plans.

Electricity has been restored to about 1,220 Entergy customers in Vicksburg following a power failure Thursday night.

Power was lost shortly before 8 p.m. after a piece of equipment failed at a substation on Porters Chapel Road that serves east Vicksburg, Entergy spokesman Mara Hartmann said.

Swaths of neighborhoods from Marcus Bottom to Oak Park were without power. Crews had power reconnected in about 45 minutes, Hartmann said.

In general the transformer in a consumer’s substation is protected by MV fuses,
suitably rated to match the transformer, in accordance with the principles laid down
in IEC 60787 and IEC 60420, by following the advice of the fuse manufacturer.
The basic requirement is that a MV fuse will not operate for LV faults occurring
downstream of the transformer LV circuit-breaker, so that the tripping characteristic
curve of the latter must be to the left of that of the MV fuse pre-arcing curve.
This requirement generally fixes the maximum settings for the LV circuit-breaker
protection:
b Maximum short-circuit current-level setting of the magnetic tripping element
b Maximum time-delay allowable for the short-circuit current tripping element
(see Fig. H57)
b Short-circuit level at MV terminals of transformer: 250 MVA
b Transformer MV/LV: 1,250 kVA 20/0.4 kV
b MV fuses: 63 A
b Cabling, transformer – LV circuit-breaker: 10 metres single-core cables
b LV circuit-breaker: Compact NSX 2000 set at 1,800 A (Ir)
What is the maximum short-circuit trip current setting and its maximum time delay
allowable?
The curves of Figure H58 show that discrimination is assured if the short-time delay
tripping unit of the CB is set at:
b A level y 6 Ir = 10.8 kA
b A time-delay setting of step 1 or 2
Fig. H57 : Example
63 A
1,250 kVA
20 kV / 400 V
Compact
NS2000
set at 1,800 A
Full-load current
1,760 A
3-phase
short-circuit
current level
31.4 kA
I
t
(s)
Step 4
Step 3
Step 2
Step 1 0.50
0.1
0.2
10
100
200
1,000
NS 2000
set at
1,800 A
1,800 A
Ir
Isc maxi
31.4 kA
10 kA
0.01
Minimum pre-arcing
curve for 63 A HV fuses
(current referred to the
secondary side of the
transformer)
Fig. H58 : Curves of MV fuses and LV circuit-breaker

The aim of isolation is to separate a circuit or apparatus (such as a motor, etc.) from
the remainder of a system which is energized, in order that personnel may carry out
work on the isolated part in perfect safety.
In principle, all circuits of an LV installation shall have means to be isolated.
In practice, in order to maintain an optimum continuity of service, it is preferred to
provide a means of isolation at the origin of each circuit.
An isolating device must fulfil the following requirements:
b All poles of a circuit, including the neutral (except where the neutral is a PEN
conductor) must open(1)
b It must be provided with a locking system in open position with a key (e.g. by
means of a padlock) in order to avoid an unauthorized reclosure by inadvertence
b It must comply with a recognized national or international standard
(e.g. IEC 60947-3) concerning clearance between contacts, creepage distances,
overvoltage withstand capability, etc.:
Other requirements apply:
v Verification that the contacts of the isolating device are, in fact, open.
The verification may be:
- Either visual, where the device is suitably designed to allow the contacts to be seen
(some national standards impose this condition for an isolating device located at the
origin of a LV installation supplied directly from a MV/LV transformer)
- Or mechanical, by means of an indicator solidly welded to the operating shaft
of the device. In this case the construction of the device must be such that, in the
eventuality that the contacts become welded together in the closed position, the
indicator cannot possibly indicate that it is in the open position
v Leakage currents. With the isolating device open, leakage currents between the
open contacts of each phase must not exceed:
- 0.5 mA for a new device
- 6.0 mA at the end of its useful life
v Voltage-surge withstand capability, across open contacts. The isolating device,
when open must withstand a 1.2/50 μs impulse, having a peak value of 6, 8 or 12 kV
according to its service voltage, as shown in Figure H2. The device must satisfy
these conditions for altitudes up to 2,000 metres. Correction factors are given in
IEC 60664-1 for altitudes greater than 2,000 metres.
Consequently, if tests are carried out at sea level, the test values must be increased
by 23% to take into account the effect of altitude. See standard IEC 60947.

b Electrical protection
b Safe isolation from live parts
b Local or remote switching
National and international standards define the manner in which electric circuits of
LV installations must be realized, and the capabilities and limitations of the various
switching devices which are collectively referred to as switchgear.
The main functions of switchgear are:
b Electrical protection
b Electrical isolation of sections of an installation
b Local or remote switching
These functions are summarized below in Figure H .
Electrical protection at low voltage is (apart from fuses) normally incorporated in
circuit-breakers, in the form of thermal-magnetic devices and/or residual-currentoperated
tripping devices (less-commonly, residual voltage- operated devices
- acceptable to, but not recommended by IEC).
In addition to those functions shown in Figure H1, other functions, namely:
b Over-voltage protection
b Under-voltage protection
are provided by specific devices (lightning and various other types of voltage-surge
arrester, relays associated with contactors, remotely controlled circuit-breakers, and
with combined circuit-breaker/isolators… and so on)

Power supply to the areas in and around Ashok Marg suffered a jolt on Sunday evening after an 11 KV cable got snapped following road
cutting near Jal Nigam office on Meera Bai Marg. The problem aggravated after the transformer of Jal Nigam office burst and consequently, the main transformer at Jawahar Bhawan too went off with a bang.

Smoke engulfed the substation even as Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (Lesa) had no clue on how to deal with the situation. Sanjay Sharma, in-charge of the sub-station said that the incident happened at around 6.45 pm when they were at a convention. He said that various equipments within the sub-station had been carbonised. “We’ll have to get them functioning in another 10 days,” he said.

By the time the official claimed of providing the area with an alternate supply. Sharma said that this was not the first time that road-cutting had resulted in tripping of power supply. “There have been many a times when we lodged complaints with the police. But nothing happened against the contractors,” he said.

The sub-station is one of the most crucial ones in the area as it supplies electricity to some of the VIP areas like Dalibagh and Butler Palace colony.