ABB reported Aug. 29 that it will enable one of the world’s largest digital substations with the upgrade of one of the biggest air insulated substations (AIS) ever built for the Belarus Ministry of Energy and its transmission utility Mogilevenergo.
As part of the upgrade, the substation will be equipped with digital technology. ABB will supply protection and control equipment, an ABB Ability MicroSCADA system and a digital process bus, which enables interoperable communication between vendors through Ethernet cables instead of copper wires. As part of the project, ABB will also supply digitally enabled high-voltage products like Fiber Optics Current Sensors-Free Standing (FOCS-FS) and Disconnecting Circuit Breakers (DCB) to engineering and procurement company Riko.
Digitalization enables visibility of a plant's assets and systems, and the harnessing of extensive volumes of data. Digitalization also enables the integration of IT and OT systems, enabling operators in control centers to interpret key insights in real time and as a result, prevent critical failures. With increasing numbers of smart sensors in the field, the amount of process data being collected and analyzed within the substation is increasing correspondingly, allowing for protection and control, or for condition monitoring where the data is run against predictive models and machine learning in the cloud.
Another key component of ABB’s scope of supply includes FOCS-FS and a non-conventional instrument transformer that facilitates open standards-based IEC 61850 communication in the digital substation. The digital substation also collects real-time data on primary equipment and converts this into actionable intelligence to help the utility monitor, control and maintain assets, as well derive cost efficiencies. This critical asset data can then be sent to ABB Ability Ellipse APM software that will enable predictive and preventive maintenance. ABB’s DCBs will provide the functionality of a circuit breaker and a disconnector combined in a single unit.
