AMAR METRO
KOLKATA
PRESS RELEASE
CHARGING OF FIRST 33 KV GAS INSULATED SWITCHGEAR PANEL WITH INDIA’S LARGEST DC BREAKER PANEL (17 HSCBS) WITH BLUE LINE’S FIRST 12 PULSE RECTIFIER
Kolkata, 15.10.2024
Shri P. Uday Kumar Reddy, General Manager, Metro Railway, Kolkata, energized the first 33kV Traction Substation of Blue Line by closing the Switchgear of Blue Line’s first Gas Insulated Switchgear Panel replacing the forty-year-old 11 kV Traction Substation (TSS) at Noapara on 14.10. 24. This state - of - the - art Traction Substation consists of Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) 33kV HT Panel, India’s longest High-Speed Circuit Breaker (HSCB) panel, IGBT based regenerative battery charger, 33kV dry type traction transformer and Blue Line’s first 3 MW twelve pulse rectifier.
This work is a replacement work of the forty year-old 11kV Traction Substation with six pulse rectifier and 11kV dry type traction transformer. New transformer-rectifier set has 50% higher capacity than forty year-old to meet the requirement of improved headway. Same model shall be utilized for upgradation and augmentation of all old substations of Blue Line to cater to the need of improved headways. First 33kV Traction substation of Blue Line has India’s longest High Speed Circuit Breaker Panel containing seventeen High Speed Circuit Breakers. This longest panel shall ensure the power block for regular maintenance of the Civil Engineering Department which was getting difficult with the rise of number of rakes from eighteen to thirty-four.
Detailed planning was made in the month of July 2024. Day wise plan and monitoring plan was kept in place before finalising the substation shutdown programme. The work started in the month of August and the work completed within 2 months. The work was completed without affecting running of mainline in Noapara station as well as Noapara Car-Shed. Final testing was done in the first week of October and approval for charging the substation was granted by Electrical Inspector to Government of India a week before the formal inauguration programme.
This was a pilot project of upgrading the Power Supply network from existing 11 kV to 33 kV for the entire Blue Line. Upgradation to 33 kV network has multiple benefits. It will improve reliability and cost by removing all existing switchgear of the network.
Distribution loss in cables will be reduced due to power distribution in higher voltage. Existing 11kV cable ring across the Blue Line will be removed with state -of – the - art system of 33kv AC conversion to 750V DC. As we are using 12 pulse rectifiers discarding the forty-year-old six pulse rectifier, the core loss in transformers will be reduced considerably, removal of 11kV stage will ensure the removal of loss in the 11kV cable network. Metro Railway is shifting towards not only state- of- the -art energy efficient system but also becoming more environment friendly.
This replacement with state- of- the -art TSS shall save approximately 350 Cr capital expenditure for entire Blue Line in equipment replacement cost and energy saving cost.
With the experience gathered at Noapara TSS, Metro Railway is going to upgrade Belgachia TSS and Dumdum TSS by December 2024 and February 2025 respectively.
Kausik Mitra
Chief Public Relations Officer
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