Russein Substation, Switzerland

The 11.6 MW Russein hydropower plant in the canton of Grisons had been in service for 67 years, when work began in 2013 to expand its capacity to 24.2 MW. The plant operator, the Swiss utility Axpo Group, upgraded the infrastructure, including the Russein dam, pressure pipe and operations center, so the plant produces 52 gigawatt hours of energy per year and can meet the electrical demand of 17,000 households. The 72.5 kilovolt (kV) high-voltage switchyard was also upgraded, but needed a reliable switchgear solution that ensures out of service disorders are minimized.

Hitachi Energy's supplied the innovative hybrid switchgear module PASS M0H, a solution that offers a complete high-voltage switchyard with an ‘H’ configuration as a single, compact product, ready for rapid energization.

With PASS M0H technology, Axpo was able to refurbish the high-voltage switchyard in four days, instead of the estimated eight weeks needed to install equivalent air-insulated switchgear bays, while at the same time saving 70 percent of the switchyard footprint having as a result a low environmental impact, an important factor in the beautiful Val Russein.