Following the tragic earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, APR was contracted by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. (TEPCO) to provide a fast-track power solution capable of providing 203MW of additional electricity to two Japanese cities, Yokosuka and Hitachinaka. APR Energy’s solution included mobile gas turbines in combination with diesel power modules, onsite operations and maintenance services with a commitment to commission both installations in less than 45 days.
APR Energy’s rapid deployment approach is based upon modular equipment to enable the fast-track transportation, installation, and commissioning of the generator sets, fuel tanks and primary electrical equipment including switchgear, breakers, and transformers.
Hitachi Energy has delivered the line protection and bus bar protection cubicles and protection monitoring systems for two 220 kV line switchgear in the Upper Kotmale and Kotmale Hydro Power Plant stations consisting of Relion® and 3rd party devices.
At the time of the Japanese disaster, Hitachi Energy was already working with APR on the development of a pilot 8MW modular substation and centralized control system based on the international standard for substation automation, IEC 61850. This pilot incorporated compact gas-insulated switchgear (GIS), Relion® protection and control IEDs and MicroSCADA Pro substation automation software running on an SYS600C station computer. Based on the success of the factory acceptance testing (FAT) for this 8MW pilot project, APR decided to adapt this design for the larger Japan project.
APR first became interested in Relion relays because they are integrated into Hitachi Energy's compact GIS. APR found the integrated GIS and protection and control system well suited to their turnkey rapid deployment power system solution. The IEC 61850 compliant designs enable rapid deployment and replication of IED configurations and station controller HMIs. The design flexibility and multi-object, multi-function capability of the Relion platform reduces the hardware footprint and minimizes supporting infrastructure.
In addition to the hardware advantages, Hitachi Energy's global presence provided the necessary support to deliver both equipment and technical support on an extremely tight timeline. Relion relays in China were quickly adapted for local needs and were drop-shipped to Japan.
At the same time, technical resources in the United States were working with APR engineers at their Florida facility to engineer a MicroSCADA Pro system based on the planned relay configuration. This used a Hitachi Energy-developed simulator tool that enables the station control and HMI to be developed without the physical presence of the relays.
Finally, Hitachi Energy engineers joined APR engineers on-site in Japan for the final commissioning of the power generation system.
The final APR Energy system delivered to Japan included Relion 615, 630, and 650 IEDs as well as a customized design for the MicroSCADA Pro local HMI.
The collaborative relationship between APR and Hitachi Energy, combined with Hitachi Energy's flexible and robust substation automation portfolio, enabled APR to meet a tight development and delivery schedule, stay on budget and deliver essential additional electric capacity to a country in need.
Advanced generator protection
Hitachi Energy's generator protection REG670 IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices) belong to the Relion® protection and control product family, which offers a wide range of products for the protection, control, measurement and supervision of generators, transformers, power lines, etc. in a wide range of applications. To ensure interoperable and future-proof solutions, Relion products have been designed to implement the core values of the IEC 61850 standard.
The REG670 has now been enhanced to feature an innovative 100 percent stator earth-fault protection and a sensitive rotor earth-fault protection, both based on an injection principle. When the REG670’s injection-based stator protection is used, 100 percent of the machine stator winding, including the star point, is protected under all operating modes, even at a machine standstill. This new feature makes the REG670 suitable also for very complicated and challenging installations, such as pump-storage power plants and large hydro and turbomachines.
Further, a stator injection signal with a frequency higher than the power system frequency is used (eg 87 Hz signal in a 50 Hz power system). This confers many practical Advanced generator protection advantages. In addition, a special tool module (Injection Commissioning) accessed via the CM600 protection and control IED manager significantly simplifies the installation and commissioning of the injection-based stator and rotor earth-fault protection functions
Contact: Anukool Korde
About APR Energy LLC (APR)
APR Energy LLC (APR), headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, in the United states, is a leading provider of major turnkey temporary power generation services.
APR Energy’s systems are capable of delivering power for peak shaving and seasonal solutions, and distributed generation for areas with limited generation capacity. Their systems also provide grid stability and support for networks in need of reactive power. In addition, APR Energy also provides emergency generation capacity for disaster relief and unscheduled outages.
