— Hervé Amossé,
Vice President - Substation Automation, Alstom Grid
Alstom Grid provides utilities and industry with mission critical
software systems and equipment needed to manage the flow of
electricity in transmission and distribution grids. The Substation
Automation Solutions (SAS) division also ensures grid stability and
protects and controls substations.
Hervé Amossé, in an interaction
with
Venugopal Pillai, gives a comprehensive overview of products
and services of Alstom Grid SAS. Amosse is upbeat on business in
India given that the market is developing very fast and has a strong
appetite for latest substation automation solutions.
At the outset, please summarize the various products and services
that fall under Alstom Grid's substation automation business.
Alstom Grid Substation Automation Solutions (SAS) supplies highperformance,
mission-critical solutions that protect, control and
manage electrical substations and grids for utilities and electrointensive
industries. Alstom Grid SAS covers the complete
substation automation range, offering full IEC61850 compliance,
ready for Smart Grid applications and Digital Substation
Automation. Alstom Grid SAS is number one in India and top 3 in the
Transmission business with its MiCOM Protection Relays &
Intelligent Electric Devices (IED) and Digital Control Systems (DCS).
Alstom MiCOM IED range of IEC61850 compliant protection
relays and measurement devices monitor, control and protect
motors, generators, feeders, transformers, bus systems and
transmissions lines. Alstom Digital Control Systems for AC and
DC electrical utilities substations and industrial installations
allow achieving high level availability and reliability of the
substation equipments with IEC61850 compliant solutions. It
permits full integration with the control room network
monitoring and Smart Grid applications such as stability, wide
area protection plans, and online condition monitoring.
As an example and to demonstrate our innovation capacity, we
have launched during Elecrama 2012, a new product: MICOM P40
Agile which is the next generation in protection relays.
Given that Indian power T&D sector is likely to see an investment
of $136 billion in the XII Plan period (2012-17), what is your
business outlook for India?
Alstom Grid SAS is doing business in India in the grid automation
domain for over six decades. We have been able to reach the
Number 1 leadership position because of our customer focus, our
innovative products and solutions technologies that has created
customer confidence in Alstom Grid. We are the preferred
supplier in India for most prestigious utilities in transmission and
generation segments.
India's XII plan calls for inclusive growth and certainly provides
major opportunities. For the GDP to grow at 9 per cent,
commercial energy supplies will have to grow at a rate between
6.5 and 7 per cent per year.
The generation capacity creation plan (+100GW) with over 33
per cent contribution from the private sector and the transmission
segment growth aiming at 765kV/1,200kV networks in order to
reduce land requirement and transmission losses; give Alstom
Grid the opportunity to position its Substation Automation IEDs
and DCS systems to leverage this fast developing market.
The financial viability of the power sector as a whole depends
upon the revenues collected at the distribution end, it is the key to
revamp the existing system by bringing in advanced, leading-edge
management systems, use of IT, cyber security,
operationalisation of Open Access policy and, of course, reinforce
accountability to ensure sizable reduction in AT&C losses. The XII
plan focuses on these challenges and Alstom Grid SAS will deliver
state-of-the-art Substation Automation Solutions from our factory
in Pallavaram and projects/R&D center in Noida with the capacity
to deliver MiCOM IEDs range and Digital Control Systems, needed
for future Digital Substations.
What would your key business growth drivers be in India?
Beyond our portfolio and investments on Smart Grid and Digital
Substation Automation our teams and localisation in India are two
key elements to sustain and develop further our position in India.
First, we will continue to develop our protection relay and panel
manufacturing, integration and customers project testing facility
in Pallavaram, Chennai is a key site for Alstom Grid and a symbol
within the protection and substation automation industry. We will
leverage our past investment in lean manufacturing to stay on top
of high-quality production standards for our customers. The site is
Competence Center for the complete range of electromechanical
relays, manufacturing MiCOM numerical relays and provides
engineering support for conventional/digital control systems. Its
offering also includes refurbishment, installation and
commissioning as well as customer trainings. The Alstom Grid
Chennai site develops our commercial presence and projects
execution for the South region.
Second we will reinforce our global Research &
Development center in Noida for our PACiS and future Digital
Control Systems. We will develop our competence for the
Smart Grid applications development, together with a
complete automated tests platform for all our applications
and relays. This will include IEC61850 interoperability tests,
functional tests, systems tests, etc. This site is also in
charge of our northern region commercial and projects
execution activities.
Finally, we have eight manufacturing units and 18 sales
offices across India, with Grid regional offices in Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata which allows us to stay close to
our customers and partners.
How do you rate the inclination of Indian state power utilities in
adopting sophisticated substation automation solutions?
We have seen keen interest from many of the Indian utilities for
use of the latest substation automation solutions notably the
Digital Substation solutions. We have engaged with some of
them already on projects to trial these new technologies. We
have a long experience in India and are confident that Indian
state utilities will continue develop their interest for new smart
grid technologies.
Tell us more about the MiCOM suite launched during Elecrama
2012. How do see the product faring in India?
Alstom Grid SAS is very proud to have launched during Elecrama,
the MiCOM P40 Agile range of intelligent electronic devices (IEDs).
These IEDs provide an integrated feeder management solution for
complete protection, control and monitoring of electrical power
systems. Deploying leading-edge transmission technologies at all
voltage levels, these are Smart Grid ready systems to protect
substation assets, personnel, the public and the environment.
The powerful MiCOM P40 Agile range comprises the P14N nondirectional
feeder, P14D directional feeder and P94V voltage and
frequency IEDs. Each offers the protection, ethernet, graphical
logic, measurements, and control, already field-proven within
Alstom's MiCOM P40 modular series.
A compact design, with versatile configuration, makes MiCOM
P40 Agile the optimal choice for both new-build and retrofit needs. Cost effective, the protection relays offer the perfect balance of
standardised functions and adaptability, with intuitive user
interfaces and enhanced cyber-security. high-speed IEC 61850
GOOSE, fault location, full-scheme autoreclose with check
synchronising, and high impedance downed conductor elements
are native - examples of features uncommon in other comparable
devices on the market.
Finally, these new devices will be manufactured in our Unit in
Chennai as of 2012 to serve the local market and also markets in
Pacific, Eastern Europe and South America.
What would be the new product offerings of Alstom Grid SAS
in 2012?
In 2012 we will continue introducing new products on the market
in the domains of Digital Substation components and Smart Grid
applications. These new products will enrich our existing offer to
serve our customers in full continuity of the products and solutions
they already have from us and will also bring innovation to them so
that they increase the efficiency of their operations, reduce the
risks of blackout and integrate reliably intermittent carbon free
generation into the Indian grid.
India is slowly moving to the UHVAC (1,200kV) regime for power
transmission. Please describe Alstom Grid's preparedness in
meeting demand from the UHVAC regime.
In anticipation of the growth potential in the power & transmission
sectors, Alstom Grid invested, early 2007, to build 3 greenfield
sites with world class standards to expand its manufacturing
capacities up to 765 kV and eventually to 1,200kV voltage class. As
PowerGrid is working towards establishing the country's first UHV
test station, Alstom T&D India contributed to this nation building
initiative by delivering India's first 1,200kV CVT which was
manufactured at our factory in Hosur in 2011. Similarly the
1,200kV disconnector that we have manufactured locally would be
delivered to Power Grid Corporation of India for the Bina test
substation in March 2012. Alstom T&D India is future-ready with
manufacturing and testing capability to provide the entire range of
transmission equipments up to 765kV and above, including power
transformers (EHV 800kV DC and UHV 1,200kV AC).
What is your view on the Indian Smart Grid endeavour, and how do
you see Alstom Grid contributing by way of its innovative products
and services?
Smart Grid relies on the combination and interoperability of
Alstom Grid's key technologies-control room information
technologies, digital solutions for substations, and smart power
electronics. As such, SAS is an essential pillar of the smart grid
market evolution, through its expertise and innovation capacity on
some of the most advanced digital components of the substation
such as instant-reaction protection relays, digital substation
controls, or phasor measurement units.
Alstom Grid's approach to Smart Grid aims at allowing our
electrical utility customers to transform, and progressively
digitalize, their existing power gird infrastructures. Our Smart
Grid systems are designed to effectively respond some of our
customers' most immediate challenges:
- Improve the overall level of reliability and stability on
transmission and distribution power grids, to prevent incidents
at times of peak electricity consumption. For example, Phasor-
Measurement Units, combined with Online Stability solutions
software, allow operators such as Eskom in South Africa to
monitor and anticipate any risk of blackout on their network.
- Increase the energy efficiency capacity of transmission lines, in
order to transport more quickly the electricity across long
distances from the power plants to the final consumers in the
major urban areas. For example, the project of digital
substation deployed in Russia will allow the FSK grid operator to
stabilize and dispatch much more efficiently the power flows
among its different lines.
- Integrate new sources of renewable energies in the national
energy mix portfolio, and connect them to the mainstream
power grid infrastructure. In that regard, specialized control
room software platforms such as Alstom's Renewable Desk
have helped countries like Denmark in successfully integrating
up to 50 per cent of renewables into their energy portfolio.
Above all, what makes a Smart Grid a truly "intelligent" grid
infrastructure is its capacity of exchanging in real-time the
operational data from all equipments and power flows within the
grid. SAS stands at the heart of this market, by bringing to
Alstom's customers the very digital solutions that enable the
instant collection, control and transmission of that operational
data by the grid operator, thanks to Intelligent Electronic
Devices (IEDs) and digital control systems, thus making possible
the circulation of operation data back and forth from power
equipments to the grid operator. As Smart Grid expands in India
and elsewhere, SAS will continue developing even more
advanced grid devices for digital substations, to continue
enhancing the stability, reliability and reactivity of transmission
and distribution grids worldwide.
How does the Indian market for substation automation compare
with that in other developing countries, mainly China?
The India market is developing very fast and has a strong appetite
for latest substation automation solutions. It is a very competitive
market with strong local and international players such as Alstom
Grid. Solutions we design at Alstom Grid combine the
requirements we collect and discuss with all our customers and
partners from India, China and many others. India utilities are
definitely part of the most demanding customers for automation
products and services including for the nascent digital substations
and Smart Grid solutions.