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The innovative yet simple P60 Agile has created a lot of customer interest

Venugopal Pillai ,  Friday, May 31, 2013, 15:55 Hrs  [IST]

Hervé Amossé—Hervé Amossé, Vice President – Substation Automation Solutions, Alstom Grid

Alstom Grid recently launched the P60 Agile in India at the GridTech 2013 event held recently in New Delhi. P60 Agile is a “one-box” solution for complete protection, control, recording and measurement of electrical power systems. Hervé Amossé tells Electrical Monitor about the key features of this revolutionary product and how it is snugly fits into the needs of power utilities and industrial consumers. Amossé also explains how P60 Agile is a key component of Alstom Grid’s substation automation solution portfolio to provide solutions to India’s evolving Smart Grid. An interaction by Venugopal Pillai.

To start with, tell us about the key features of the newly-launched Agile P60
The P60 Agile is a true “one box solution” as it integrates protection, control, measurement and recording functionalities all-in-one. P60 Agile provides clear visibility of the electrical bay deploying leading-edge colour touch-screen technology. The mechanics feature a low depth design for installation directly in switchgear low-voltage (LV) compartment. Also, the class-leading IEC61850 GOOSE offers fast 1.5 ms performance, facilitating the implementation of protection & control substation schemes.

Tell us about the efficiency of Agile P60 in terms of architecture and functioning. How does Agile P60 compare with earlier substation automation solutions by Alstom Grid?
A one box solution is performing protection, control, communication and visual display as its primary functions. To do this effectively, each of these must perform without detriment to the other. The P60 Agile ensures this by dedicating a separate processor to each task, which guarantees that there is no trade-off in performance between any of the principal device duties. As a result, we demonstrate industry-leading protection element speed and GOOSE communication performance, concurrently.

The provision of such powerful control capability within the relay (the “one box” concept) reduces the need for external switches, painted mimic art work and annunciation on the control panel. Equipment cost and panel engineering time is therefore significantly reduced.

Bringing colour touch-screen technology into the substation, the P60 Agile is innovative and intuitive in the information that it can display to substation staff. Graphical, bar-graph, vector and help-text displays are used to signal what is happening, and what an operator may need to do.

Hannover Messe 2013How was the response to P60 Agile during the GridTech 2013 exhibition earlier this month?
We had significant launch events at GridTech in New Delhi in early May this year, and also in the following week at the Hannover fair in Germany. P60 Agile, based on its mix of innovation and simplicity, created lot of interest at both venues. The power distribution and industry customers see P60 Agile as a product which will optimise their operation of electrical switchgear, thanks to the one-box concept. Many engineers were keen to get their hands on the colour touch-screen, commenting on how clearly the single-line diagram of the bay was displayed, and how simple it is to perform control actions from the front of the device. Many remarked on the feeling of quality, such as the positive, robust feeling of the touch-screen.

Many customers were impressed with Alstom’s ability to come up with such an innovative product in a very short period of time. Several major customers in India remarked – “A true one-box solution in the Indian distribution and industrial market was desperately needed, and P60 Agile will fill this gap!”

Given that P60 Agile finds application in both power and industrial utilities. Who do you see as your major customers in India?
The P60 Agile will suit perfectly as a one-box protection and control solution for major customers in India. Main target sectors include oil & gas, mining & metal industries, and electrical distribution networks up to and including 66kV feeder applications. Principally, it can be used anywhere where there is the need for an IED having an on-screen single-line diagram, with easy keys to perform control actions from the front of the device, with a high level of networking capability using the IEC 61850 communication protocol.

The new P60 Agile provides a mimic diagram and control for up to five primary devices (switchgear, circuit breakers, isolators, disconnectors and earthing switches) and visualization for up to eight, and will also easily fit the switchgear panel due to its shallow depth. Its large colour graphical HMI introduces cutting edge technology to the substation environment and helps the operator to visualize data without connecting a laptop computer. This is also beneficial in large building complexes such as shopping malls, airports, residential complexes etc due to its multi-function application and ease of navigation & maintenance.

India is slowly moving to the Smart Grid environment. How do you see P60 Agile fitting into the scheme?
Yes, the P60 Agile range is one component of Alstom Grid SAS’s portfolio for smart grid solutions. Together with P40 Agile, MiCOM P40, DS Agile and the ASAT/DAP ranges, we have overall solutions that are ideally-suited for India’s evolution to Smart Grids.

At Alstom we define a Smart Grid as an energy transmission and distribution network enhanced through digital control, monitoring and telecommunications capabilities. It provides a real-time, two-way flow of energy and information to all stakeholders in the electricity chain, from the generation plant to commercial, industrial and residential end-user.

This evolution is critical for
  1. the integration of both renewable energies and distributed energy resources and
  2. to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the electrical grid and associated services as energy demand increases. In addition, it will also help in various other domains such as: smart and positive energy infrastructure, increased energy density management during peaks, real-time pricing to customers, integrated mobility services, new virtual power plant and micro Grid. It will also help the customers to better manage their electricity consumption and even sell their unused home produced electricity back to the grid.
alstom gridTell us more on the application in green energy.
Specifically P60 Agile provides dynamic grid support via features such as fault ride-through and reactive power support to wind farms and distributed generation. It also complements renewable generation with features such as voltage vector shift and rate of change of frequency. Exhaustive fault recording features enable users to analyze the system and make it more efficient and reliable. Multiple protocols and setting groups provide flexibility to integrate into any Smart Grid network.

Do you have plans to manufacture the P60 Agile in India?
This is under consideration. We have a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Pallavaram (near Chennai, Tamil Nadu) that could produce P60 Agile. India is a key market for us and being able to produce locally is a key asset.
 
                 
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