— 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.