Substation star system Piła Krzewina – Plewiska – Czerwonak, Poland

In April 2020, we received an inquiry from an external consortium to present an offer for works in the field of designing and implementing changes in secondary circuits, control and monitoring systems, and telecommunications at Plewiska, Piła Krzewina and Czerwonak substations in connection with the execution of the star system between these three substations (PLE-PKW-CZE).

The implementation of this complex task, PLE-PKW-CZE star system, was necessary for the construction of the 400 kV Piła Krzewina – Plewiska overhead line. The route of the new power line ran along the route of the old 220 kV Piła Krzewina – Plewiska line, which prevented its construction within the last several kilometers from Poznań. The scope of the task carried out by Eltel Networks consisted of:

• design works in the form of replacement drawings for the existing documentation on the facilities in the field of secondary circuits, telecommunications, control and monitoring systems for 220 kV bays (bay No. 10, Plewiska line) in the Piła Krzewina substation, (bay No. 6, Czerwonak line) in the Plewiska substation, (bay No. 1, Plewiska line) in Czerwonak substation
• security configuration and starting cooperation between 3 substations at the same time (parallel work on 3 substations)
• adaptation of the control and monitoring systems at each of the facilities
• update of the Station Operation Manual for all 3 objects included in the star system
• update of 220 kV line passports in the scope of short-circuiting to the star system, calculation of settings for protections resulting from the change of the network system and the power line connections
• as-built documentation of the works

After obtaining a positive opinion on the formal and legal documentation and purchasing the necessary materials, we started the assembly and commissioning works at all three substations simultaneously, which contributed to the commissioning of the PLE-PKW-CZE star system within the time expected by the investor.

The star system at the Plewiska, Piła Krzewina and Czerwonak substations operated for over half a year (4 – 10.2020). Then, in May 2021, simultaneously at three substations, we performed works related to the dismantling of the PLE-PKW-CZE star system, along with restoring the secondary circuits, control and monitoring systems, and telecommunications to their original state, i.e. before starting the star system. On May 26, 2021, all power lines successfully and without complications returned to normal operation.

The task completed by Eltel Networks enabled the line contractor to carry out activities related to the construction of the 400 kV power line Piła Krzewina – Plewiska in accordance with the investor’s expectations and within the assumed time. Our work, professional approach, reliability and punctuality have contributed to ensuring the continuity of operation of the key elements of the National Power System at the site of the collision of the new 400 kV overhead line Piła Krzewina – Plewiska with the previous 220 kV power line.