Hitachi ABB Power Grids partners on Czechia’s largest low-voltage grid automation project

With large-scale projects, it is not unusual for several years to pass from the initial idea to the start of implementation. This was also the case with the project ‘Supply of a measurement system for distribution transformer substations (DTS)’, which ČEZ Distribuce, the largest distribution company in Czechia, decided to carry out.

The project is a response to the dynamic development of the energy sector, particularly in the area of renewable sources, which is changing the established model of one-way electricity transmission from power plants to consumers. The aim of the project is to obtain information on the behaviour of the low-voltage (LV) power grid in relation to its topology and the load on individual distribution transformer substations.

As part of the project, it was decided to equip more than 20,000 end distribution transformer substations with power quality measurement. The measured data will then be transmitted from individual DTS via mobile networks to a data centre. There, it will be further processed and analysed for operational management, optimisation and investment planning. All components used will enable remote management in order to minimise any need for service technicians to travel to individual distribution substations.

The project was launched with the prequalification of suppliers at the end of 2016. The public procurement tender itself was then announced in mid-2018.

The tender documentation made it clear that no supplier would be able to meet the requirements using only its own products. For example, in order to minimise dependence on a single manufacturer, the contracting authority requires measuring platforms to include components from at least three manufacturers, while maintaining full component interoperability, i.e. the possibility of one-for-one replacement without affecting other parts of the project.

Hitachi ABB Power Grids decided not to bid for the overall supply, but instead to offer tender participants the manufacture of so-called measuring platforms, which house the components for quality measurement in DTS. ‘During the preparation of the project concept, we proved to be the right partner to ensure timely deliveries to a high quality standard, which is crucial for a project of this scale,’ added Vratislav Hemelík, Business Development Manager at Hitachi ABB Power Grids.

The project entered the implementation phase when ČEZ Distribuce, the contracting authority, signed a contract at the end of 2020 with the winner of the tender, a consortium of companies led by TTC Marconi, with a total value of CZK 2.1 billion. At the beginning of March 2021, a contract was signed under which Hitachi ABB Power Grids will supply more than 20,000 measuring platforms between 2021 and 2026.

The delivery of the first two thousand measuring platforms will undergo an intensive testing phase, during which not only the functionality of the measuring platforms and their components, but above all their connection to the data centre, will be verified. Following a successful testing phase, production will be set at 480 measuring platforms per month from 2023 to 2026.

From a manufacturing perspective, the measuring platform itself is relatively simple, but the challenge lies in the number of measuring platforms, suitable components and their combinations. More than one hundred thousand of these components will be installed on more than twenty thousand measuring platforms during the project. Logistics will therefore play an important role, coordinating deliveries from individual suppliers and deliveries of completed platforms to the contracting authority’s warehouse.

‘The project that ČEZ Distribuce has decided to implement is unique not only in its scale, but also in its comprehensive approach to the issue. We are pleased that Hitachi ABB Power Grids has become a partner in Czechia’s largest low-voltage grid automation project,’ said Vratislav Hemelík.

For Hitachi ABB Power Grids – Vratislav Hemelík (Business Development Manager) and Petr Holubec (Sales Support Manager).