16/1/2007

CEA (Grid Standards) Regulations, 2006

Central Electricity Authority (Grid Standards) Regulations 2006

1. Short Title, Commencement and Interpretation.(1)

These regulations may be called the Central Electricity Authority (Grid Standards) Regulations, 2006 framed as per provisions under section 34, Section 73(d) and section 177(2) (a) of the Electricity Act, 2003.

(2) (3)

These regulations shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette, Grid Standards for Operation and Maintenance of Transmission Lines as prescribed by the Authority are given in the Schedule appended to these Regulations.

(4)

These regulations shall be reviewed by the Authority in consultation with all the stake holders as and when considered necessary.

2.

Definitions.In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires; (1) (2) Act means the Electricity Act, 2003, Appropriate Load Despatch Centre means the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC), Regional Load Despatch Centre (RLDC) or State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) or Area Load Despatch Centre as the case may be, (3) (4) (5) Area Load Despatch Centre means the centre as established by the state for load despatch & control in a particular area of the state, Bulk consumer means a consumer who avails supply at voltage of 33 kV or above, Disaster management is the mitigation of the impact of a major breakdown on the system and bringing about restoration in the shortest possible time, (6) Emergency Restoration System A system comprising transmission towers/ structures of modular construction complete with associated

CEA (Grid Standards) Regulations,2006

components viz. insulators, hardware fittings, accessories, foundation plates, guys, anchors, installation tools etc. to facilitate quick restoration of damaged/failed transmission line towers/ sections, (7) Islanding Scheme is a scheme for separation of the grid into two or more independent systems as a last resort with a view to save healthy portion of the grid at the time of the grid disturbance. (8) Standards means Grid Standards for Operation and Maintenance of Transmission Lines set forth in the Schedule appended to these Regulations, (9) Transient stability means the ability of all the elements in the network to remain in synchronism following abrupt change in operating conditions like tripping of a feeder, tripping of generating unit, sudden application of a load and network switching etc, (10) User means a person such as a Generating Company including captive generating plant or Transmission Licensee other than the Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and State Transmission Utility (STU), Distribution Licensee or Bulk Consumer whose electrical plant is connected to the Grid at voltage level 33 kV and above, (11) Voltage Unbalance is defined as the deviation between highest and lowest line voltage divided by Average line Voltage of the three phases, The words and expressions used and not defined in these Regulations but defined in the Electricity Act, 2003 shall have the meaning assigned to them in the said Act.

3.

Applicability of the Regulations.These Regulations shall be applicable to the Transmission Licensees including Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and State Transmission Utilities (STUs), Users, Appropriate Load Despatch Centres, and, Regional Power Committees (RPCs).

4.

Objectives.The aim of the regulation is:

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(1) (2)

to ensure safe operation, security, integrity and reliability of the grid. to have a coordinated operation and maintenance of transmission lines and generators.

5.

Standards.All Transmission Licensee, Users, Load Despatch Centres, Central Transmission Utility (CTU) and State Transmission Utilities (STUs) and Regional Power Committees (RPCs) shall abide by the provisions of the Standards for Operation and Maintenance of Transmission Lines set forth in the Schedule appended to these Regulations.

6.

Operation Planning.The Regional Power Committee shall periodically review the performance of the grid for the past period and plan stable operation of the grid for the future, considering various parameters and occurrences such as frequency deviations, voltage profile, line loadings, grid incidents, performance of system protection schemes, protection coordination.

7.

Maintenance Planning.(1) The annual maintenance plan for generating stations in a region and the inter-State transmission lines shall be prepared by the concerned RPCs, keeping in view the demand pattern and maintenance schedule of the generating units and diversity in demand of the States before the commencement of the financial year. The annual maintenance plan for Inter-Regional transmission lines shall be coordinated between the concerned RPCs. The coordinated generation and transmission line maintenance plan shall be reviewed and revised, if necessary on a quarterly basis and also in the monthly Operating Committee Meetings of the RPCs. (2) The annual maintenance plan of Intra-State transmission lines shall be coordinated by the concerned SLDC in consultation with the concerned intra-state transmission licensee taking into account the annual maintenance plan of generating units and inter-state transmission

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system decided by the concerned RPC. Concerned SLDC will also review and coordinate the maintenance plan of intra-state transmission lines for the next month, taking into account the monthly plan of generating units and inter-state transmission lines by the concerned RPC for the next month. (3) The monthly maintenance plan for generating unit & transmission line shall be implemented with the consent of the SLDC or RLDC, as the case may be.

8.

Coordination in Operations.(1) No element of the grid shall be introduced or taken out of the grid without the concurrence of the appropriate load dispatch centre. Only in case of imminent risk of safety of plant and personnel, can the concerned equipment be taken out without concurrence of the Appropriate Load Despatch Centre. with the reasons. (2) RLDC shall inform all affected parties in case it affects their system. However the Appropriate Load Despatch Centre must be intimated of the same at the earliest along

9.

Written Operating Instructions.(1) Written operating instructions for each equipment and operating procedure for sequence of operations of power system equipment shall be available at each sub-station and switchyard. (2) (3) (4) The operating procedures followed shall not be inconsistent with the manufacturers instructions regarding particular items of equipment. All operators shall be aware of all the operating instructions and procedures and be capable of operating the equipment skillfully. These operating instructions and procedures shall be revised whenever required.

10.

Instructions by RLDCs and SLDCs.All operational instructions given by RLDCs and SLDCs through telephone, Fax, e-mail, etc shall be coded. Voice recorder shall be provided at every

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CEA (Grid Standards) Regulations,2006

RLDC and SLDC for recording and reproduction of conversation with time tag/stamp. Archives may be kept at least for one month.

11.

Automatic under frequency Relay.All Regional constituents shall set their under-frequency (UF) and rate of change of frequency with time (df/dt) Relays in their respective systems as per plan finalized by RPC to provide adequate relief for grid security. They shall ensure healthiness and operation of these relays at the set frequencies.

12.

Islanding Schemes.Islanding schemes for separation of systems with a view to save healthy system from total collapse in case of grid disturbance if considered necessary shall be finalized by the RPCs.

13.

Restoration of grid following disturbance.Regional Load Despatch Centre in consultation with Regional Power Committee and Regional Constituents shall develop procedures following grid disturbance, partial grid collapse or blackouts for enabling restoration and normalization of the grid at the earliest. State Load Despatch Centre shall also develop procedures accordingly for restoration of intra-state system. The operating procedures shall be reviewed following any addition of generating station or transmission line or at least once in two years, and revised, if considered necessary by RLDC and SLDC as the case may be. The above procedure shall be available to and followed by all concerned Users.

14.

Reporting of Events Affecting Grid Operation.Any tripping of generating unit or transmission element shall be promptly reported by the respective user to the Appropriate Load Despatch Centre. Details of the respective relay indications in case of tripping shall also be furnished within two (2) hours.

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CEA (Grid Standards) Regulations,2006

15.

Reporting of Grid Disturbance.All the incidents of grid disturbance shall be reported by the Appropriate RLDC to the concerned RPC and the Authority immediately.

16. Operational Data during normal operation and during grid disturbances.All real time operational data as required by the appropriate Load Despatch Center shall be furnished by the users. All data required by RPC Secretariat in discharge of the responsibilities assigned to it, shall be furnished by Regional Load Despatch Centre (RLDC). All operational data, including Disturbance Recorder and Event Logger reports, for analysing the grid disturbance should be furnished by all the users within 24 hours to the RLDC and concerned RPC. All equipments such as Disturbance Recorders and Event Loggers should be kept in healthy condition, so that under no condition such important data is lost. Any other data which in its view can be of help for analyzing grid disturbance but not demanded by the RLDC or RPC, shall also be furnished by the user. A real time display of the grid position shall also be made available to the RPC.

17.

Operational Data Records.Operational data including equipment and system parameters (both manually and electronically logged) shall be preserved for at least three years. Logbooks shall be maintained by every sub-station. All operations conducted shall be recorded in chronological order. The time of each operation and occurrence of each event shall be recorded. There shall not be any overwriting. No words shall be erased from the logbook. Observations made during inspection shall be recorded in the logbooks. Important parameters and deviation of parameters outside permissible tolerances shall also be recorded in the logbook. All entries must be made in the logbooks without any time lag. Automatic recording of operational parameters shall be encouraged. A

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compendium of grid disturbances shall be maintained by the appropriate Regional Power Committee.

18.

Communication facilities.The communication facilities installed by the Transmission Licensees shall be as per Central Electricity Authority (Technical Standards for Connectivity to the Grid) Regulations 2006 and shall be maintained in good operating condition.

19.

Safety.(a) (b) (c) CEA (Supply and Safety) Regulations, 2006 shall be complied with. Contingency procedures shall be prepared and kept handy for use of operators at each sub-station and switchyard. All staff members shall be trained in safety procedures at regular intervals. The entities shall require their personnel to follow the safety rules during operation and maintenance. (d) (e) Safety Rules shall be displayed prominently. The fire fighting equipment shall be made available at all substations, switchyards and converter stations and shall be checked periodically for its upkeep. Mock exercises in fire fighting shall be carried out periodically.

20.

Maintenance of Tools and Equipment.The maintenance staff of the transmission licensee must be made aware of the list of tools, devices and equipment for various maintenance and rectification works on transmission lines, sub-stations and converter stations. The tools must be readily available and certified for usage.

21.

Maintenance Procedures.Maintenance procedures for each equipment shall be prepared in line with the manufacturers recommendations and prudent utility practices.

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22.

Hot Line Methods.Where feasible, hot line techniques for maintenance of critical transmission lines and sub-stations shall be adopted eg. washing, and replacement of Insulators, replacement of damaged section of conductor, replacement of hardware components. Only trained staff shall be used for such techniques. The hot line tools employed shall have necessary certification from a national or international accredited laboratory before usage.

23.

Emergency Restoration System.Each transmission licensee shall have an arrangement for restoration of transmission lines of 400 kV and above and strategic 220 kV lines through the use of Emergency Restoration System (ERS) in order to minimize the outage time of the transmission lines in case of tower failures.

24.

Inspection and Patrolling.(1) All essential parameters which indicates the healthiness of the equipment, shall be inspected by the shift engineer once in each shift and once daily by the officer in-charge. (2) Overhead lines shall be patrolled at periodicity decided by the transmission licensee. Different patrolling schedules shall be implemented by the transmission licensees for normal terrain, vulnerable terrain and most vulnerable terrain. Patrolling schedules for ground inspection of live lines and tower top inspection of deenergized lines shall be separately issued by the licensees. Important lines shall be inspected by senior engineers after patrolling by junior staff. Maintenance works such as tree cutting and replacement of damaged insulators shall be carried out immediately after patrolling wherever required. Preventive maintenance of transmission lines shall be carried out at least once before onset of summer and once before onset of winter.

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25.

Maintenance Schedules.(1) Traditional Time Based Maintenance(TBM) need to be replaced by Condition Based Maintenance(CBM) or Reliability Based Maintenance (RBM) as far as possible, based on criticality of equipment in order to save on the expenditure on maintenance of equipment. they are passing through area. The periodicity of maintenance of lines shall be fixed based on whether normal area or polluted area or coastal The maintenance of lines The transmission lines and sub-stations in polluted areas

should be maintained more frequently.

passing through all such areas should be completed once before onset of winter so as to minimize tripping under conditions of fog or due to salt deposit on insulator discs in coastal areas and once before onset of summer. (2) Maintenance and cleaning of various equipment fittings, accessories, primary instruments and sensors shall be carried out when they are de-energized during the shut-down of main equipment although the maintenance on these additional items is not due. (3) Where defects are observed through condition monitoring as given below or during patrolling and inspection, the maintenance work on various items of equipment may be preponed with reference to general periodicity schedules depending on the condition of the equipment.

26.

Use of Diagonistic Tecniques for Condition Monitoring of Equipment.The diagnostic methods of maintenance shall be preferred over traditional time based maintenance. For this purpose, the following, but not limited to, devices / methods shall be used. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Hot line puncture detection of insulators Vibration measurement of the line Pollution measurement of the equipment Dissolved Gas Analysis of Transformer oil Frequency response analysis of transformers/reactors
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(f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n) (o) (p) (q) (r) (s) (t) (u)

Tan and capacitance measurement Circuit breaker operational analyzer Dynamic contact resistance measurements of breakers Third harmonic resistive current measurements of surge arresters Recovery voltage measurements of transformers/reactors Vibration measurements of the reactors Steady state and Dynamic testing of protective relays Signature Analysis Partial Discharge measurement for transformers/Gas insulated Switchgear Static resistance meter for circuit breakers, isolators, bus bar joint, earth switches etc. Ground tester for measurement of resistivity of soil and ground resistance Battery impedance test equipment Insulator tester SF6 gas leakage detector Power quality Analyzer Fibre optic cable testing devices

27.

Thermo Vision Scanning.Thermo-vision scanning for hot spots on overhead lines and sub-station equipment shall be carried out at least once before onset of summer and once before onset of winter for all 400 kV lines and equipment and important 220 kV lines and equipment.

28.

Failure Analysis.All cases of major equipment failure at voltage level of 220 kV and above and tower collapse shall be investigated and analysed by an expert or group of experts appointed by the Authority. Representatives of manufacturers may be invited to participate in the analysis if considered necesarry. All relevant data which would help the experts or group of experts in analysing the failures shall be furnished by the owner of the equipment. The recommendations of the

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expert or group of experts shall be submitted to the Authority. recurrence of similar failures.

The

recommendations accepted by the Authority shall be implemented to prevent

29.

Inventory Control and Spare Part Management.(1) The required spare parts shall be kept in stock, so that at no time is the maintenance of the equipment held up for non-availability of spare parts. (2) All spare parts would be divided into 3 categories i.e. vital, essential and desirable. ABC analysis may be carried out in each category of the equipment. (3) Computerised material management system would be developed by the users to optimise inventory.

30.

Maintenance Audit.(1) An internal committee may be established by the users to verify whether actual maintenance works are carried out at site in compliance of the schedules, procedures and the policy of the transmission company. (2) The observations of the Committee shall be put up to the management of the user for perusal and taking corrective action, if any.

31.

Residual Life Assessment.Residual life assessment shall be carried out for all major equipments such as transformers, reactors, breakers, after the equipment has completed 80% of the life specified by the manufacturer. Accordingly, decisions may be taken by the management of the user in consultation with experts whether to replace or repair or refurbish the same.

32.

Disaster Management.The maintenance staff shall be trained in disaster management. Detailed procedure for the same shall be developed. Mock exercises shall be carried

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out periodically.

Disaster Input procedure shall be reviewed periodically.

These procedures should be displayed prominently. The staff shall be trained in emergency restoration procedures for managing major failures and breakdowns. Equipment such as vehicles, diesel generating sets and fire fighting equipment and Emergency Restoration System for transmission lines shall be kept available at sub-station or at appropriate location for disaster management.

33.

Maintenance Records.Records of all maintenance carried out for each equipment shall be kept. The table and formats may be so devised that the next due date for maintenance of each item of work is clearly seen.

34.

Use of New Technologies.Use of new technologies which would result in efficient and effective maintenance shall be encouraged.

35.

Training.(1) (2) Every person involved in operation and maintenance of transmission lines shall be trained at the induction level and atleast once in a year. The shift staff shall be trained so that they are thorough in carrying out operations at each station. Every person concerned with real time Every grid operator shall operation shall be adequately trained. least once in two years. (3) The maintenance personnel of every entity shall also be trained in preventive and breakdown maintenance for restoration after breakdowns of various items of equipment. The personnel must be trained in various detailed maintenance procedures. (4) Induction training and refreshment training shall be arranged as per the CEA (Safety) Regulations.

undergo training in real time digital simulator and a refresher course at

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CEA (Grid Standards) Regulations,2006

Schedule

Grid Standards for Operation and Maintenance of Transmission Lines

1. Frequency.The standard frequency of system operation is 50 Hz and all efforts shall be made to operate at frequency close to nominal as possible. The frequency shall not be allowed to go beyond the range 49.0 to 50.5 Hz, except during the transient period accompanying tripping or connection of load.

2.

Voltage.(1) The steady state voltage shall be maintained within the limits given below: Nominal System Voltage kV rms 765 400 220 132 and below Voltage Variation

+/- 3% +/- 3% +/- 5% +/- 10%

(2)

Temporary over voltage due to sudden load rejection shall be within the limits specified below: Nominal System Voltage kV rms 765 400 220 132 Phase to Neutral Voltage kV peak 914 514 283 170

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(3)

For the voltage level below 132 kV, the voltage variation limits as given in (2) above shall be decided by the State Commission in the respective State Grid Code.

3.

Voltage Unbalance.(1) The maximum permissible values of voltage unbalance shall be as under: Nominal System Voltage kV rms 765 and 400 220 132 (2) (3) Voltage Unbalance % 1.5% 2% 3%

Bulk consumers shall ensure balanced load during operation. Low Voltage Single phase loads shall be balanced periodically at the distribution transformer by Distribution licensees..

4.

Protection Standards.(1) The Transmission Licensee and Users shall provide standard protection systems having the required reliability, selectivity, speed and sensitivity to isolate the faulty equipment and protect all components from any type of faults, within the specified fault clearance time. Protection coordination shall be done by the RPC. (2) Fault Clearance Time: The maximum fault clearance times are as given below: Nominal System Voltage kV rms 765 and 400 220 and 132 Maximum Time ( in milliseconds) 100 160

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(3)

In the event of non clearance of the fault by a circuit breaker within the time limit prescribed in 4 (ii) above the Breaker Fail Protection shall initiate tripping of all other breakers in the concerned bus-section to clear the fault in next 200 milliseconds.

5.

Criteria for System Security.The following minimum security criterion shall be followed for operation and maintenance planning of the elements of the grid: The Grid System shall be capable of withstanding one of the following contingencies without experiencing loss of stability: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) Outage of one single largest generating unit of the system or Outage of a 132 kV Double circuit line or Outage of a 220 kV Double circuit line or Outage of a 400 kV Single circuit line or Outage of a 400 kV Single circuit line with series compensation or Outage of 765 kV Single circuit line without series compensation or Outage of one pole of HVDC Bipolar line or Outage of an Interconnecting Transformer

6.

Transient Stability.-

Under any one of the following contingencies the system shall remain stable and sustain integrity (i.e., no generator shall lose synchronism and no part shall get isolated from the rest of the system): (a) (b) (c) Tripping of a single largest generating unit or Transient ground fault in one phase of a 765 kV Single Circuit Line close to the bus or A sustained single phase to ground fault in 400 kV single circuit line followed by 3 pole opening of the faulted line or

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(d) (e)

A sustained fault in one circuit of a 400 kV Double Circuit Line when both circuits were in service in the pre-contingency period or A transient single phase to ground fault in one circuit of a 400 kV Double Circuit Line when the second circuit is already under outage or

(f) (g)

A three-phase sustained fault in a 220 kV or 132 kV or A sustained fault in one pole of HVDC bipolar in a HVDC Converter Station.

7.

Harmonics.The voltage wave-form quality shall be maintained at all points in the Grid. (1) In this Standard Harmonic Content limits are stipulated as follows:Total Harmonic Distortion = VTHD (expressed as percentage)
n = 40 n=2

VTHD =

Vn
1

2 2

X 100

l refers to fundamental frequency (50 Hz) n refers to the harmonic of nth order (corresponding frequency is 50 x n Hz) (2) Maximum Limits of total Harmonic Distortion System Voltage kV rms 765 400 220 132 Total Harmonic Distortion % 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 Individual Harmonic of any particular Frequency % 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.0

This Standard shall come into force not later than five years from the date of the publication in the official Gazette.

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8.

Voltage Fluctuations.(1) The permissible limit of voltage fluctuation for step changes which may occur repetitively is 1%. (2) For occasional fluctuations other than step changes the maximum permissible limit is 2%. The limits prescribed in (a) and (b) above shall come into force not later than two years from the date of the publication of these Standards in the official Gazette.

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