INTRODUCTION A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distributi on system.

Substations generally have the following functions: 1. Transformation of voltage: From high to low (Step-down) or the reverse (Stepup). A substation that has a step-up transformer increases the voltage while dec reasing the current, while a step-down transformer decreases the voltage while i ncreasing the current for domestic and commercial distribution.In general, they represent an interface between different levels or sections of the power system. 2. Switching: It is the connecting and disconnecting of transmission lines or o ther components to and from the system. Switching events may be "planned" or "un planned". A transmission line or other component may need to be de-energized for maintenance or for new construction, to maintain reliability of supply or to is olate the faulted portion of the system in the shortest possible time. 3. Protection:Circuit protection refers to a scheme for disconnecting sections o r components of an electric circuit in the event of a fault.The simplest protect ive device that can detect an overcurrent and interrupt a circuit is the fuse. 4. Automation:Early electrical substations required manual switching or adjustme nt of equipment, and manual collection of data for load, energy consumption, and abnormal events. As the complexity of distribution networks grew, it became eco nomically necessary to automate supervision and control of substations from a ce ntrally-attended point, to allow overall coordination in case of emergencies and to reduce operating costs. Power-line carrier, microwave radio, fiber optic cab les as well as dedicated wired remote control circuits have all been applied to Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) for substations. The developmen t of the microprocessor made for an exponential increase in the number of points that could be economically controlled and monitored. Today, standardized commun ication protocols such as DNP3, IEC 61850 and Modbus, to list a few, are used to allow multiple intelligent electronic devices to communicate with each other an d supervisory control centres. Distributed automatic control at substations is o ne element of the so-called smart grid. Substations may be on the surface in fenced enclosures, underground, or located in special-purpose buildings. High-rise buildings may have several indoor substa tions. Indoor substations are usually found in urban areas to reduce the noise f rom the transformers, for reasons of appearance, or to protect switchgear from e xtreme climate or pollution conditions. Where a substation has a metallic fence, it must be properly grounded to protect people from high voltages that may occur during a fault in the network. Earth f aults at a substation can cause a ground potential rise. Currents flowing in the Earth's surface during a fault can cause metal objects to have a significantly different voltage than the ground under a person's feet; this touch potential pr esents a hazard of electrocution. TYPES 1. Transmission substation A transmission substation connects two or more transmission lines. The simplest case is where all transmission lines have the same voltage. In such cases, the s ubstation contains high-voltage switches that allow lines to be connected or iso lated for fault clearance or maintenance. A transmission station may have transf ormers to convert between two transmission voltages, voltage control/power facto r correction devices such as capacitors, reactors or static VAR compensators and equipment such as phase shifting transformers to control power flow between two adjacent power systems. Transmission substations can range from simple to complex. A small "switching st ation" may be little more than a bus plus some circuit breakers. The largest tra nsmission substations can cover a large area (several acres/hectares) with multi ple voltage levels, many circuit breakers and a large amount of protection and c ontrol equipment (voltage and current transformers, relays and SCADA systems). M odern substations may be implemented using International Standards such as IEC61 850.

2. Distribution substation A distribution substation transfers power from the transmission system to the di stribution system of an area. It is uneconomical to directly connect electricity consumers to the main transmission network, unless they use large amounts of po wer, so the distribution station reduces voltage to a value suitable for local d istribution. The input for a distribution substation is typically at least two transmission o r sub-transmission lines. Input voltage may be, for example, 115 kV, or whatever is common in the area. The output is a number of feeders. Distribution voltages are typically medium voltage, between 2.4 and 33 kV depending on the size of th e area served and the practices of the local utility. The feeders run along streets overhead (or underground, in some cases) and power the distribution transformers at or near the customer premises. In addition to transforming voltage, distribution substations also isolate fault s in either the transmission or distribution systems. Distribution substations a re typically the points of voltage regulation, although on long distribution cir cuits (of several miles/kilo-meters), voltage regulation equipment may also be i nstalled along the line. The downtown areas of large cities feature complicated distribution substations, with high-voltage switching, and switching and backup systems on the low-voltag e side. More typical distribution substations have a switch, one transformer, an d minimal facilities on the low-voltage side. 3. Collector substation In distributed generation projects such as a wind farm, a collector substation m ay be required. Usually for economy of construction the collector system operate s around 35 kV and the collector substation steps up voltage to a transmission v oltage for the grid. The collector substation can also provide power factor corr ection if it is needed, metering and control of the wind farm. In some special c ases a collector substation can also contain an HVDC static inverter plant. 4. Stations with change of current type Substations may be associated with HVDC converter plants, traction current, or i nterconnected non-synchronous networks; formerly where rotary converters changed frequency. 5. Switching substation A switching substation is a substation which does not contain transformers and o perates only at a single voltage level. Switching substations are sometimes used as collector and distribution stations. Sometimes they are used for switching t he current to back-up lines or for parallelizing circuits in case of failure.

DESIGN The First Step in designing a Substation is to design an Earthing and Bonding Sy stem. Earthing and Bonding The function of an earthing and bonding system is to provide an earthing system connection to which transformer neutrals or earthing impedances may be connected in order to pass the maximum fault current. The earthing system also ensures th at no thermal or mechanical damage occurs on the equipment within the substation , thereby resulting in safety to operation and maintenance personnel. The earthi ng system also guarantees equipotential bonding such that there are no dangerous potential gradients developed in the substation. In designing the substation, three voltages have to be considered. 1. Touch Voltage: This is the difference in potential between the surface potent ial and the potential at earthed equipment whilst a man is standing and touching the earthed structure. 2. Step Voltage: This is the potential difference developed when a man bridges a distance of 1m with his feetwhile not touching any other earthed equipment. 3. Mesh Voltage: This is the maximum touch voltage that is developed in the mesh of the earthing grid. Substation Earthing Calculation Methodology Calculations for earth impedances and touch and step potentials are based on sit e measurements of ground resistivity and system fault levels. A grid layout with particular conductors is then analysed to determine the effective substation ea rthing resistance, from which the earthing voltage is calculated. In practice, it is normal to take the highest fault level for substation earth g rid calculation purposes. Additionally, it is necessary to ensure a sufficient m argin such that expansion of the system is catered for. To determine the earth resistivity, probe tests are carried out on the site. The se tests are best performed in dry weather such that conservative resistivity re adings are obtained.

Earthing Materials 1. Conductors: Bare copper conductor is usually used for the substation earthing grid. The copper bars themselves usually have a cross-sectional area of 95 squa re millimetres, and they are laid at a shallow depth of 0.25-0.5m, in 3-7m squar es. In addition to the buried potential earth grid, a separate above ground eart hing ring is usually provided, to which all metallic substation plant is bonded. 2. Connections: Connections to the grid and other earthing joints should not be soldered because the heat generated during fault conditions could cause a solder ed joint to fail. Joints are usually bolted, and in this case, the face of the j oints should be tinned. 3. Earthing Rods: The earthing grid must be supplemented by earthing rods to ass ist in the dissipation of earth fault currents and further reduce the overall su bstation earthing resistance. These rods are usually made of solid copper, or co pper clad steel.

4. Switchyard FenceEarthing: The switchyard fence earthing practices are possibl e and are used by different utilities. These are: (i) Extend the substation earth grid 0.5m-1.5m beyond the fence perimeter. The f ence is then bonded to the grid at regular intervals. (ii) Place the fence beyond the perimeter of the switchyard earthing grid and b ond the fence to its own earthing rod system. This earthing rod system is not co upled to the main substation earthing grid.