Reconstruction of Minsk power substation to distribute nuclear power plant electricity over

One of the largest power substations feeding energy to the Belarusian capital city has been reconstructed, BelTA has learned.

The 330/110/10kV Minsk North power substation was built in 1968. It was first reconstructed in 1987. The service life of its equipment has been nearly fully depleted since then. The substation itself was in need of a major upgrade. The reconstruction process took four years. It had to compensate for the shortage of electricity supply capacity in Minsk in addition to building up the capacity to provide electricity to future homes and social infrastructure. The decision to reconstruct the power substation was also prompted by the construction of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and its connections to the national power grid.

North China Power Engineering Company (NCPE) was the general contractor in the project. Construction and installation work was done by OAO Electrocentrmontazh. The work was overseen by the Minsk Oblast energy company Minskenergo and the power engineering design company RUP Belenergosetproekt.

Since the Minsk North power substation has to cater to a large number of consumers, reconstruction had to be done without turning off the primary equipment at a live power substation.

The Minsk North power substation takes electricity from the 330kV backbone grid and passes it on to the 110kV grid of Minsk and the oblast. The power substation has four high-voltage lines connecting the facility to Minsk cogeneration plant No.4, the Lukoml state district power plant, the Minsk East power substation, and the Belarusian nuclear power plant. The Minsk North power substation feeds electricity to consumers via 13 110kV power lines.

Thanks to the reconstruction the transformer capacity of the Minsk North power substation has been increased by 50% and now stands at 600MVA (mega volt ampere).

As part of the reconstruction process Minsk North’s primary equipment was replaced, high-tech automated control systems were installed as well as automated electricity consumption metering systems, systems to determine faults in high-voltage lines, and modern systems to communicate with other control stations.

The substation’s 330kV power lines connecting Minsk North to Minsk East and Minsk cogeneration plant No.4 were reconstructed. A new 330kV line between Minsk North and the Belarusian nuclear power plant was built.

Thanks to the reconstruction the Minsk North power substation has become a new-generation facility, improving the reliability of the Minsk energy node and the national power grid as a whole.