Grid operation eagerly awaited
High-efficiency “eco transformer” installed in Switzerland
siemens.com/energy-management
Beginning in the fall of 2014, a new 160-MVA trans­
former from Siemens will ensure significantly lower
trans­formation losses at the Sils substation in the Swiss
canton of Grisons. About 30 percent more efficient than
its predecessor, the new eco transformer will transform
electrical voltage and will also help heat the building on
the substation site by making use of waste heat. The
network operator, the Zurich utility Elektrizitätswerk der
Stadt Zürich (ewz), expects annual electricity savings of
more than 800 MWh as a result.
Real heavyweight
The new eco transformer, which weighs in at an impressive 167 metric tons, was delivered to the ewz substation
in Sils Albula in the Swiss canton of Grisons by special
transport in the night of July 28, 2014. The 160-MVA
transformer from the Siemens plant in Linz, measuring
nearly nine meters long and over four meters high, was
first transported by rail to Ems where it was then loaded
onto a 16-axle lifting trailer powered by two trucks and
finally brought to Sils.
Appreciably greater efficiency
The modern eco transformer is designed to help ensure
the long-term power supply in the Grisons and at the
same time to transform the electrical voltage from 220 kV
to 60 kV about one third more efficiently than the transformer previously used in Sils. The waste heat from the
eco transformer will also be used to boost the heating of
the ezw building in Sils. All in all, approximately 815 MWh
of electricity can be saved annually in this way. This is
equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of
about 270 households.
The new Siemens transformer is transported to the ewz
substation in Sils
Eco-friendly all round
Not only the operator but the environment also benefits
from the high efficiency of the new transformer. With
electricity generated exclusively from fossil sources, an
eco transformer of this type can reduce carbon dioxide
emissions by up to more than 800 tonnes annually. But
the transformer has even more to offer in terms of environmental compatibility. Its corrosion protection consists
of ecological water-soluble lacquers that have been used
for the first time for a transformer in this project at ewz.
Total expenditure of around nine million Swiss francs has
been approved for the entire project. About three million
of this is for the actual new eco transformer, which is due
to go into operation this fall.
Siemens AG Energy Management Division
Transformers
Publisher and copyright 2014:
Katzwanger Straße 150
Siemens AG
90461 Nürnberg, Germany
Energy Management Division
Freyeslebenstrasse 1
Michael Babel
91058 Erlangen, Germany
michael.babel@siemens.com
siemens.de/energy-management