Power Plant Automation Using SCADA in a Gas Insulated Substation

Outdoor switch yards are more vulnerable to faults as it is located in outside atmosphere which has some influence from pollution, saline environment and other environmental factors. Deposition of saline particles on insulators causes insulator failures. This is overcome by the use of Gas Insulated Substations (GIS). Neyveli New Thermal Power Plant (NNTPP) uses GIS technology to minimize the area utilization of switchyard. This plant is entirely operated using SCADA and DDCMIS, which gains more advantages than the other manually operated thermal power plants. SCADA has its own disadvantages like it can be operated only manually, but the proposed system using PLC's and HMI can be operated both manually and automatically. The main aim of the proposed system is to bring the power plant under automation which contributes to less man power utilization, more accurate detection of faults in the system and saving human lives in case of major faults.