Requirement
Customer : ITER Organization
ITER is a very large-scale international scientific experiment for demonstrating the scientific and technological feasibility of electricity production using energy from nuclear fusion and leading to its industrial and commercial production.
CAPSIM is undertaking a project to assist its customer, ITER ORGANIZATION, in the selection of architecture and in sizing the HVA and HVB electrical power grids.
The study includes performing the initial sizing of electrical equipment that will in future be used for the grid to auxiliary systems of the ITER facility.
This grid, known as the Steady State Electrical Power Network (SSEPN), is connected to a double circuit 400 kV line. It is able to supply the ITER auxiliary systems, i.e. cooling, cryogenics and pumping systems, etc.
The total power of the installed loads is 160 MW and 80% have medium voltage induction motors.
The network contains high/medium voltage transformers supplying the principal busbars. At each start up, the required electrical power is distributed to the various production and generation sectors via the circuit breakers, cables and step-down transformers.
Realization
Capsim began by producing a model of the entire grid using ETAP, for each envisaged architecture option. Then, as a function of the estimates from the load assessments, it configured the power consumed by the different loads.
Finally, all of the necessary calculations for the study were carried out: short-circuit, power flow, motor start-up, reliability calculations.
Results
The modelling of the SSEPN grid at ITER with the ETAP simulation tool has made it possible :
- to use power flow calculations to determine the most unfavourable configurations, hence allowing advance sizing of the grid equipment (transformers, circuits breakers, cables)
- to compare, analyze and quantify the differents types of architecture, in terms of voltage or equipment thanks to a reliability study which takes account of the failure rate of the equipment in the system
- to calculate the short-circuit currents attained at various points in the network to verify or modify the advance sizing of the equipment
- to evaluate the reactive power of the capacitor banks to be installed to compy with the criteria imposed by RTE, the French electricity transmission grid
- to construct a centralized and computerized database of the electrical equipment of the grid
Electrical power grid supplying the ITER auxiliary systems (SSEPN)
