The renovation of the Sotkamo substation was completed at the turn of the year 2016-2017, followed by the Kanninmäki Substation in Kuhmo at the beginning of 2018.

At present, VEO is renovating the relay system at the Kurimo substation. A renewal of transformer protection as well as 20 kV and 110 kV protective relays is included within the scope of all the projects. In addition, the system for remote control and supervision is updated and the communication architecture is brought into the 21st century by implementing the IEC61850-communication protocol.

VEO’s staff have been truly professional and flexible towards us, even when facing some complex challenges. That is also another reason why our cooperation has continued.

Loiste’s Chief of Network Automation, Vilho Hartikainen, has been very pleased with VEO’s operations: “VEO has kept to its side of the bargain at every stage, both when it comes to timetables and quality. We have not had any disturbances in our distribution network, even if the work has been done in operating substations. Also, the installation work has been of a very high quality. VEO’s staff have been truly professional and flexible towards us, even when facing some complex challenges. That is also another reason why our cooperation has continued.”

No room for error in VEO’s renovation projects

As VEO’s relay-renovation turnkey deliveries include all necessary stages – from project planning, equipment supply, installation, commissioning and documentation to end-user training – the result is the sum of many pieces falling into place. All the relay renovations that VEO has delivered to Loiste have been made while the substations have been in operation. This means that there was no room for error.

“The Palokangas substation, for instance, serves electricity to the entire city centre of Kajaani, the town hospital included”, says Sami Koskela, Sales Manager at VEO, who continues:

“Moreover, VEO has strong know-how in all the fields concerned. The solid expertise of our engineers – who are responsible for the design and commissioning of the projects – has guaranteed that there has been no need for any unexpected shortages in power distribution.”

Renovation prolongs a substation’s lifecycle

The old protective relays were upgraded in all the mentioned relay renovations. Typically, the need for replacement occurs once or twice during a substation’s lifecycle. The most significant advantage of new generation protective relays is enhanced protection. Furthermore, modern replays can save data on malfunctions and disturbances. In this way, there will be more data about the origin, location and progression of a fault, which can be used in the maintenance service of electricity networks.

More information about Expert Services

In 2015, VEO’s Expert Services handed over its first relay renovation project to Loiste, which was carried out at the Palokangas substation on a turnkey basis. After that, VEO has delivered similar renovation projects to the same customer annually.