Tata Power innovates with natural ester-based pad-mounted transformers

Tata Power has pioneered the adoption of new and innovative technology, which uses natural ester in place of mineral oil as transformer fluid in transformers. The innovation will help enhance safety, overcome the challenges of paucity of space and care for environment.

Tata Power has partnered with Toshiba and Cargill to design and develop India's first `Green, Safe and Compact' natural ester-based pad mount substation, the company stated in a release.

A pad-mounted substation is an integrated unit which houses the HT elements, transformer and LT elements in a tank filled with Cargill's `Envirotemp FR3' natural ester fluid. This design has helped reduce the land footprint requirement by almost 70 per cent as compared to conventional substations, the release said.

The fully enclosed safe, fireproof, green and compact design is ideal for installation in public places like parks, malls etc. The safe and green design of transformer is attributed to the use of natural ester which have a fire point of more than 360 Deg C as against 160 Deg C for mineral oil and hence are highly safe.

These substations are safest solution to gradually replace the conventional plinth mounted and pole mounted substation filled with mineral oil, installed in public spaces which have fair degree of vulnerability to fire, thus endangering public safety.

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Sardana, CEO & MD, Tata Power, said, ''We are extremely proud of our technology and transmission and distribution colleagues who continue to make use of innovative technology in order to provide the best to the consumers. With the installation of India's first green, state-of-the-art and compact natural ester filled pad mounted consumer substation, we are a step closer towards achieving growth through sustainable development. Tata Power' continues to power the future as pioneers of technological innovations to promote green initiatives.''

Katsutoshi Toda, CMD, Toshiba Transmission & Distribution Systems India Pvt Ltd (TTDI) said, ''Technological innovation is the solution to many of our latent needs. Toshiba is extremely proud to associate with Tata Power to bring the best of the technologies in the world to improve the life of millions of people in India. This venture has created safety for people, a cleaner environment and more space to live.''

Siraj Chaudhry, chairman, Cargill India, said, ''Pad mount substations have been used in the United States for a number of years. It is exciting to see Tata Power enhance this best practice with a 70 per cent footprint reduction in their substations. Through collaboration with Tata Power and Toshiba, our FR3 natural ester fluid technology enables these important innovations that improve grid reliability, safety and environmental impact.

Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company with a growing international presence. The Company together with its subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities has an installed gross generation capacity of 9,036 MW and a presence in all the segments of the power sector, viz, fuel security and logistics, generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), transmission, distribution and trading.