Smarter ‘one world quality’ solutions CG

SMARTER “ONE WORLD QUALITY” SOLUTIONS

CG is a global player in products for the management, application and sustainable production of electrical energy. Philip Yorke spoke to Dr Jan Declercq, the company’s chief technology officer for power systems about its recent focus on substations, smarter power systems and its launch of the world’s highest kV class transmission systems.

CG is one of the world’s premier engineering corporations and part of the giant US$4.2 billion Avantha Group of India. CG was established in India in 1937 and has since grown to become the leading pioneer in products for the efficient and sustainable production of electricity. CG’s headquarters for its end-toend power solutions is based in Mechelen, Belgium. The company’s diverse portfolio includes transformers, switchgear, circuit breakers and network protection and control gear. CG operates three distinct business units: power systems, industrial systems and consumer products.

Since 2005, CG has embarked upon an ambitious globalisation strategy, growing organically and through strategic acquisitions of such large international companies as Pauwels, Ganz, Microsol, Sonomatra, MSE and PTS. These acquisitions have strengthened the company’s manufacturing capabilities and its product and service offering. CG now has major manufacturing plants in Belgium, Canada, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, France, the UK and the USA, in addition to more than 20 locations in India and employs over 8000 people worldwide.

New energy-efficient products and services

For many years CG has been investing heavily in R&D, as well as in product certification, product quality and operational excellence. The company’s global research and development centre is located in Mumbai, India, and has been recognised many times for its innovation in the electrical engineering sector. In order to unify all CG manufacturing and service facilities across the world, the company has also taken action to ensure that its customers receive a consistent, “one-world-quality” standard for all CG products and solutions in all parts of the world.

Mr Declercq said, “Since we went global in 2005 we have grown through acquisition and innovation to become one of the leading transmission and distribution engineering companies in the world. We are fully committed to the development of Smart Grids using more intelligent systems and developing more efficient integration of renewables as well as focussing on the

security of supply. Renewable integration is one of our key drivers for growth, but each country is different and where some are seeing double-digit growth, others are either stable or even shrinking in terms of GDP. We all need more grids, however it can take up to ten years to design, manufacture and implement these major projects, which often involves not only new government legislation, but sometimes major investments in infrastructure.”

Mr Declercq added, “We are a very focused company and are both flexible and efficient in all we do. We are also a very reliable company as well as being extremely cost-competitive. As a big player in our industry, we can offer both quality and lean manufacturing capabilities, resulting in more cost-effective solutions in all our disciplines. We are also committed to sustainable production technologies and offer products and solutions that are optimised at all levels. We are fully certified to ISO 14001 and strictly monitor and measure our consumption of both water and energy to minimise energy waste. This is particularly true when it comes to our growing involvement in the design and manufacture and service of substations. Here we offer total ‘smart’ solutions which are the benchmark of the future, where we can drive the systems harder and become much more efficient in all areas of our power supply system technology.”

The world’s highest kV class transmission system

During the first quarter of 2012, CG’s first 1200kV product, known as the ‘Capacitive Voltage transformer (CVT) was successfully trial charged at PGCIL’s Bina substation in India. Two other CG UHV products were also tested at the same site. One was a 1200kV 333MVA Power Transformer and the other a 1200kV metal Oxide Surge Arrester (MOSA). These CG products were designed, engineered and manufactured in-house by CG. All three products have been tested extensively in a number of CG research locations in Europe, Asia, and the Americas for their capacity and reliability.

Commenting on this significant achievement, Laurent Demortier, the company’s CEO and MD said, “We are very proud to be partnering PGCIL in this prestigious project and to be significantly contributing to the improvement of the power transmission system in India. CG resources worldwide have been fully mobilised to ensure the success of UHV product developments. The success of the energisation of the CVT, not only demonstrates the maturity of CG in the manufacturing and designing of UHV products, but also opens for the group, a large market in India, Russia, China and the Americas, where such technology will also be required.”

New horizons in offshore renewables

A few months ago, CG was awarded a prestigious turnkey contract from Amrumbank West GmbH (AWG) for its German wind farm project located 40km offshore from its coastline in the North Sea. The state-of-the-art offshore substation will transform voltage to 155kV and transmit power of approximately 300MW to the German electricity grid. This extensive wind farm comprises 80 multi-megawatt wind turbines and is scheduled to be fully operational by the summer of 2015.

CG will design, engineer, supply and integrate all critical high voltage power equipment to connect the 33kV and 155kV networks. The contract includes the supply of power transformers, and high voltage and medium voltage switchgear, as well as the latest protection and automation equipment. In addition, CG has developed an innovative AC/AC connection link for offshore wind farms and this advanced technology is already at work in the Belwind wind farm project in the North Sea. n