Pressure absorber system ensures maximum safety for photovoltaic project

For many years now, Beton- und Energietechnik Heinrich Gräper GmbH & Co. KG has been using medium-voltage technology from Ormazabal in various customer projects. This also applies to the distribution station at the company’s own site.

As a manufacturer of transformer stations, the Gräper Group supports its customers in shaping the energy transition. On the way to resource- and climate-friendly energy, the company has also taken various measures to reduce CO2 itself. These include, amongst other things, the installation of a photovoltaic system on the factory buildings at the company headquarters in Ahlhorn. The grid connection station converted for this purpose was equipped with medium-voltage switchgear from Ormazabal including a pressure absorber system.

The project was implemented by Ernst Elley GmbH & Co. KG, a daughter company of the Gräper Group. Christian Schüer, who managed the project at Elley together with his colleague Timo Herden explains: “The switchgear supplied by Ormazabal provides our production site with green electricity and also feeds the surplus into the distribution network of the EWE utility.  The existing installation used technology that was outdated by today’s standards and no longer complied with the grid operator’s guidelines. It had to be replaced for the expansion of the grid connection. The new switchgear from Ormazabal is gas-insulated and meets the current requirements.”

The type gae630 switchgear used is optionally available with a pressure absorber system and was supplied including a connection flange on request of Gräper: “It was important to us that, in the event of an error, any gases that occur are routed out of the concrete station in accordance with IEC 61936-1. This protects the installed equipment, but above all ensures the safety of the employees, who may be in the station at the time of a disturbance.” emphasises Timo Herden. In order to adapt the Ormazabal switchgear to the conditions inside the concrete station, Gräper built a gas deflection channel according to Ormazabal’s specifications. The channel was connected to the absorbers of the switchgear via a flange to provide a safe solution. The advantage of such a solution is that the switchgear is well suited for replacements and retrofitting,” explains Christian Schüer.