SPIE installs a new-generation high-voltage transformer substation for TIGF

Published on 10 January 2018

Miniaturisation technologies implemented at this voltage level for the first time in France


Toulouse, January 10th, 2018 – SPIE Sud-Ouest is building a new 225kV transformer substation in Sauveterre de Guyenne (Gironde) after having won a contract awarded by TIGF.

With over 5,000 km of cabling and 2 underground storage facilities, providing 16 et 24 % of the national capacity, respectively, TIGF (Transport et Infrastructures Gaz France), is one of the world’s major energy players and has been established in the south‑western region of France for over 70 years.

TIGF is currently extending its gas compressor station located in Sauveterre de Guyenne. In order to achieve this objective, the company needs to connect its site with a 225kV high-voltage line. An essential corollary to this is the installation of a main supply transformer capable of supplying 30 MVA under 20 kV in order to provide power to the whole station.

As the representative of a group composed of SPIE Sud-Est (installation of HV (HTB*) equipment), CG Power Systems (supplying the transformer and the HV equipment), MAS (civil engineering and roads and utilities (VRD**)) and ES TEKNOLOGICS (design agency specialised in HV and station control), SPIE Sud-Ouest (control and command and station supervision system) was capable of meeting the specifications required by TIGF for this project: optimal integration into a rural environment (area designated as Natura 2000 nearby).

In order to achieve this, SPIE Sud-Ouest has therefore proposed the assembly of high-tech elements to create an unprecedented installation in France at this voltage level:

  • The installation of a PASS-type plug-in module from ABB, which will allow a single piece of equipment to bring together all of the devices required to create a 225 kV bay. A special feature of this plug-in resides in the fact that the circuit breaker runs through the transformer; these devices are usually separate.
  • The installation of a PASS plug-in ensures optimal confinement thanks to an adapted housing as well as easy access to all the equipment (not a single exposed live part).

The main achievement is a safe station that has particularly reduced dimensions and is perfectly integrated into its environment. Work began in February 2017 and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

Our collaboration with TIGF has provided SPIE Sud-Ouest with an opportunity to propose these technologies, which, certainly within the next few years, will be the subject of demand from numerous operators, particularly in the urban environment”, underlines Pierre Saint-Girons, project manager in the New Energies department (Industry and Infrastructure Operations Division of SPIE Sud-Ouest). “With the increasingly reduced spaces and ever more demanding power requirements, they should soon become essential to our energy supply.

* HTB : Haute tension B [high voltage]. This abbreviation refers to electrical installations for which the voltage exceeds 50 kV in alternating current or 75 kV in direct current.
** VRD : Voirie et réseaux divers – roads and utilities

Contacts