IIT Bhubaneswar Develops Digital Power Substation System

IIT Bhubaneswar has unveiled an advanced digital power substation equipped with a Centralized Protection and Monitoring (CPM) system to enable real-time monitoring and protection of its entire electrical distribution network. The system was inaugurated by the Additional Chief Secretary of the Energy Department, Vishal Kumar Dev, at the 33/11 kV campus substation in the presence of IIT Bhubaneswar Director Shreepad Karmalkar.

Indigenous Digital Substation Framework

The project was led by Prof. S. R. Samantaray from the Department of Electrical Engineering, School of Electrical and Computer Sciences. It was developed as a demonstration initiative under the National Perspective Plan of the Central Power Research Institute (CPRI). According to the institute, the project is among the few indigenously developed digital substation frameworks in India. The system uses intelligent merging units, eliminating the need for conventional physical Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) within the substation.

Key Features and Significance

The digital substation architecture is designed to:

• Enable real-time monitoring and protection
• Integrate Distributed Energy Resources (DER)
• Enhance grid intelligence, flexibility, and reliability
• Support development of a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS)

The institute stated that this initiative aligns with national priorities focused on sustainable energy infrastructure, indigenisation of power system solutions, and smart grid technologies. The digital substation is considered a future-ready solution aimed at strengthening advanced power distribution and grid management systems in India.