East China Electric Power Uses 3D Engineering Software to Design Underground Substation

East China Electric Power Design Institute has designed the world's largest underground substation to supply power for the Expo 2010 Shanghai using Intergraph SmartPlant 3D engineering and design software. Shanghai City is the host for the World Expo, which will feature more than 230 countries and international organizations as participants with an estimated 70 million visitors over the duration of the Expo through Oct. 31, 2010.

ECEPDI is a longtime Intergraph customer having signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement for SmartPlant Enterprise solutions. Using SmartPlant 3D for design, the Shanghai Jing An substation is currently the world's most advanced fully underground, cylindrical body 500 kV substation. The cylinder diameter is 130 meters; the overall depth is 33.5 meters, while the underground construction area is 57,100 cubic meters with a ground floor area of 1590 square meters. China has never had a substation project scale of this size before, and has invested 1.47 billion yuan (US$215 million) in its development.

As a landmark for the Shanghai World Expo, the substation is a model for energy savings. It sits on three groups of 500 kV main transformers (capacity of 1.5 million KVA each) and three 200 kV transformers (capacity of 300,000 KVA each). It not only supplies power for the Expo, but also supplies power to major parts of Shanghai city and will continue servicing the Shanghai power grid.