Tata Power partners with Cargill & Schneider Electric and implements path-breaking technology with India’s first natural ester filled transformers

As another green milestone in the Company's Centenary Year celebrations, two of India’s first 25 MVA Natural Ester filled transformers were recently installed in Mumbai. With this initiative, Tata Power has once again showcased its priority in driving sustainability by implementing path breaking green technology.

Sustainability remains a core business philosophy of Tata Power, and the green transformers is one of the Company’s many green initiatives under its ‘Be Green’ campaign.

Use of Natural Ester in transformers sets a new industry paradigm for the power sector across the country. Pioneers of this vision, Tata Power selected Cargill’s Envirotemp™ FR3™ fluid (the most widely used natural ester fluid) & Schneider Electric (specialist in energy management & automation) for its transformers. FR3 fluid provides improved fire safety, extended transformer life and additional loading capacity with a smaller footprint.

The Natural Esters fluids have a high fire point (360 degree Celsius) and reduces risk of fires in the electrical installation. In comparison to the conventional mineral oil filled transformers, this fluid provides improved fire safety for the densely populated areas within Tata Power’s service area. The fluid is made from a carbon neutral* renewable resource, is biodegradable, non-toxic and non-hazardous in soil and water.

Speaking on this initiative, Ashok Sethi ED &COO, Tata Power, said, “Tata Power is committed towards providing greener, safer and sustainable environment while serving our consumers with uninterrupted power supply. As part of our centenary year celebrations, Tata Power reaffirms its commitment to nation building and we will continue to uphold and implement technological innovations such as green transformer. We plan to refine the design to further decrease the footprint and improve performance. This could change the landscape of the power industry in India and create a new paradigm that can be adopted successfully anywhere in the world.”

“With diminishing open space and its availability, Tata Power has successfully built and adopted technological alternatives that will overcome space constraints in congested cities like Mumbai and provide safe & eco-friendly installation.” said R. Pillai, Chief Corporate Operation, T & D, Mumbai

Joining Tata Power in its innovative journey, Siraj Chaudhry, Chairman, Cargill India, said, “Power Technologies have been evolving in India. The Natural Ester technology offers a number of important advantages over mineral oil. It is also derived from renewable resources and is carbon neutral (according to BEES 4.0 lifecycle analysis). As part of Cargill`s 150 years celebration, we are proud to collaborate with Tata Power for implementing this technology for the first time in India”

Prakash Chandraker, MD, Schneider Electric Infrastructure Limited said, “We are proud of our association with Tata Power and are privileged to have been able to partner with one of the leading power companies of India to execute a first in India solution that brings a new meaning to the phrase 24/7 power.”  This innovative technology uses thermally upgraded insulation & natural ester oil for the commissioned 20/28MVA power transformers which delivered the following advantages:

•           Increased Safety against fire hazard on account of high temperature Natural Ester Oil

•           17% space saving compared to conventional mineral oil solution

•           Low Noise level to the of 59DB (decibels) thus Silent

•           Increased Overloading capacity up to 40% of base rating

•           Environment friendly Green & Biodegradable solution

Tata Power began working with Cargill’s dielectric fluids team on a prototype in 2013 for a compact 25 MVA transformer filled with FR3 fluid, which would be comparable in size to a 20 MVA Mineral Oil filled transformer The eventual transformer design provides increased capacity by 8 MVA, while reducing the footprint by 17 percent; it yields cost-savings of about 16 percent and reduces noise level from 73 decibels to 59 decibels.