Design and construction of sustainable substations

With the advent of Smart Grid era, the discussion has been centered on the ability to predict and intelligently respond to the behavior and actions of all electric power users connected to it - in order to efficiently deliver reliable, economic, and sustainable electricity services. However, the emphasis has been primarily on advanced meter infrastructure (Smart Meters) or self healing circuits. In Europe, one of the goals of the smart grid is to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the whole electricity supply system. In the United States, the work on this goal has been to reduce losses and consumption through voltage optimization. One opportunity to reduce environmental impact is through the development of sustainable substations. This paper explores the opportunity to reduce the environmental impact through the application of existing sustainable concepts used in other industries for the design and construction of substations.